Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Travel Guide: Lodging

My partner and I spent our three-year anniversary visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We left late Friday night after work, spent Saturday at the national park, and traveled to Traverse City on Sunday before our three-and-a-half-hour drive home. Our weekend trip was relaxing and had some of the best views we’ve seen in Michigan.

Part one of my series on Sleeping Bear Dunes talks about lodging. There will be two additional parts to this series to ensure your trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a success.

Sleeping Bear Dunes Lodging
The small towns most closely associated with Sleeping Bear Dunes are Glen Arbor, Empire, and Frankfort. While there are lodging options closer to the dunes in Glen Arbor and Empire, we stayed in Frankfort. I recommend staying in Frankfort, as the fall colors were beautiful and there is a large downtown area with locally-owned restaurants as well as a grocery store. Frankfort is about 30 minutes from the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire, the Sleeping Bear Dunes starting point.

While in Frankfort, we stayed at Bay Port Lodging. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I am passionate about supporting small businesses, especially throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Bay Port Lodging is a family-owned and locally-operated business. One of the owners, LuAnn, worked with us when we said we’d be arriving past check-in time. Additionally, the owners leave area resource guides for the guests. This is truly a ma and pop boutique motel that is well-maintained, clean, and within minutes from the beach, pier and lighthouse, downtown, restaurants, and the grocery store. We paid $135 per night to stay at Bay Port Lodging.

Photograph of the Bay Port Lodging boutique motel signage in Frankfort, Mich.

Photograph of the Bay Port Lodging boutique motel rooms in Frankfort, Mich.

Photograph of the Bay Port Lodging boutique motel rooms in Frankfort, Mich.

Due to COVID, while not at Sleeping Bear Dunes, we spent time in our room (which was well-deserved after hiking the dunal landscape). We ordered takeout from local restaurants in Frankfort; however, many don’t offer takeout during peak dinner hours, so options were limited. We took a short drive around the bay to Elberta to eat dinner from our car at the Elberta Bluffs Scenic Lookout. This is one of the best places to view the sunset over Lake Michigan. You can park at the top of the bluff to see views far over the horizon or park at the bottom, giving you access to the beach.

There is a lot to explore in Frankfort, so I recommend taking a stroll through the downtown street to shop and support the area’s local businesses. For Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Travel Guide Part Two: The National Park, click here.