A variety of holiday gifts are available for sale at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore visitor center; but National Park Service officials warn that the center will be closed for the holidays.

ANNUAL PASSES to the Sleeping Bear Dunes
National Lakeshore cost just $20 each, are available
at the park visitor center in Empire, and make great
holiday presents, according to park superintendent
Dusty Shultz.

The park visitor center near the intersection of M-72 and M-22 in Empire is open seven days a week from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 24 and 25, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day; and on Tuesday, Jan. 1, New Year’s Day.

“Even when the visitor center is closed, the rest of the park is still open and accessible for all to enjoy and experience the wonders of winter,” said park superintendent Dusty Shultz.

She added that anyone looking for last-minute holiday gifts should check out the visitor center, which is full of books about local history, nature guides, puzzles, prints, children’s books, Sleeping Bear Dunes T-shirts, sweatshirts, pins, patches, key chains and more.

Shultz said one good gift suggestion is a $20 annual park pass which will cover the entrance fee for everyone in a vehicle visiting any one of the many attractions within the Lakeshore.

For more information on Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, call 326-5134 or visit www.nps.gov/slbe online.