Sight · Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
An island farm where isolation helped transform American rye.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Sleeping Bear Dunes Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Sleeping Bear Dunes audio tour“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
George Conrad Hutzler Farm is a historic farmstead on South Manitou Island, known for the Hutzlers’ Rosen Rye seed crop. Its draw is an unusual agricultural story: the island’s isolation helped keep the crop from cross-pollinating.
This is an inland walking destination. The farm loop is nearly 2 miles; from the island village, the walk around the loop and back is about 6 miles. The Hutzler homestead comes after the August Beck farm, and Conrad’s grave sits on a hill overlooking the farm.
George Conrad Jr. and his son Louis cultivated Rosen Rye, a high-yield variety that needed isolation to stay true to type. It increased rye yields threefold and won the Hutzlers blue ribbons at the Chicago Hay & Grain Show for several successive years. Each winter, the family hand-picked the best seed from that year’s crop. Hutzler family members and other island farmers also worked with Michigan State on Michelite beans, which became a national standard.
Wildlife
27 sightingsPiping PloverMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
70 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
56 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
68 sightingsSandhill CraneMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
58 sightingsPorcupineMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
31 sightingsLoonMost seen around 5 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Sleeping Bear Dunes. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyFlorence Lake Trail2.5 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayA short village walk to Florence Lake's sandy shore.
ChallengingSouth Manitou West Side Dunes Trail7.4 mi · 4.5 hr · 1.9 mi awayA hard climb ends with Lake Michigan in every direction.
ModerateSouth Manitou Old Growth Cedars Trail6.9 mi · 3.5 hr · 1.9 mi awayA boardwalk through ancient cedars after a full island walk.
EasySouth Manitou School House Trail3 mi · 1.8 hr · 1.9 mi awayA three-mile island walk to a one-room schoolhouse from 1899.
EasySouth Manitou Cemetery Trail4.6 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.9 mi awayAn easy island road walk to the main historic cemetery.
EasyOld Cemetery via Beach2 mi · 1 hr · 1.9 mi awayA short shore walk to South Manitou's old dock and cemetery.
ModerateFrancisco Morazan Shipwreck Trail6 mi · 3.5 hr · 1.9 mi awayLook down from the bluff at a freighter stranded in 1960.
EasySouth Manitou Lighthouse Hike0.6 mi · 30 min · 1.9 mi awayA short village walk to a Lake Michigan lighthouse.
Sight · 0.2 mi awayAugust Beck FarmA farmstead that tells South Manitou’s farming story.Sight · 0.8 mi awaySouth Manitou Island SchoolhouseEight grades fit in one room, and the island gathered there.
Sight · 0.8 mi awaySouth Manitou Island CemeteryA quiet island walk into the stories behind the gravestones.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayGeorge Johan Hutzler FarmA South Manitou homestead with a two-story barn built for pigs.
Campground · 1.3 mi awayBay Campground — South Manitou IslandA walk-in island campground close to South Manitou’s dock.
Campground · 1.6 mi awayPopple Campground, South Manitou IslandA seven-site backcountry camp near South Manitou’s northern beach.
Campground · 1.7 mi awayWeather Station Campground — South Manitou IslandA quiet island camp with passage views and a real gear haul.Sight · 1.7 mi awaySouth Manitou Old-Growth CedarsA quiet walk among cedars several centuries old.Parkwolf’s Sleeping Bear Dunes ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
