The Hiking Trails at Leelanau State Park – June 24, 2014
Leelanau State Park protects over 1,300 acres right at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. The park is split into 2 separate areas. The small part right at the northern most part of the peninsula has the 52 site rustic campground and a day use area by the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum. Access to the main acreage of the park is a 5 mile drive south of the campground. This where you will find all of the parks 8.5 miles of hiking trails and 1.5 miles of sandy beach along Cat Head Bay.
The wide and well marked hiking trails run through a nice rolling hardwood forest. The trailhead can be found off from Densmore Road by the airport. The only facilities are a few picnic tables, a small shelter and pit toilet.
The Leelanau State Park Map. If the map does not show about click here >>
Heading out from the parking area. Little did we know that we were headed right into some of the thickest mosquitoes we would encounter on our entire camping the trip.
We started out east along Mud Lake and then at the first intersection we went left and into the dunes.
Almost all of the intersections had maps and several had benches.
Our plan was to do a short loop and the spur trails that went to the overlook and the beach on Cat Head Bay. Even with what must be an unhealthy dose of bug spray the mosquitoes were still swarming us as we walked. To try and escape the bugs, mom and the kids skipped the trail to the overlook and headed straight to the beach.
This was probably a good choice because as you can see above the fog was back ounce again and there was not much of a view at the overlook. I took a quick photo and hurried on to catchup with everyone at the beach.
A bridge on the way to the beach spur trail.
Resting at the beach access.
Walking through the dunes and down to the beach.
The beach on Cat Head Bay. Unfortunately it looks like the shoreline algae is back again.
The trail from the beach back to the car is just over a mile. I didn’t get any photos because Reid was up on my shoulders so we could move fast and try to stay ahead of the mosquitoes. Above are the GoPro photos from our hike.
The track of our hike in Google Maps.
Find more on the hiking in Leelanau State Park in: Explorer’s Guide 50 Hikes in Michigan: Sixty Walks, Day Trips, and Backpacks in the Lower Peninsula
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