Local roots, a life on the road, and a new path home.
Hanna McBride has spent the better part of a decade guiding people through some of the country’s most scenic landscapes. Now she’s bringing that experience home.
“In March of 2026, after a challenging winter season, I decided to stop building someone else’s dream and finally pursue my own. Baby Bear Outdoor had been an idea in the back of my mind since 2019,” McBride said. “With northern Michigan as my backyard, it was time to stop running away and start building something of my own.”
McBride, a Glen Arbor resident and Northern Michigan University graduate, launched Baby Bear Outdoor this spring — a private tour company offering small-group guided experiences through the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and surrounding shoreline.
The business offers three distinct experiences. The Baby Bear Dune Adventure is a fourto five-hour immersive journey through the national lakeshore. The Hidden Bear Experience takes guests along scenic backroads — including Miller Hill and Alligator Hill — with stops for rock hunting along the shore. The Social Bear routes guests through a handpicked selection of local breweries, wineries, distilleries and cider houses. All tours are private, run at an unhurried pace and are transported by Jeep. McBride is willing to pick guests up, or they can meet her.
The name traces back to her father, who gave her the nickname “Baby Bear” as a child. His connection to the area — and his sudden passing in 2021 — became a defining thread in her path back to Northern Michigan.
“The name Baby Bear comes from a nickname my dad gave me as a child. He’s the reason I feel so connected to this area, and why creating something in Glen Arbor felt so important,” McBride said.
McBride’s grandparents have lived on Big Glen Lake for 45 years, and she spent at least 15 summers in the area working at local businesses including Anderson’s and Art’s Tavern, where she still works. The region has always felt like home, even when she was building her career elsewhere.
Her guiding resume spans the country. She worked summers in Montana at Flathead Lake Lodge, where she transitioned from a food-and-beverage role into guiding. She spent two summers at Brush Creek Ranch, a luxury Wyoming property, running their ATV and side-by-side program, and wintered in Utah at Alta Ski Area.
“When I was down in North Carolina, I took a job in West Virginia for a couple months during my summer season, because I can never stop seasonal guiding anything... the more you run away from it the harder it is.” McBride said. “I’ve been guiding on and off for the last 6 or 7 years. There’s totally a market here in northern Michigan for it, and I hope to explore it, and I hope it goes well because I would like to continue this for the entire county as the goal.”
More information on Baby Bear Outdoor can be found at https://www.babybearoutdoor. com/
