Glen Haven

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Celebrate family fun on the Fourth of July

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The joy commences when the parade lines up at 10:30 am in the historic maritime village of Glen Haven; it builds along M-109 as children shout and wave, and it crescendos when the force of floats, classic cars, boats on trailers, and fire trucks arrive shortly after noon to delight the throngs of thousands gathered along the roadside in downtown Glen Arbor. Following the vehicles on foot is a Leelanau County version of a New Orleans Second Line Parade: a trumpeter, a kazoo corps, kids tossing newspapers, Elvis impersonators, environmental nonprofit volunteers, and activists whose handmade signs and electioneering messages remind us that the Fourth of July most certainly is a political holiday—an anniversary of a subversive, dangerous, and revolutionary act that shook the world—and whose founding document boasts a core message that seems more relevant today than ever. This year’s honorary grand marshal is Carol Worsley, a celebrated chef and owner of the Thyme Inn bed and breakfast who has lived at least of part of the year in Glen Arbor for more than 60 years. As per tradition, Worsley will ride in a convertible at the front of the parade.

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Sleeping Bear Inn awakens

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As we peer out the original windows of the restored Sleeping Bear Inn and into Lake Michigan’s rolling blue waves, we imagine a Michigan Transit Co. steamship arriving at the 650-foot dock in Glen Haven, just as it would have in the 1920s, carrying lumbermen, tourists, and fortune seekers who had departed Chicago the previous evening. The visitors disembark, plant their feet on land and gaze with wonder at the shoreline and the Manitou Islands floating in the distance. The Sleeping Bear Inn, the crowned jewel of Glen Haven, reopens to guests later this summer, more than 50 years after it closed when this National Lakeshore was created in 1972. The Inn, which was built in 1866 and served guests through the Michigan lumber boom, the roaring ’20s, and the era of dune buggies, is the oldest hotel in the National Park Service

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Photographing the Glen Arbor Fourth of July parade

St. Louis, Missouri, resident Jacob Kurtz shared his photographs taken in Glen Haven, where the 2024 Fourth of July parade lined up before departing for Glen Arbor.

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Sleeping Bear Inn takes reservations for August 2024, and beyond

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The historic Sleeping Bear Inn, the oldest hotel in the National Park System, is now taking reservations for August and beyond. Click on the story to read more and to reserve a room. Originally built between 1865-1867, the inn located in Glen Haven across the street from the cannery building served as a frontier hotel for business travelers and local workers. It continued in operation throughout the next century, evolving into a tourist hotel. It has been closed since the mid-1970s. The nonprofit Balancing Environment and Rehabilitation (BEAR) signed a lease in 2022 to renovate the Sleeping Bear Inn and operate it as a bed and breakfast. “This year marks two years of active renovation at Sleeping Bear Inn for our BEAR team, and with the finish line in our sights, we are elated to start thinking about the hospitality aspect of our work,” said executive director Maggie Kato.

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Yoga on the beach

Amy Hubbell leads Yoga on the Beach sessions every Friday morning at 10 a.m. throughout the summer at the Sleeping Bear Point Coast Guard Station Maritime Museum near Glen Haven. To join, all you need is a beach towel, water, and some sunscreen to enjoy this gentle all-level class. This is a donation-based class that provides funds to projects within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The suggested donation is $10 per class.

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The Bolen Girl’s “Night Owl” at Art’s Tavern

Sophie Bolen, a 23-year-old rising country/pop music artist who grew up in Grand Rapids, summers in Glen Arbor, and writes and records in Nashville, recently released the music video for her single “Night Owl” (a song borrowed from acclaimed songwriter Deanna Walker). The video features scenes at iconic locations including Art’s Tavern, the beach at Glen Haven and Sleeping Bear Point. Click here to read our interview with Bolen and to watch the video.

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Oldest hotel in National Park, Sleeping Bear Inn gets new lease on life

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On a blustery, cold April 8, with approximately 400 bundled, enthusiastic citizens as witnesses, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore superintendent Scott Tucker handed the keys of the Sleeping Bear Inn and Garage to Maggie Kato, executive director of the nonprofit Balancing Environment and Rehabilitation, which now has a 40-year lease to rehab the historic Glen Haven inn and re-open it as a bed and breakfast as soon as Spring 2023. Once resurrected, the Sleeping Bear Inn will be the oldest hotel in the National Park System where one can spend the night—even older than Yellowstone, the nation’s first national park, which was established in 1872.

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National Park Service issues letter of intent to lease historic Sleeping Bear Inn and Garage

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore announced today that The National Park Service issued a letter of intent on November 5 for the development of a lease for the historic Sleeping Bear Inn and Garage in Glen Haven to Balancing Environment and Rehabilitation (BEAR). BEAR formed in 2018 as a nonprofit dedicated to keeping the history and heritage of Glen Haven sustainable.

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National Lakeshore, Friends of Sleeping Bear offer Yoga on the Beach at Glen Haven

Beginning on the Summer Solstice, Yoga on the Beach and the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes are partnering up to offer these outdoor, donation-based yoga classes to the community.

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Bacon and Flapjacks at the Sleeping Bear Inn

If you are from Michigan I am sure you have heard the words Sleeping Bear Dunes. If you have not and are just arriving, you may want to. When I had my first car I, like many of us, had one big question, a common one for those with a sense of searching: What is at the end of that road?

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