Sleeping Bear Dunes

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore encompasses over 111 sq. miles (56,993 acres), stretches about 35 miles and includes the wilderness areas of North Manitou and South Manitou Islands. Below is a picture that I took from a viewing point off the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. In the distance, you'll see the North & South Manitou Islands and the shadowed mound you see in the middle of the picture along the lakeshore is supposed to be in the shape of the mother bear (read the legend below and you'll understand). The Islands are an important part of the National Lakeshore. The legend of the dunes is posted below.

THE LEGEND OF THE SLEEPING BEAR
Long ago, in the land that is today Wisconsin, Mother Bear and her two cubs were driven into Lake Michigan by a raging forest fire. The cubs swam strongly but the distance and the water proved too much for them. They fell further and further behind and ultimately slipped beneath the waves. When Mother Bear reached the Michigan shore, she climbed to the top of a bluff and peered back across the water, searching vainly for her cubs. The Great Spirit saw her and took pity on her plight. He raised North and South Manitou Islands to mark the place where her cubs vanished and laid a slumber upon Mother Bear.-Ojibway Indian Legend

The picture above is looking down onto Lake Michigan from atop the dunes. It's a steep 450 ft. drop down to the lake and an EXTREMELY exhausting climb back up to the top. (Below) is a picture of some dune grass which is very important to the ecologoy of the dunes.