This is one of a series of “mini blogs” about a weekend trip to the west coast of Michigan in May, 2019.

This blog will focus on a day trip to Ludington State Park. 

Ludington State Park in northwest Michigan – on Michigan’s west coast – is one of the most visited state parks in the entire state. With three modern campgrounds and rustic camping options, miles of sand dunes and a white sand beach – it’s not hard to see why!

It wasn’t quite “beach weather” when we visited in May, 2019, but we did take a hike on one of Ludington’s many hiking trails. We hiked the “Lost Lake” trail, which takes hikers around Hamlin Lake and through the surrounding woods and wetlands. Hamlin Lake is named for U.S. vice president Hannibal Hamlin. The lake site used to be the site of a small village until a dam burst and wiped it out.

We also hiked a short loop around the Hamlin Lake dam.

Here are some scenes from our visit: