The good news: the popular Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail has expanded and opened its fourth leg, which will eventually run 3.8 miles east from Port Oneida to Bohemian Road and Good Harbor Bay, bringing the trail total to 17 miles. The bad news: the trail addition is only partly complete. The construction of a boardwalk over the southern shore of Narada Lake (about halfway between Port Oneida and Bohemian) is far behind schedule, and work won’t resume on the bridge until July 5.
Two, new 16” x 16” signs will be placed along the Heritage Trail in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, using a combination of texts and photographs “to explain what happened in August 2015,” said Leonard Marszalek, manager of the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes’ Heritage Trail.
Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail ambassadors help visitors by answering questions, giving directions, and sometimes handing out coupons for Cherry Republic ice cream when they find trail users “Doing Something Right”. Ambassadors are also Friends of Sleeping Bear’s eyes and ears on the trail reporting maintenance or safety issues that need to be resolved.
The National Park Service will name the next superintendent to run Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore by the end of May — if not sooner — Park spokesperson Christine Powell told the Glen Arbor Sun today. Powell works out of the National Park’s Midwest Regional office in Omaha, Neb.
Acting superintendent (and previously the deputy superintendent) Tom Ulrich has reportedly made it to the final round of interviews for the position of superintendent of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The identities and number of his competitors is not publicly known. Citizens of the Sleeping Bear region are encouraged to share their thoughts about the next superintendent with National Park Midwest Regional director Cameron Sholly.
The Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is now open from Glen Haven to Glen Arbor, the National Park reports. The DH Day Campground will reopen on Sunday, Aug. 16. Both areas have been closed since a severe storm on Sunday, Aug. 2 caused downed power lines and extensive tree damage.
During one extraordinary week in August 2015, the sounds that dominated our town were the whirr of winds and the ugly crack of trees, followed by the buzz of chainsaws, the hum of generators, and the cheering and car honking as Consumers Power trucks and linemen rolled into town like a liberating army.
The Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail is free of automobile traffic. But look out when crossing private driveways and roads through the National Park. This artistic caution sign on private land just south of the Dune Climb creatively warns bikers to be cautious.
One-year-old Caleb Byrd, from Hartland, Mich., enjoys an apple on the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail. The Byrd family parked at the Dune Climb, biked to Glen Arbor and lunched at the Good Harbor Grill. They had no trouble finding parking in Glen Arbor, even on July 1. Photo by Bridget Byrd
The public is invited to attend the official ribbon cutting for the newest section of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail from Fisher Road, near Glen Arbor, to Port Oneida Road, on June 17 at 11 a.m. at the Olsen Farm in Port Oneida, 3164 W Harbor Highway (M-22).