With all of Sleeping Bear closed, most private campgrounds nearby were full. But a local we met in Glen Arbor suggested we try Betsie River Campground near Frankfort, south of any storm damage. It pained us to leave the Sleeping Bear area without seeing the dunes, but they were well guarded. The campground was nothing special. Mostly trailers and boats crammed in together on a lot. But there were only two sites left, and we were grateful to get one of them.
On the beach with Bailey.
Before we left the peninsula, there were a couple of things we wanted to see. One was a beach a local in Glen Arbor had told us about. It was a small national park beach that was still open, south of the dunes but with a distant view of them. The other was Betsie Point Lighthouse, which is quite picturesque.
So we got ourselves moving in the morning and left Gypsy in the RV while we went out. The beach was south of Empire, unmarked from the highway, down a country road. Tourists would never know it was there. It was a nice beach, but you couldn’t see really see much of the dunes. It was good for rock-hunting though, and Kate found her first Petrosky stone.
Betsie Point Lighthouse.
Next we stopped at Point Betsie Lighthouse and took a tour. It’s a colorful lighthouse with a roof painted red after sailors complained they couldn’t make out the house from the dunes. It’s been so nicely restored, inside and out, and the tower offered a great view of the coast and Manitou Islands.