Nordhouse Dunes

I had a good trip there in September of 2008 (despite forgetting the coffee). My friend and I parked at Ludington SP, and used the trail system along Hamlin Lake to enter the "back door" of the dunes on the southeast side. We crossed a cool dunescape and spent our first night camped right off Lake Hamlin in a small wooded copse with a towering dune at our back. In retrospect, I think we were on private land, but we always go LNT.

The next day we plodded north across a few more dunes, got tired of sand, and dropped into some deep woods. We found an old road in a bottom and followed it north, trusting instinct. We eventually came to a dirt road that offered a route west toward Lake Michigan. We followed it, mounted a tall dune nearby for a view, and soon were at Lake Michigan's shore. we explored a bit, found a nice camp site at the base of another dune in some trees, and had another great night.

A front came through that night, and the morning saw a cool brisk wind out of the north, which was great as we were headed south along the shore. We walked about 3 miles down the beach to the lighthouse which is part of Ludington SP. From there, we picked up the trail system and made our way back to the car.

It was a fun trip because much of it was off trail, across dramatic dunescapes and then in the woods and along the shore. A great little exploration. I got the sense that few people do what we did in visiting Nordhouse.

There is a brewpub in Ludington that was decent, not great. But it's hard to have a bad post-hike beer.

Thanks for pics. They helped me decide to do this in next couple/three weeks (i hope). I also like the idea of hiking in from the SP as I have a SP pass.