Sugar Loaf reopens October 9, under Leelanau Conservancy’s stewardship

Summit offers stunning views of water, islands, dunes, orchards and farms

Photo: Leelanau Conservancy infrastructure manager Chad Jordan and stewardship project manager Caleb Garone have worked on the ground since June to restore Sugar Loaf.

UPDATE: The Leelanau Conservancy has announced that Sugar Loaf will reopen to the public on Friday, October 9, from 5 p.m. until dusk. Click here to RSVP. Explore the new Summit Trail, take in the views, chat with Conservancy staff and spend an autumn evening experiencing Sugar Loaf together.

By Jacob Wheeler

Sun editor

Sometime this autumn, while leaves still cling to their branches, Sugar Loaf mountain will reopen to the public, this time under the stewardship of the Leelanau Conservancy.

Once a popular ski resort until it fell on hard times and closed 26 years ago, Sugar Loaf sat idle while rumors swirled about who owned this crowned jewel of Michigan’s pinky finger—and whether sporting enthusiasts might ever frolic here again. The past quarter century saw its share of trespassers ambling up the lonely hill or pulling off plywood and snapping photographs inside the derelict lodge, which was finally torn down five years ago.

Hope for Sugar Loaf’s future finally arrived in July 2025 when the Conservancy publicly announced that it was on the verge of raising $8 million to acquire the 285-acre property in the heart of Leelanau County. They reached that fundraising goal two months later, thanks to donations from more than 1,000 individuals. The Conservancy completed the land transfer this past March from the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation, which had purchased the land in 2020 and spent the money to demolish the hotel and clean up the blighted landscape.

Restoration and recreation efforts began in June—after years of careful planning and tactfully keeping their pending acquisition a secret. The Conservancy plans to cut the ribbon and reopen Sugar Loaf to the public this season, though a date hasn’t yet been named.

The Glen Arbor Sun enjoyed a sneak peek visit on a beautiful, blue-sky Sept. 10. We walked the half-mile trail along the old path of the Snowcat from the parking lot up to the summit together with Conservancy stewardship project manager Caleb Garone, infrastructure manager Chad Jordan and communications director Brighid Driscoll. Temperatures hovered in the mid 70s as summer declared its intention to hang on for a few more weeks. It was one of those days when you felt blessed to live in Northern Michigan.

Past to present

Signs of Sugar Loaf’s reemergence as a public destination were everywhere.

A couple crushed gravel parking lots that will accommodate more than 120 cars at two different trailheads are nearly ready to welcome the public. Garone explained that area will eventually be seeded with native plant and wildflower species to support pollinators, with 138 native trees and shrubs to be planted late this autumn to form a buffer between the parking area and Sugar Loaf townhouses. Nearby, a Kubota and a John Deere tractor graded a space for utility access.

We crossed the stretch of land previously occupied by the lodge, an outdoor pool and tennis courts, and instinctively looked north—past the steep vertical hill once called “Awful Awful” and its twin run “The Wall,” which still bears a scar from skiers ripping down the slope—and caught a view of Good Harbor Bay shimmering in the distance. For Jordan, who built the first snowboard park at Sugar Loaf, and spent some of the most exciting winter days of his youth on this terrain, nearly every rise, every leftover remnant brought back memories.

“I don’t need to force myself (to see this place as a ski resort),” Jordan said. “I can still see the chairlifts and people yelling off the lifts when you hit your jumps!”

As we ascended the trail we spied on old red bull wheel once part of a ski lift but now hiding in deep grass on neighboring property. Jordan and Garone have encountered irrigation snowmaking pipes and concrete bases for ski lift towers.

The Conservancy salvaged about 20 of Sugar Loaf’s iconic red lift chairs and will eventually place them in locations throughout the property after they are powder coated to withstand Mother Nature.

“The idea is to incorporate those as rest spots,” said Jordan. “To have some that are front and center, that people can get a great view from—and then some that are a little bit tucked in where people can have more of an immersive nature experience.”

Jordan likened the lifts to a favorite Spring tradition.

“We’ll put some Easter eggs on the property, and they won’t be on the map. But if you find it, you find it.”

Mountain biking next spring

Our walking path led us by a narrow diversion that leads to Sugar Loaf’s 9.5 miles of switchback mountain bike trails, which Jordan estimates will open in Spring 2027.

These mountain bike trails are also an homage to the past. Jordan recapped that in the late 1980s Sugar Loaf hosted the National Off Road Bicycle Association’s national championships, which attracted the top professionals in the country, some of whom later competed in the Olympics and were inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

“This is the very first place I ever rode a mountain bike,” beamed Jordan, who managed the development of 27 miles of popular bike trails at the Conservancy’s Palmer Woods property. “There’s a history of mountain biking at [Sugar Loaf]. It’ll be fun to bring that history back.”

Far from steep, the nonmotorized bike trails offer beginner-level average trail grades of between 7 and 10 percent. You won’t need to be in excellent physical shape to ascend the 449 vertical feet between the parking lot and the summit.

“I think we were both pretty blown away that we were able to have an ascension trail that gets all the way to the summit and keep it at a beginner grade,” said Garone. “It’s not just elite mountain bikers that will be able to ride here.”

Human-powered skiing

Two thirds of the way up the hiking trail we paused at a gated section that marked Sugar Loaf’s old tubing run. We reflected on winter, the season of white powder that made generations of Michiganders fall in love with Sugar Loaf. Thrill seekers can once again ski or snowboard here, provided that their activity is powered by humans—that is, Nordic or backcountry skiing. The Conservancy hopes to groom parallel-track trails for cross-country skiing, but chairlifts and rope tows will be confined to memory.

