When you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, — especially when the ’em is Mother Nature.
So, when the snow flies, you might as well put your best foot forward: Bundle up and get ready for an unconventional hike during a Snowshoe Walk in Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
One of the state’s prettiest winter wonderlands, the park hosts hikes for amateur trekkers every Saturday in January and February. Sessions last about two hours and include free snowshoe rental, instruction on snowshoeing basics and a ranger-led expedition into the better- and lesser-known areas of the park.
Exploring places you might not be able to access in standard hiking boots is one of the activity’s biggest draws. “We’ll go into marshy areas where, if you were hiking, you’d sink,” says Lisa Myers, chief of interpretation and visitor services for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.“But the padding of the snow and the extra surface area of the shoes lets you walk across.”
The hikes offer information about winter-wildlife watching, as well as lessons in the area’s topography and geology. In winter, you’re likely to see tracks from squirrels, porcupines, beavers, ravens, crows and seagulls throughout the park’s hardwood and conifer forests, meadows, wetlands and bogs. Participants should plan to spend about 90 minutes outside, which means dressing in layers, packing a water bottle and wearing waterproof boots.
Myers says the hikes are more fun than strenuous, and are held regardless of the weather; if there’s not enough snow, a guided hike is still available. Either way, it beats spending another day cooped up indoors.