Portal:Michigan highways/Selected article/August 2012

The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive is a scenic route within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, in western Northern Michigan. The roadway, with its "scenic vistas and gentle curves", is located off state highway M-109 between Empire and Glen Arbor. It runs for 7.4 mi through forest and dunes areas providing access to scenic overlooks of the Lake Michigan shoreline and the surrounding park land. Interpretive markers along the roadway are keyed to the National Park Service's guide to the drive. Over 80,000 vehicles make the trip in addition to bicyclists, hikers and skiers who use the road each year. The road was built in the 1960s and finished in 1967 by Pierce Stocking. A lumberman with road-building experience, he wanted to share the beauty of the area with others. He operated the facility until his death in 1976; afterwards it was purchased by the National Park Service and added to the park. In the 1980s, a two-year program reconstructed the roadway and added a number of features for visiting tourists. In 2011, the morning show, Good Morning America named the Sleeping Bear Dunes, and Pierce Stocking Drive, as the "Most Beautiful Place in America" after a viewer poll on its website; publicity since the award has increased traffic along the roadway. (more...)

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