Sight · Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Catch a live forge demonstration in a shop from the 1860s.
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 tourRecorded for this place
Glen Haven: Village, Boats and Beach“You're nearing Glen Haven, a small historic village beside a pebbly Lake Michigan beach.”
Plays as you drive up to Glen Haven Blacksmith Shop in the Parkwolf Sleeping Bear Dunes Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“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
Glen Haven Blacksmith Shop is a historic workshop museum in the preserved maritime village, built around 1867. When the volunteer smith is working, you can watch live forging and hear how the shop served the settlement. It typically opens from Memorial Day through Labor Day, but demonstrations depend on volunteer availability; check the current schedule before making a special trip.
The shop handled both blacksmithing and carpentry. Its workers made and repaired ox yokes, tools and carriages, shod horses, and helped build prefabricated homes, dining halls and horse barns. The hammer and sledge once rang loudly enough to carry about half a mile down the road.
Glen Haven began around 1857 as a sawmill and inn settlement. Its protected bay made it a cordwood refueling stop for the Northern Transit Company's 24-vessel steamship fleet. As steamship and lumber work declined, the blacksmith shop closed in the 1920s and became a storage shed.
The shop is one of several preserved village buildings, with the Cannery and Boat Museum and Sleeping Bear Inn nearby. Paved parking, a flush restroom and water serve the broader village. The shop is wheelchair accessible.
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
ChallengingSleeping Bear Point Trail2.8 mi · 2 hr · 0.8 mi awayGhost forest, open dunes, and Lake Michigan in one sandy loop.
EasySleeping Bear Point Spur Trail0.7 mi · 36 min · 0.8 mi awayA quick sandy walk ends at the Lake Michigan beach.
ModerateAlligator Hill Advanced Loop4.6 mi · 2.8 hr · 0.9 mi awayFollow the steep southern loop to Islands Lookout above Lake Michigan.EasyAlligator Hill Easy Loop3 mi · 1.8 hr · 0.9 mi awayA forest climb opens onto Lake Michigan and the islands.ModerateAlligator Hill Intermediate Loop4.7 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.9 mi awayA hilly forest loop to Islands Lookout and Manitou views.
ChallengingDunes Hiking Trail3.5 mi · 3.5 hr · 1.5 mi awayNine sandy hills stand between you and Lake Michigan.
ModerateCottonwood Trail1.5 mi · 1 hr · 2.3 mi awayA marked dune loop reaches a bench above Glen Lake.
ModerateWindy Moraine Trail1.5 mi · 1 hr · 3.3 mi awayA short hill loop for a Glen Lake glimpse and forest stories.
Store · 0.1 mi awayGlen Haven General StoreA small shop with a surprisingly big role in company-town life.
Lodging · 0.1 mi awaySleeping Bear InnSleep in Glen Haven's historic inn, with the beach across the road.
Sight · 0.2 mi awayGlen Haven Cannery and Boat MuseumFruit cannery, Great Lakes boats, and a cordwood town’s story.
Beach · 0.2 mi awayGlen Haven BeachA pebbly swim stop beside an old shipping port.
Campground · 0.5 mi awayD.H. Day CampgroundWooded campsites put the beach walk and Heritage Trail close.
Sight · 0.5 mi awaySleeping Bear Point Maritime MuseumA 1901 lifesaving station, its rescue boats, and the Manitou Passage.
Beach · 0.9 mi awaySunset Shores BeachStony Lake Michigan shore, with one boulder worth framing.
Sight · 0.9 mi awayAlligator Hill Charcoal KilnsSawmill scraps once became charcoal here for Michigan campers.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.
