Arcadia Dunes: The C.S. Mott Nature Preserve

Arcadia Dunes is for walkers who want dunes, forest and open grassland on the Lake Michigan shore, with a trail for every pace and an accessible path to the big view. The preserve is open dawn to dusk all year, and leashed dogs are welcome.

It is the largest preserve the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy owns and manages: 3,927 acres across Benzie and Manistee counties.

Start with the Overlook Trail. It is the popular one, a path the conservancy lists as universally accessible, from the Baldy parking lot to a high view over Lake Michigan, and it is worth walking in every season.

Then choose by mood. The Baldy Trails continue through forest to more dune-top views. The multi-use Dry Hill Trails draw hikers, trail runners and mountain bikers. The flatter Camp Trail suits beginners, and Pete’s Woods is where to go in spring for wildflowers.

Birders should head for the Dryhill Grassland, a featured site on the Sleeping Bear Birding Trail and an open landscape of a kind that has nearly disappeared in recent decades.

In winter the preserve is listed for skiing and snowshoeing. Nearby working farms have been permanently protected too, to keep the area’s farming character.