The Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail and the Rustic Hiking Trails experienced various levels of damage, due to the extreme “weather event” of August 2, 2o15.
Visitors to these areas are advised to observe closure signs in various areas, and to observe extreme caution in all other areas that are open. Special attention should be exercised if you are in wooded areas to be on the lookout for “leaners” and falling limbs and trees, especially if there is significant wind speed.
Friends volunteers are working on clearing the Heritage Trail and doing assessments and minor cleanup of the rustic trails for hazards. Many of the trail segments will require Park Maintenance crews to handle the “big stuff”.
The assessment of the rustic hiking trails has been completed. Most trails are relatively clear, but several dangerous areas on the Bay View trail exist. If hiking there, please use extreme caution. You may see the status of each trail segment by following this Rustic Hiking Trail Status link.
The following links will take you to our status pages where Friends volunteers are working. This information is not “official” but is being used to coordinate our crews. However, you may use this information to get a general picture of what might or might not be open.
Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail Status
Rustic Hiking Trail Status
Press Release – Lakeshore Continues to Recover from Storm Damage