Grand Rapids: Big Sable Point
Grand Rapids: Big Sable Point
Climb to a historic lighthouse and spot a mysterious shipwreck in Lake Michigan on this 4.3-mile loop in Ludington State Park.
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Trail Facts
- Distance: 7.0
Waypoints
LUD002
Location: 44.036060333252, -86.506706237793
Veer R to start loop, passing campsites
LUD003
Location: 44.0373497009277, -86.5056381225586
Swing NW on logging trail onto dunes, past cattail ponds
LUD004
Location: 44.0395202636719, -86.5043716430664
Ascend sand-packed trail past a patch of poisonous hemlock
LUD005
Location: 44.0407791137695, -86.5048904418945
Straight @ 4-way with Coast Guard Trail
LUD006
Location: 44.0447998046875, -86.5017471313476
L @ 4-way onto Lighthouse Trail; hardwoods thin to exposed dunes
LUD007
Location: 44.0485687255859, -86.5042572021484
Slight incline; on windy days, puffy clouds ride above waves of sand
LUD008
Location: 44.0519409179688, -86.5063705444336
Summit dune; distant views of striped lighthouse,
Lake Michigan
LUD009
Location: 44.0580101013184, -86.5050811767578
Mounds tower 80 ft. as trail veers W into shrubby jack pines, shady home to finches and piping plovers
LUD010
Location: 44.0579490661621, -86.5144195556641
Climb staircase to 112-ft. Big Sable lighthouse, built 1867; on clear days, you’ll have a 20-mile view. Descend and follow access road S
LUD011
Location: 44.0418815612793, -86.5111465454102
Skirt R @ Y over dune; look for 1865 shipwreck exposed when lake is low. Continue S on access road to close loop @ WPT 2. Return to car
Big Sable Lighthouse
Location: 44.0576477050781, -86.514289855957
Big Sable lighthouse, built 1867; on clear days, you’ll have a 20-mile view. ©Stephen Wilkinson
Sun Over Lake Michigan
Location: 44.0580406188965, -86.513557434082
©Stephen Wilkinson
