The Old Indian Trail and surrounding area in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SBDNL) is closed due to invasive hemlock woolly adelgid.
Surveys this January and February found a large infestation on the southern boundary of the National Lakeshore, along and around the area of the Old Indian Trail. This infestation has prompted an area closure to slow the spread and allow for treatment. Plans are in development to reopen the trail by the fall of 2024.
This pest can kill hemlock trees in as little as four years. The insects access the tree’s nutrients at the base of the needles, starving the tree. In the fall and winter, the adelgids cover themselves with a white, waxy coating for protection that appears as wool bundles the size of a pinhead at the base of hemlock needles.
