The Leelanau Outdoor Center is located 32 miles beyond Traverse City in Northwest lower Michigan. If you have never been to Leelanau County, you will love our clear blue lakes, fragrant pine forests, and rolling cherry orchard hills.

The camp property rests on Pyramid Point, a 300 foot bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. It is surrounded to the north, south and east by park land known as the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Our western boundary includes 2500 feet of beach frontage on Lake Michigan. From here, visitors can see the southernmost islands of the Lake Michigan archipelago, the North Manitou shoals lighthouse and shipping passage, and unforgettable sunsets over the water.

Within walking distance of Outdoor Center grounds are dozens of trails maintained by the National Park Service. Students hike daily through meadow, field, forest and/or beaver pond habitats. Frequently, they find evidence of local wildlife including whitetail deer, porcupine, fox, hawk and coyote. National Park Service Headquarters and extensive sand dune trails are just 10-15 miles away in nearby Empire and Glen Haven.

During fall and spring sessions, students ride our big, blue Outdoor Center bus to "Dune School." This roving classroom experience starts at Park Service headquarters with hands on exhibits about dune formation, and local flora and fauna.

Then we head over to Sleeping Bear Point where students can see the five stages of dune succession, visit a ghost forest and have some free time to play in the sand.