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.
