Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is an incredible place, and if you haven’t been there I highly recommend making the trip.  We are huge fans of our National Parks and this one is only a little more than 4 hours from West Bloomfield, Michigan where we live depending on traffic.

We were able to get away for the holiday weekend with our kids and we went “Up North” which is where many Metro Detroiters go during the summer to relax.  “Up North” is not necessarily the Upper Peninsula – it’s just a few hours north of Detroit where things are generally beautiful and relaxing.  We hung out on Higgins Lake, hit the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City and then headed over to Sleeping Bear Dunes for our last full day up there.  Ally doesn’t do a ton of landscape photography, but she brought her camera along for the trip.  It was well worth it.  She was able to capture some really nice photos and we are excited to share them here!  Not everything that is “Frameable” has to be a face…  ha!

These photos were taken along points of the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive within the park.  We did the Dune Climb before we drove the scenic route and we weren’t really prepared with a proper backpack to take the camera up the climb.  The climb is just pure fun (and tough) especially when you turn around and bound back down the sand.  As for the scenic drive a few of the overlooks are simply majestic looking out over Lake Michigan.

This next shot is the only thing here I’m taking partial credit for – as I was walking along a path the moon caught my eye through this little gap in a dune and I called Ally over to stand right where I was standing to get the shot.  The rest is all Ally and her amazing craft – her eye and her talent!

We hope you enjoyed these and they gave you just a taste of what this beautiful park has to offer!