Conservancy staff have partnered with the Michigan Backcountry Alliance to envision how alpine sports might look this winter. That could include splitboard skiing (a special snowboard that breaks apart into separate ski-like halves), alpine touring (which uses special gear to walk up snow-covered mountains), telemarking or glade skiing.

“A lot of the legacy ski runs are pretty open still, so there’s not a lot of work that we need to get those in shape,” said Jordan. “This winter these will all be available and open to folks to ski.

“It’s similar to what you would find at an alpine resort. You can poke around and see what looks fun that day.”

Soaring at the summit

Before we reached the summit, which is 1,059 feet above sea level, our conversation turned to wildlife that Jordan and Garone have witnessed since they began the work in June.

“The birds are absolutely amazing here,” said Jordan. “You get raptors kettling at the peak. In one 15-minute period I saw an Oriole, an Indigo Bunting, and a Scarlet Tanager, which are pretty rare birds.”

Jordan added that he has seen a dark brown walking stick climbing on him. The summit also home to a resident turkey. They’ve seen bear scat, deer, green snakes and Garter snakes, toads and frogs.

“There’s a red-tailed hawk that can often be seen around the bottom of Awful Awful,” said Garone. “Every time we walk down there, it likes to make an appearance and fly over us.”

Jordan and Garone pondered how much they have loved coming to Sugar Loaf nearly every single day over the past three months and working to revitalize it for the community.

“I’ve been here in winter snow, I’ve been here in thunderstorms, I’ve been here on hot summer days, which blew my mind,” said Jordan. “Every day is a little different up here; every day has its own beauty. It doesn’t disappoint.

“I don’t need to set my alarm in the morning. I just get up and I’m ready to go.”

Our group of four takes 10 more steps and reaches the summit—the pinnacle of Sugar Loaf, and one of the highest points in Leelanau County. We pause and gaze northwest at the crystal-clear blue sky and vanilla ice cream clouds. Somone shouts “What a day! What a day!” I snap a photo of Jordan and Garone with Little Traverse Lake, Good Harbor Bay, Pyramid Point, the Manitou Islands and the Crib lighthouse floating behind them.

The mountain bike trail arrives here, too. I imagine how delicious this view will taste after climbing 449 feet up the switchback path on a hot, sweaty day.

The Conservancy staffers explain that they’ll eventually add a covered pavilion and community gathering space here at the summit, as part of their initial five-year plan for Sugar Loaf. They’ll also add a picnic area and kids’ play area back at the parking lot.

Well-kept secret

Our descent down the mountain yields new views and inspires new conversation. Easily overshadowed by the water panorama are the striking pastoral scenes of the county’s farms and orchards. Put together, it’s a showcase of all things Leelanau.

“When you look down (in the direction of the parking lot), you get the soul of what Leelanau County is,” said Garone as he points with emphasis. “There’s a sweet old barn there. You see cherry orchards, apple orchards, wine grape trellis over there, some big open hay fields. You get the entire agricultural piece.

“I think it’s an opportunity to think of this as an outdoor classroom. The connection with water, the connection with farms, those sweeping views of the Sleeping Bear Dunes and beaches. It’s just everything.” added Jordan.

It’s hard to believe now, but for nearly three years the Conservancy staff and board who knew about the plan to raise $8 million to acquire Sugar Loaf couldn’t talk about it in public, much less visit the mountain. Their internal code word was “French toast.”

“This was top secret, so we couldn’t be out here on the land,” said Jordan. “We’re all recognizable within the community, so if people saw us here on a regular basis, I think they might have guessed what was up.”

Instead they studied the history and infrastructure of the property and used topographic maps to prepare for its eventual revitalization.

One day in the Fall of 2023 Jordan and three others on the Conservancy’s stewardship team covertly and independently explored different parts of Sugar Loaf. They wanted to take photographs, observe the landscape and develop the project, but without anyone noticing them. Jordan dressed in full camouflage and winced each time he stepped on crunchy autumn leaves.

“It was deafening how loud the leaves were,” he said. “I worried, ‘I’m not being subtle here’.”

But the secret held.

“Everyone wanted to know what would happen with Sugar Loaf,” said Garone. “There were always rumors swirling around. We would hear them as a staff and play it off like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting’.”

Painting a room

By the time the Conservancy announced the news that it intended to acquire Sugar Loaf, and once the land transfer was complete in March, their team had a plan: one that involved drone images, landscape architects, excavators, removing an artificial ski mound on top, bulldozers using state-of-the-art CAD files and blades tuned to particular GPS coordinates.

“It’s the art behind the science,” said Jordan.

“Sometimes I equate it to painting a room, where all the prep work is done at the front end,” said Jordan. Once you actually get out your paintbrush and your roller, the hard work is already done.

“These years of planning (for Sugar Loaf) was that prep work, so that when we did get our contractors on site, they knew what they were doing.”

As the stewardship project manager, Garone is excited about supporting a climate resilient, strong ecological community at Sugar Loaf, one that “goes hand in hand with recreation.” Part of that is planting native trees and shrubs and growing summer oats as a cover crop, and removing invasive species such as Autumn Olive.

“It’s possible to have high-quality recreation, but we need strong ecological communities and to be good stewards of the land. Over the next decades, it’s going to be exciting to see that vision come to fruition.”

The Conservancy welcomes volunteers and community members pitching in to help realize their vision for Sugar Loaf. Visit LeelanauConservancy.org/sugarloaf to sign up for a community workday. And stay tuned for the big announcement about when the mountain will reopen to the public this fall—to be followed by backcountry skiing this winter, mountain biking in 2027, and eventually, public pavilions and picnic areas where the community can gather.

As for the first snow day this winter, Chad Jordan said you’ll find him on the Wall, reliving the glory days of his youth.