North Bar Lake Overlook and Picnic Area

This roadside viewpoint and picnic stop sits on Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, a 7.4-mile one-way loop through the lakeshore. North Bar Lake lies below the overlook, with Platte Bay and Point Betsie stretching out beyond the forest. Keep this stop for the broad water view, especially when the maple and beech trees turn color. The drive has 12 interpretive stops and takes about two hours if you stop at each; an entrance pass is required. Vehicles generally use the loop from late May through late October. In winter and spring, the road is open for hiking and walk-in recreation.

The view layers North Bar Lake, the wooded slopes, Platte Bay, and distant Point Betsie. For a photo, keep some treetops in the foreground and include the sandy edge where the small lake meets Lake Michigan; a tight crop of open water loses what makes this view distinctive. Fall color adds another layer to the forest canopy.

North Bar Lake formed behind a sand bar along Lake Michigan and was once a small bay. Waves keep building and cutting through the bar, so a channel between the lake and Lake Michigan can open or close over time. On some days, a greener band of water running parallel to shore is visible from the overlook. The longshore current moves sand along the coast like a river, and sometimes shows as a greener band running parallel to shore.

There’s a shaded picnic area, table, and vault or composting toilet. The National Park Service lists accessible parking and marks the stop wheelchair accessible, though it doesn’t describe the viewing path’s surface or grade. The table is for your own picnic; running water and flush toilets are at Picnic Mountain elsewhere on the drive. Leashed pets are allowed on the scenic drive, but not at the separate North Bar Beach below.