Good Harbor Bay Trail, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
8/16/2026	2.6 miles	57 minutes	21'	2.7 mph	238.2

Parking: 

• Good Harbor Bay Trailhead, roadside parking on a dirt road

Map:

• Good Harbor Bay Trail and Picnic Area (U.S. National Park Service)

Directions:

• Take the trail from the trailhead in a clockwise loop.

Before leaving Muskegon in the morning, we stopped in Whitehall to have breakfast with MJ, a good urban sketching friend. Then we headed north. I have wanted to go to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Many friends have recommended it. Dogs are not allowed at much of the park, so we had to look up where dogs are allowed. This loop is listed at 2.8 miles. It doesn't go along the beach. We left our hotel in Traverse City, where it was 88 degrees, and when we got to the trailhead, the temperature dropped to 72 degrees. The hike is completely shaded in the woods. It's an extremely easy hike with no elevation gain. We both really enjoyed it. Why? Although there were no views and no swimming, it just had a simple beauty. Plus, we had a breeze which helped with the humidity, it wasn't too hot, and there were fewer bugs. All of those things helped a lot after several hot, humid, buggy hikes. We saw no people on the trail either. Most people were at the beach. There are a couple of spur trails off this hike that lead to the beach, but since dogs aren't allowed on this section of the beach, we didn't take them. I like the northern part of the lower peninsula.