• Looking out at the lake

    Sleeping Bear Dunes

    National Lakeshore Michigan

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  • Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive will not open until Memorial Day Weekend

    Changes to visitor service due to Sequestration. Due to mandatory, across-the-board budget cuts, some visitor services in this park have changed. Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive will not open until Memorial Day Weekend and will close after Labor Day. More »

  • Some restrooms and trash cans not available until Memorial Day

    Changes to visitor service due to Sequestration. Other than those at the visitor center and campgrounds, restrooms and trash cans will not be available until Memorial Day Weekend and will close after Labor Day. This includes the Manitou Islands. More »

Windy Moraine Trail

Distance

Loop of 1.5 miles in length

Terrain

Hilly

Vegetation

Beech-maple forest, fields, and pine plantation

Comments

A self-guiding brochure with the theme of biodiversity is available at the trailhead. From the Windy Moraine Overlook, you can see Glen Lake, Lake Michigan, and the Sleeping Bear Dunes


Click to download a map in pdf format.

 
Windy Moraine Trail Map
Windy Moraine Trail Map
NPS Map 2006
 
Windy Moraine Trail with Glen Lake in background

Top of Windy Moraine Trail with a view of Glen Lake.

Kerry Kelly 2006

The Windy Moraine trail takes you through a field to the moraine left from when the last glaciers melted about 10,000 years ago. You will climb to the top of the hill on a modest incline through a beech-maple forest and a pine plantation. From the top of the moraine, you will get a few good views of Glen Lake. Views are best when the leaves are off the trees, but even in the summer you will get some nice views of the lake.
 
Numbered Post

Stop and read the trail map brochure at each numbered post.

Kerry Kelly 2006

As you hike the trail, you will see 9 numbered posts. Be sure to pick up a trail map at the trailhead and stop at each post to read about the trees, birds, or other natural resources described.
 
Soil Exhibit

Soil Exhibit on the Windy Moraine Trail

Kerry Kelly 2006

About half way through the hike, you will find a Soil Exhibit explaining the type of soil in this area which supports the plants and animals who make this their home.

If we think of soil at all, we tend to think of it as commonplace and unlimited. The truth is that soil is an irreplaceable resource of great complexity, beauty, and fragility. Along with air and water it interacts with the web of life, and must be protected to maintain a healthy environment for living things.

The Kalkaska Soil Series covers a million acres of Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas, one of the factors that led to it being chosen as the official State Soil. Kalkaska is a well-drained soil of cold climate that formed on glacial sand and gravels since the retreat of the last ice some 10 to 12 thousand years ago. It is common in the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. Sometimes called “loamy gold” because of its woodland productivity, the typical natural forest cover includes sugar maple, American beech, yellow birch, and ash.

 

Did You Know?

Purple Loostrife is an invasive species

In the US, invasive species are the second biggest threat to native ecosystems after habitat loss.  They reduce diversity, alter disturbance regimes, and have cascading effects on food webs, costing upwards of $140 Billion per year. More...