The wooden viewing platform at Overlook 9 along Pierce Stocking Drive is no more after park staff had to remove it following the dune severing ties with the structure.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SBDNL) announced the news about the popular lookout area on Thursday via social media, describing how over the winter, strong winds undercut the sand at the base of the platform and that the western pilings no longer touched solid ground. Due to the loss of structural integrity and imminent safety concern, park staff removed the platform completely. The park service said that when the structure was originally built, it was placed a considerable distance from the edge of the dune face, but the dune has now moved further east than the platform location.
“We’re on living, active dunes, and the dune plateau and the sleeping bear dunes move on a yearly basis,” said Scott Tucker, Sleeping Bear Dunes Superintendent. “The platform went in in the mid 80s… The sand is moving every year, but this winter movement left the platform unsafe.”