Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

These are perched dunes: sand blown up onto the top of a glacial moraine, so the 140-metre height above the lake is mostly hill with a sand cap rather than a sand mountain. That distinction matters at the Dune Climb and the Lake Michigan Overlook, where the slope down to the water looks walkable and is not - the park posts signs warning that a rescue from the bottom costs several thousand dollars, because people descend in minutes and cannot climb back. The name comes from an Anishinaabe story of a mother bear waiting for her cubs, who became the Manitou Islands offshore. The Dune Climb itself is a steep sand slope open to walk up.

What you actually see

• Perched dunes - sand on top of a glacial moraine.
• A 140-metre drop to the lake - which people descend and cannot reverse.
• The Dune Climb - a steep sand slope open to walk.
• The Manitou Islands - the cubs in the Anishinaabe story.

When to go

May to October; autumn colour in early October. A full day.

Honest expectations

Do not descend the Lake Michigan Overlook slope - rescues are frequent and billed. Sand climbing is far harder than it looks. Summer weekends fill the lots. Lake water stays cold into July.

Nearby

Traverse City is east; the Manitou Islands are offshore by ferry.