Besides our son’s accomplishment at the Sleepy Bear Dune climb area, where hiking to the top is encouraged, perhaps the most beautiful spot to view the dunes is along the Pierce Stocking scenic drive.
After showing your park pass ($10 and valid for 7 days), you proceed on a very scenic 7.4 mile drive through the woods to various little pull-offs to view the scenery and various overlooks. The Lake Michigan Overlook is situated about half way thru the drive and offers spectacular views of the sand dunes plunging down to the lake.
After a short hike back to the overlook from the parking lots, one is presented with very steep grades and an approximate 450 drop to the bottom. Standing at the top of the dunes is spectacular! As one proceeds to the observation deck, situated at the dunes edge, there are beautiful 180 degree views of both the north and south side of the dunes.
Viewing from the observation deck is where one really gets an appreciated for the steep grade and the height of the dunes. However, that is where one also sees lots of people sliding down the side of the dunes, only to be presented with the steep climb back to the top. Guests attempting to make the climb literally must walk on their hands and feet to return to the summit due to the slope.
At the top of the dunes is a sign saying proceed at your own risk and any need for rescue is done so at your own cost. Meaning if they need to send in a helicopter to rescue you from exhaustion, you will get a nice bill from the government to cover the costs. That risk alone was enough to encourage me to never consider such a feat. However, other people were not as bright.
About 50-100 people at any time were either making the descent or proceeding on one of their most exhaustive treks ever.
Would making the climb be an incredible bucket list item? Sure.
However, the problem is sand is very easily erodible. How do you think the wind formed the dunes in the first place? So as guests proceed both up and down the dunes, all day, every day, millions of sand particles erode away and back to the bottom of the dunes base. Overtime, humans infatuation with climbing the dunes is actually “killing” the dunes.
The purpose of the National Park System is to help preserve our nations beautiful, natural resources so they will be around for all to see in the future. During our visit to the Volcano National Park in Hawaii, the Park Service took precautions to keep people out of areas that were not only dangerous, but also help preserve some of the more sensitive areas. However, besides a warning sign, the Sleepy Bear Dunes Park Service did very little if anything to discourage and/or prevent guest from eroding away the dunes.
Besides the safety issue of descending and climbing of a steep sand dune, I am concerned that the future of the sand dunes may be limited, whether it be 50 or 100 years from now. Perhaps we need to reconsider whether the future of the dunes existence is worth the short term thrills.
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Source: InACents