South Manitou Island

Hike Name: South Manitou Island Location: northwest MI Length: 10 Submitted by: Jarod Johnson Date Submitted: 0/0/00 Rating:	more Michigan trail reviews Michigan national parks Michigan state parks
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Description
South Manitou Island is perfect for a couple's backpacking weekend. The trails are flat and easy. The island has a circumference of 10 miles so covering almost the entire surface is possible in a weekend. People who enjoy history will love all of the old farm homes, farm equipment and cemetaries. There is even a visible shipwreck off the coast. The best time to visit is in the fall when the leaves are changing colors. The only camping is on designated sites and most of those are located on the south eastern side. There are sites on the western side only a couple miles away. The views of the eastern sites are on cliffs overlooking Lake Michigan, with a view of North Manitou Island. With the trails being flat they are easy and even the most novice hiker can handle them. The best way is to set up a base camp and day hike the island.
There is plentiful water (obviously), a ranger station and a great lighthouse to check out.
All access is by charter ferry. The ride is 1.5 hours one way. It's a difficult ride when the water is rough but very pleasant when calm. There are designated times that the ferry picks up and drops off. They are pretty strict about these and don't wait around for stragglers too often.

Directions to Hike
The ferry leaves from Leland, MI. off of M-22.
Leland is a very small harbour town and it's easy to find the launch.

Contact Information
Address: Manitou Island Transit
PO Box 591
Leland, MI
49654
Website:http://www.leelanau.com/manitou/
E-mail: manitou@freeway.net
Phone: 231-256-9061
Fax: 231-256-7256

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