NEAREST CITY = Mears

The dunes at Silver Lake may very well be the best location on the great lakes for sandboarding. The sand is fast and clean, easily accessable and very close to Mears for everything you need to have a great visit. The Sand Box, locate right on the main street in Mears, offers sandboard rentals along with gifts and souvineers for the tourist.

This scenic area around Silver Lake, is one of Michigan's most beautiful stretches of water. Often called "Michigan's Golden Coast", there's plenty to do here. Touring, shopping, offroading, sand buggying and sandboarding are all on the menu.
The middle of the park is for hiking along the dunes, and the Southern end has dune rides available through Mac Wood's Dune Rides. In the middle of town are many restaurants, gift shops, go karts, miniature golf and plenty of camp grounds both private and state operated. Little Sable Light Station is near by and well worth the visit. Bring your sandboard as there are great dune banks to ride right there at the light tower.

Parking at the trail head also offers restrooms and water. It's an out of the way park but seems to get a reasonable amount of visitors. The hike back to the dunes is not long but still a bit of a trek. You can see where the dune is advancing toward the parking lot itself from the original trail to Mt. Baldy. The park service has fenced off that area so the trail can no longer be used. The old trail however, is only a short 60 foot hike to the top of the dune.

This location has a spectacular view of Lake Michigan as well as Silver Lake with the two bodies of water only seperated by the dunes themselves. There are beginner and advanced slopes to ride and the sand is boarder friendly. You will also find steep faces that drop right down into the water at both lakes as well as chute runs and trails.

The Dunes Waterfront Resort, located on North Shore Road - Mears, is right on the edge of Silver Lake and has a full view of the lake and dunes. It's about as close to the dunes as you can get with out camping and has all the amenities. We recommend it!

Click the links below for more information:

The Sand Box
Dunes Waterfront Resort
Visitors Information
Photos of Little Sable