Beach Access Stairs
Visitors looking for a remote section of Lake Michigan beach to enjoy often find that access to these remote areas is difficult – requiring descent of steep bluffs from the road or trail to the beach. This often causes erosion of the bluffs and then trees fall creating even more hazardous conditions. In 2009 the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes and Cherry Republic teamed up with the NPS Roads and Trails crew to build beach access stairs at the end of Lane Road in Port Oneida.
We just completed construction of another beach access stairs on August 3, 2012. This set of stairs is located at the end of the little gravel road about 1.7 miles north of the intersection of M-22 and Port Oneida Road. When you get to the end of the gravel road at the bluff above the Lake Michigan beach, look to your
left and you’ll find the new stairs! It has a platform at the top of the bluff, one mid-bluff, and one at the bottom – beach level. What an improvement. This project was also a result of a grant and volunteers from Cherry Republic, volunteers from the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, and a crew from the NPS Roads and Trails department. The crew was led by Pete Mutasik, who coordinated the project, purchased materials, and managed a motley crew of volunteers!
