North Manitou Island is located in Lake Michigan, approximately 12 miles west of Leland, Michigan. It is nearly eight miles long and over four miles wide, with 20 miles of shoreline. Smaller South Manitou Island lies to its southwest. Sunset on Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. ... Leland is the county seat of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Largest city Lansing Detroit Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 10th 102,384 sq mi  265,172 km² 239 miles  385 km 491 miles  790 km 41. ... South Manitou Island is located in Lake Michigan, approximately 21 miles west of Leland, Michigan. ...

North Manitou Island: southern dunes

The island is part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore but lies over 6 miles offshore, and park passes and camping fees are required. The island can be accessed by a ferry service from Leland; private watercraft are permitted with limited docking. Download high resolution version (968x684, 157 KB)North Manitou Island File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (968x684, 157 KB)North Manitou Island File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a U.S. national lakeshore located on the little finger of the lower peninsula of Michigan in Leelanau County and Benzie County. ...

In Native American mythology, long ago a mother bear and her two cubs sought to cross Lake Michigan from the Wisconsin shore. The mother bear made it across, but her cubs drowned in the lake, forming the two Manitou islands. The mother bear lies and waits for her cubs, forming the sleeping bear dunes.

Though it was the least populated of the Manitou islands, apple and cherry orchards were planted during its settlement period. Now uninhabited, the homesteads and buildings of the island's former settlers lie in varying states of ruin. The Manitou islands are surrounded by over 50 known shipwreck sites, which are popular diving spots.

The island has a system of trails (some of them the remnants of the island's unpaved roads and logging railroads), with leave-no-trace wilderness camping permitted throughout the island, and several designated camping sites near the ranger station at the dock. Filtered water is available at the ranger station, with limited natural inland water sources. There are two inland lakes suitable for fishing: Lake Manitou and Tamarack Lake. The island is flanked by dunes on its northwest and southwest sides. Leave No Trace is an ecological principle of leaving an environment of habitation in such a condition as to render it impossible for future observers to discern the previous presence of the practitioners of the Leave No Trace methodology. ...

Because of its distance from the mainland, a limited variety of mammals are found on the island: beavers, deer (introduced), coyotes, mice, chipmunks, and raccoons. Numerous songbirds, waterfowl, and various raptors can be seen; of particular note is the endangered Piping Plover, which nests here. There is an annual deer hunting season to limit the size of the population and there are even 'Barbed Wires' surrounding it! Binomial name Castor canadensis Kuhl, 1820 A taxidermied American Beaver The American Beaver (Castor canadensis) is a large semi-aquatic rodent native to Canada, most of the United States and parts of northern Mexico. ... Subfamilies Capreolinae Cervinae Hydropotinae Muntiacinae A deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. ... Binomial name Canis latrans Say, 1823 The coyote (Canis latrans, meaning barking dog, also prairie wolf [1]) is a member of the Canidae (dog) family and a relative of the domestic dog. ... Feral mouse A mouse is a mammal that belongs to one of numerous species of small rodents in the genus Mus and various related genera of the family Muridæ (Old World Mice). ... Species 23 species, see text Chipmunk is the common name for any small squirrel-like rodent species of the genus Tamias in the family Sciuridae. ... Type Species Ursus lotor Linnaeus, 1758 Species Procyon cancrivorus Procyon insularis Procyon lotor Raccoons are mammals native to the Americas in the genus Procyon of the Procyonidae family. ... Binomial name Charadrius melodus (Ord, 1824) The Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) is a small plover. ...

See Also

South Manitou Island South Manitou Island is located in Lake Michigan, approximately 21 miles west of Leland, Michigan. ...

External links

• http://www.northmanitou.com
• North Manitou Island, National Park
• Manitou Island Transit