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The Legend of Sleeping Bear by Kathy-jo Wargin

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The Legend of Sleeping Bear by Kathy-jo Wargin

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The Legend of Sleeping Bear | Literacy Lab Read Aloud

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Wind blows sand up a glacial moraine to form perched sand dunes. Glacial moraines are steep cliffs that were created by retreating glacial ice long ago. Dunes form on the top and lee side (side away from wind) of the cliff.

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There are about 32 rescues of people stuck at the bottom of the dunes each year.

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There are about 32 rescues of people stuck at the bottom of the dunes each year.

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People who become stuck at the bottom may have to pay as much as a $3,000 fine.

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Sleeping Bear Dunes are slowly eroding due to increases in nearby development, traffic, and human use affecting air and water quality. It once stood 234 feet tall and now has been eroded to less than 100 feet.

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Dunes view
Kerry Kelly 2005

In western science, the Sleeping Bear Dune is estimated to be about two thousand years old and has a fascinating history. It is classified as a perched dune because it is perched on top of a plateau, high above the lake. When the dune was forming, it was not at the edge of the bluff, but somewhat inland.Wind carried sand from the upper portion of the Lake Michigan bluff inland and deposited it to form the Sleeping Bear Dune.

Notice the skeletons of dead trees within the eroded bowl of the dune. This is called a ghost forest and tells a story of alternating stability and change. After an initial phase of active sand accumulation, a period of stability followed when trees began to grow on the dune. Later, more sand moved in and buried the trees. Two layers of buried soil within the dune indicate that there was a second period of stability and tree growth, followed by another period of sand build-up and then the final growth of the trees and shrubs that now cover the sheltered portions of the dunes.

For a long time, the sleeping Bear Dune stood at about 234 feet high with a dense plant cover. However, through most of the twentieth century, erosion has prevailed.

By 1961, the dune was only 132 feet high, and by 1980, it was down to 103 feet. The process is a continuing one. The major cause of the dune's erosion was wave action wearing away the base of the plateau on which the dune rests. As the west side of the dune loses its support, it cascades down the hill. The wind, too, is a major agent of erosion, removing sand and destroying the dune's plant cover. What does the future hold? It seems that the present trend will continue and it is only a matter of time until the Bear disappears completely.

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Sleeping Bear Dune Overlook - Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (U.S. National Park Service)

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In western science, the Sleeping Bear Dune is estimated to be about two thousand years old and has a fascinating history. It is classified as a perched dune because it is perched on top of a plateau, high above the lake.