Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area

The 3,500 acre Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is a beautiful and complex feature along Lake Michigan’s eastern shoreline, in the Huron-Manistee National Forest, located between Ludington and Manistee. It is popular for hiking, primitive and dispersed camping, beach combing, hunting, picnicking, nature study and wildlife viewing, also offering approximately 10-miles of trails accessed from two developed trailheads:  Nurnberg Road and Lake Michigan Recreation Area.  The designated Wilderness area is a protected natural space, an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.

Our Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Story has more information on what is being done to protect this special place and how you can help. 

Visiting Nordhouse Dunes

Nurnberg Road Trailhead offers day use and dispersed overnight camping access. A day use fee is required, please see the instructions posted at the respective trailheads for instructions on how to pay or get a pass ahead of time. Next to Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is Lake Michigan Recreation Area, a 102 site campground and day use area. Visit Recreation.gov to plan your trip to Lake Michigan Recreation Area.

Protect This Special Place

Nordhouse is one of two federally Designated Wilderness Areas in Michigan’s lower peninsula.  Congress conserved this land in 1987 as part of the larger 1964 Wilderness Act. As a Designated Wilderness there are use restrictions to protect the area – see restrictions above for full list. We encourage visitors to practice Leave No Trace and Tread Lightly principles.

The Dunes is part of the Big Sable Dunes Complex, of which includes the Lake Michigan Recreation Area and the Ludington Dunes Ecosystem. Formed 3,500-4,000 years ago, some dunes stand up to 140 feet high.  This collective complex area is the largest area of freshwater interdunal ponds in the world, with dune grass providing habitat and refuge for wildlife.  The area is also home to the federally endangered Pitcher’s Thistle, and Piping Plover (a shoreline bird).

Seasonal Information

Lake Michigan Recreation Area is gated in the off season.