Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive — Lake Michigan Overlook

Stop #9 on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive puts you 450 feet above the surface of Lake Michigan, atop a perched sand dune at the edge of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. From that height, on a clear day, the NPS notes you can see Empire Bluffs to the south, Platte Bay beyond that, and the Manitou Islands to the northwest — a sweep of shoreline and open water that's hard to match from a road-accessible point anywhere on the Michigan coast.

Getting there is straightforward from M-22: pick up M-109 near Empire and enter the drive's 7.4-mile one-way paved loop. The posted limit is 20 mph, and the NPS flags that the road includes steep inclines that can become slippery in wet conditions — worth keeping in mind on two wheels. Trailers are not permitted on the loop. Accessible parking and vault toilets are available at Stop #9 itself, though reaching the actual overlook edge requires a walk: a paved path through maple-beech forest transitions to loose sand before the bluff top. The bluff is an active erosion zone — the NPS documents it receding at roughly a foot per year — so the overlook's physical edge has changed over time and visitors are firmly discouraged from attempting to descend to the beach below. The drive is open to vehicles seasonally, generally late May through late October.