Grand Rapids: Saugatuck Dunes South Loop
Escape to a secluded strip of rippling dunes on this 5.2-miler, which rewards your efforts with panora- mas from high above Lake Michigan.
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Trail Facts
- Distance: 6.9
Waypoints
SSL003
Location: 42.6922302246094, -86.1961669921875
Turn L off road onto trail; pass big spruces and 2nd-growth hardwoods
SSL006
Location: 42.6839294433594, -86.2095031738281
Trail rolls over vegetated dunes to beach
SSL009
Location: 42.6910400390625, -86.1994400024414
L @ Y onto lookout spur trail, a worthwhile 1.25-mi. round trip
SSL011
Location: 42.6916198730469, -86.1982269287109
R @T back onto gravel access road
SSL005
Location: 42.6839714050293, -86.2073669433594
First views of lake; follow trail to Open Dune Restoration sign, walk out of woods onto rolling dunes dotted w/ pines
SSL007
Location: 42.6839790344238, -86.2102737426758
Photo ops: SE shore of Lake Michigan; return to WPT 6, take L and begin angled traverse of dunes
SSL010
Location: 42.6880798339844, -86.209716796875
More photo ops, then return to WPT 9, straight onto old 2-track road
SSL004
Location: 42.6861534118652, -86.2017059326172
Cross weather-worn knoll of Pelican Peak under 60-ft. maple, beech, birch canopy; woodpeck-
ers bore above
SSL001
Location: 42.6970405578613, -86.1943511962891
Begin @ Felt Mansion, a 1920s summer home built by inventor Dorr E. Felt and now being restored by Laketown Township; follow gravel road .5 mi. to trailhead
SSL002
Location: 42.6930236816406, -86.1930999755859
L @ Y; this 300-acre natural area was once a seminary, then a prison, before it became a state park
SSL012
Location: 42.6928634643555, -86.1930999755859
L @ T back to trailhead; stroll over carpet of ferns, moss, acorns
SSL008
Location: 42.6877403259277, -86.2046432495117
Short ascent over sand ridge; head NE back into forested dunes