Cover Photo: At the End of the Trail by James Banks
Today is the 55th birthday of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Normally, I would lead with a photo of the Dunes, but the creation of the National Lakeshore on October 21, 1970 preserved a whole lot more!!
Here is the tale of the tape on Michigan’s magnificent national lakeshore as of August 1, 2024.
- Annual Visits – 1,589,248
- Employees – 46 permanent, 83 seasonal
- Volunteer Hours – 58,389 from 1,659 volunteers
- Natural and Cultural Resources
- Area – 71,318 acres
- Lake Michigan Shoreline – 65 miles (35 miles on the mainland)
- Inland Lakes – 26
- Miles of rivers and streams – 12
- Terrestrial plant species – 908
- Bird species – 246
- Federally threatened or endangered species – 6
- Historic structures on List of Classified Structures – 369
- Sites on National Register of Historic Places – 8
- Cultural Landscapes – 9 (4,500 acres)
- Prehistoric archeological sites – 150
- Historic boats – 21
- Lighthouse – 1
- Historic artifacts – 70,158
- Archived documents – 21,325
- Infrastructure
- Buildings – 370
- Employee housing units – 38
- Campgrounds – 9 (357 sites)
- Picnic Areas – 5
- Visitor Centers – 3
- Outdoor amphitheaters – 2
- Miles of roads – 23
- Covered bridge – 1 (Pierce Stocking Drive)
- Miles of trails – 105
- Lake access ramps – 9
- Signs and wayside exhibits – 3572
- Major photovoltaic power systems – 3
- Motor vehicles in fleet – 54
- Large boats – 8
James took these in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore back in fall of 2023. See lots more great shots in his Top 100 gallery on Flickr!
