These Michigan Sand Dunes Keep Moving, Creating Spooky Tree Graveyards Every Year

Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan

Dead forests dot the landscape around Sleeping Bear Dunes like scattered bones. These ghost forests mark where sand once passed through, burying trees alive before moving on. Here’s how sand creates one of the Great Lakes’ strangest sights.

The Moving Sand Dunes

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore covers 71,199 acres along Lake Michigan in northwest Michigan. Here you’ll find the largest freshwater sand dunes in the world, some reaching 460 feet high.

When Glaciers Built Mountains of Sand

Huge ice sheets carved this land 10,000-14,000 years ago. As they moved south, they crushed rock into sand.

These glaciers dug out what became the Great Lakes. When the last ice melted 11,800 years ago, it dropped massive sand piles called moraines.

This created “perched dunes” – sand layers sitting on top of old glacial hills instead of on flat ground like normal dunes.

These Dunes “Walk” Four Feet Every Year

The famous Dune Climb moves east four feet yearly. Lake winds push countless sand grains inland, causing this steady march.

Over decades, this transforms everything. The dunes swallow trees, paths, and anything else standing in their way.

In 1931, park workers had to move Coast Guard buildings because the sand nearly buried them. This same process continues throughout the park today.

How Trees Become Ghosts in the Sand

Ghost forests happen when dunes bury living woods. Sand covers trees completely, blocking sunlight until they die standing up.

Later, as dunes keep moving east, they expose these dead trunks like skeletons rising from the sand.

Wind carves many ghost trees into spiral shapes with sharp tips. The forests change constantly as sand shifts, with trees vanishing and reappearing through the dunes.

Walking Among Tree Ghosts on Bear Point

The 2.8-mile Bear Point Trail shows off the best ghost forest. The path cuts through living woods, open dunes, and beach areas.

Dead trees stand like sentinels overlooking Manitou Passage. Nearby, healthy cedar and hemlock trees grow, showing what the ghost forest once looked like.

Tall blue posts mark the trail since the path would quickly vanish under shifting sand without these guides.

Plants That Pin Down Moving Dunes

Beach grass and sand cherry grab hold first on fresh dunes. These tough plants break the wind’s force across the sand.

Their long roots reach deep, acting like anchors that slow the dunes’ movement. Without these plants, sand would race inland much faster.

When more plants join in, dunes settle down. Still, big storms cause “blow-outs” where chunks of dunes collapse and start moving again.

High Dunes vs. Beach Dunes

The park has two types of sand piles. Perched dunes sit high on glacial plateaus, built from wind-blown glacial sand.

The main Sleeping Bear Dune is perched, along with the dunes on South Manitou Island. These high spots create the park’s jaw-dropping views.

Beach dunes form right at the shoreline from ordinary beach sand.

Dunes as Tall as Buildings

The highest dunes tower 460 feet above the lake, like a 45-story skyscraper made of sand. These giants cover about four square miles.

From these heights, you can see all the way to the Manitou Islands. Another spot, Pyramid Point, rises 260 feet above the water.

The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive takes you to overlooks 450 feet up, offering some of the best lake views anywhere in Michigan.

Visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes

Philip A. Hart Visitor Center (9922 Front Street, Empire, MI 49630) serves as your starting point for exploring this 35-mile Lake Michigan shoreline.

The park charges $25 for vehicles (valid 7 days) and remains open 24 hours daily, though facilities have separate hours. You can enjoy free ranger-led programs seasonally, including night hikes and maple sugaring demonstrations.

Drive the 7-mile Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive or climb the famous Dune Climb for spectacular lake views.

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