On this Earth Week, we are busting out the hiking shoes, and hitting a few of our favorite spots.
Earlier this month, the landscape of one of the most magical trails in Leelanau County saw the effects of an ever-changing landscape.
Treat Farm Trail, located in Empire Township is the well-known connection to Empire Bluff Trail, providing a magnificent sunset, perched high above deep blue waters.
Treat Farm Trail, at its overlook, was home to a cluster of four trees that stood straight, naturally carved by the wind, and provided one of the best backdrops in the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore.
Those trees fell down the sandy cliff due to erosion earlier this month, lessening the space where people stand to admire the view.
Treat Farm is by far my favorite trail. After walking through the forest to a former homestead, across a field, and to the cliff’s edge is the gem view of this trail.
While walking up to the view, I replay the many times I sat there in thought and touched these trees that represent strength and resilience to myself.
At this spiritual spot for me, I laugh, cry, and admire this life most of all. On many days, Treat Farm is the place I’m gravitated to by forces of the great sleeping bear.
The farm features a hike through the woods along an old road that leads to a farmhouse where the Treat family grew generations of a family. The farm is located on Norconk Road.
The story of the Treat Farm family, like many others in the area, will forever be intertwined with the creation of SBDNL. I was lucky enough to attend a family function of the Treat Family last Memorial Day where members of the family walk the trail back to the homesteads.
When the Treats were forced to sell the family farm to SBDNL in the early 1970s, Tammy Treat was just an 8-year-old girl.
Tammy’s grandfather, Charles Treat, was a farmer and an engineer who bought the property in 1912 after serving in the Navy. Tammy’s father, Charles Donald Treat, was born in 1921. He was one of three children and served in World War II.
The Treat family were craftsmen by trade. They grew asparagus, beans, pears, plums, apples, grapes, and raspberries, to name a few.
The Treat family was one with the Earth. There was no power at the farmhouse until the government forced them. Same with plumbing and running water.
Treat Farm is connected to the iconic Empire Bluff Trail has thousands upon thousands of visitors walking through its magical forest that slowly reveals the breathtaking view. Empire Bluff Trail and Treat Farm Trail is a reasonably short and accessible trail, which makes it perfect for families, a calm hike, or a romantic date night.
