The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive is a scenic route within
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a United States National Lakeshore located along the northwest coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan in Leelanau and Benzie counties near Empire, Michigan. The park covers a stretch of Lake Michig ...
, in western
Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan (known colloquially to residents of more southerly parts of the state and summer residents from cities such as Detroit as " Up North"), is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popul ...
in the United States. The roadway, with its "scenic vistas and gentle curves",
is located off state highway
M-109 between
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
and
Glen Arbor
Glen Arbor Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 859 at the 2010 census. However, the population of the town expands rapidly during the summer months as a result of it being a summe ...
. It runs for through forest and dunes areas, providing access to scenic overlooks of the
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
shoreline and the surrounding park land. Interpretive markers along the roadway are keyed to the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
's printed guide to the drive. Over 80,000 vehicles make the trip, in addition to bicyclists, hikers and skiers who use the road each year.
The road was built in the 1960s and finished in 1967 by Pierce Stocking. A lumberman with road-building experience, he wanted to share the beauty of the area with others. He operated the facility until his death in 1976; afterwards it was purchased by the National Park Service and added to the park. In the 1980s, a two-year program reconstructed the roadway and added a number of features for visiting tourists. In 2011, the morning show ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
'' named the Sleeping Bear Dunes, and Pierce Stocking Drive, as the "Most Beautiful Place in America" after a viewer poll on its website; publicity since the award has increased traffic along the roadway.
Route description
![Covered bridge on Pierce Scenic Drive](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Covered_bridge_on_Pierce_Scenic_Drive.jpg)
The road is a loop that can be driven or bicycled. Hiking the roadway is permitted, but not encouraged because of the traffic.
[ The roadway starts at an entrance off M-109 (DH Day Highway) south of ]Glen Lake
Glen Lake is a lake located in Northern Michigan. Located in the southwestern Leelanau Peninsula, the lake is directly adjacent to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and is, at its closed, about from Lake Michigan. The lake consists of two ...
. There is a parking lot inside the entrance for visitors who wish to bike or hike the road. From there, the drive continues as a two-way road to the entrance gate before turning northward as a one-way road. There are 12 numbered locations along the road that are listed in the drive's interpretive brochure. The first of these is a covered bridge
A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...
. After this point, the drive ascends a steep hill to an overlook of Glen Lake. The area around this location includes "heavily forested areas, sand plains and scrub growth among the rock outcrops". The next stop is the Dune Overlook and Picnic Mountain picnic area. From this vantage point, tourists can view both North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
Manitou islands, also part of the park, as well as Pyramid Point and Sleeping Bear Bay. As the drive approaches this stop and the fourth, the Cottonwood Trail, it emerges from the forest into the sandy dune area next to Lake Michigan. Several more stops are noted in the guide before Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive heads back inland through the beech and maple forest.[
]
The roadway turns back to the shore and two overlooks next to the lake. Overlook 9 is next to the bluff on Lake Michigan, above the water, and overlook 10 is for views of the Sleeping Bear Dune. From overlook 9, visitors can see Platte Bay some to the south on a clear day.[ These two locations are considered especially hazardous because of the heights involved. In 2002, the '']Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
'' noted that a half-dozen visitors have to be rescued by paramedics at these two overlooks after falls. The community of Glen Arbor
Glen Arbor Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 859 at the 2010 census. However, the population of the town expands rapidly during the summer months as a result of it being a summe ...
has a special off-road vehicle
An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with dee ...
to effect rescues from the base of the cliffs. The penultimate stop along the drive is the North Bar Overlook and Picnic Area, which provides vistas of North Bar Lake. After this stop, the drive descends into maple and pine forests before coming back to the starting point.[ This area follows an old logging road under the forest canopy.][ The drive has been called "the best way to see Lake Michigan from top of the dune elevations",] and "one of the nation's most fascinating landscapes".[
A Park Pass fee is required for using the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive (except for Golden Age Passport/Senior Pass holders). A free interpretive guide for the scenic drive is available at the visitor center in ]Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
or at the entrance gate.[ The road is open to cars generally from the middle of April into November. During the operating season, the road is open starting at 9:00 a.m. until 30 minutes after sunset.] After late December, the drive is used as a cross-country ski
Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...
trail. The park service combines the unplowed roadway with the Shauger Hill Trail to form an system of trails of various ratings. The speed limit on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive is .[ In 2008, there were 82,527 vehicles that circled the drive, a 4.7% increase over the previous year.]
History
The road is named after Pierce Stocking, who spent his youth working as a Michigan lumberman and used to walk the bluffs above Lake Michigan near Empire. As a lumberman he had experience building roads. Stocking began building a road to the top of the dunes in the difficult terrain around the early 1960s.[ According to '']National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'', Stocking was "so awed by the beauty of the dunes that ... he built the road in order to share them with visitors." The road was originally known as the Sleeping Bear Dunes Park when he first opened it to the public in 1967. He operated the scenic drive until his death in 1976, charging $2 per car (equivalent to $ in ) at the end.
The area around the roadway became part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore when the park was created in 1970,[ and the road became part of the park itself in 1977 when purchased by the park service. The name was later changed to Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive in honor of the man.
]
Starting in 1984, the National Park Service reconstructed the drive. It was paved for the first time, and a bicycle lane was added. The service also moved the entrance to the road and built the observation platforms.[ An original section of the road was closed because it was susceptible to drifting sands from the dunes. Stocking built the covered bridge, but the "NPS has maintained it and increased its vertical clearance to 13 feet 6 inches []."] The renovations to the drive were completed in 1986.[
In August 2011, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was named by ''Good Morning America'' as the "Most Beautiful Place in America";] the designation came after a social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
campaign to capitalize on the show's website poll. Since the park was awarded the title, attendance has increased. Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, featured in the morning show's broadcast, had lines of cars waiting to get onto the drive on September 3, 2011,[September 3, 2011, was the Saturday of ]Labor Day
Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...
Weekend that year. an uncommon sight for a day in September.
Points of interest
The entire roadway is in Glen Arbor Township, Leelanau County
Leelanau may refer to a number of articles relating to the region of the northwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan:
Geography
Settlements
* Leelanau County, Michigan
* Leelanau Township, Michigan
* Lake Leelanau, Michigan
Landforms
* Lak ...
.
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See also
*Brockway Mountain Drive
Brockway Mountain Drive is an scenic roadway just west of Copper Harbor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States. Drivers can access the road from State Highway M-26 on either end near Eagle Harbor to the west or Copper Harbor ...
, a scenic roadway overlooking Lake Superior
Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
near Copper Harbor, Michigan
Copper Harbor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located within Grant Township. The population of the CDP was 136 as of the 2020 census.
The communit ...
*River Road National Scenic Byway
The River Road National Scenic Byway (also called the River Road National Forest Scenic Byway) is a National Scenic Byway and National Forest Scenic Byway in the US state of Michigan. This byway follows M-65 and River Road; it extends eastward ...
, a National Scenic Byway
A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...
and National Forest Scenic Byway
The National Forest Scenic Byways are roads that have been designated by the U.S. Forest Service as scenic byways. Many are also National Scenic Byways (NSB). The program was initiated in 1987.
__TOC__
List
The following roadways were listed b ...
in the Huron National Forest
The Huron National Forest is a National Forest in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It was established in 1909 after the logging era began to decline. In 1945, it was administratively combined with the Manistee National Forest, to create the Hur ...
Notes
References
External links
Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (National Park Service)
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
Transportation in Leelanau County, Michigan
Tourism in Michigan
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Scenic highways in Michigan
Tourist attractions in Leelanau County, Michigan
1967 establishments in Michigan