George Schwartz coming into shore at Duneview.
Story and photos by Kevin Howell
Standing near the small boat ramp at Victory Park on Upper Lake Hamlin, my navigator Jean and I watched as a pontoon loaded with people drifted by. The ’toon slowly made its way to a tie-up near a picnic pavilion and swings.
“The kids wanted to swing, and the dog needed a break,” a woman on the boat told Jean, as the crew climbed ashore.
Victory Park on Hamlin Lake
Victory Park is near grassy headlands at Upper Hamlin Lake’s east end and is accessed by land along dirt roads winding through meadows and wooded hillsides. It’s one of several small parks, put-ins and beaches we were “backroading” to find.
The boaters were the Sutphen family from Owosso. Mrs. Sutphen and her husband raised four boys, who were all Boy Scouts. Victory Park has a nice trail system developed by scouts that climbs ravines and hillsides overlooking the lake.
The park also has a well-tended veterans’ memorial high on a bluff. The Sutphens found the park during the initial days of the pandemic.
“After the Covid hit, we were vacationing and searched out parks where there weren’t many people,” Mrs. Sutphen told me. “We liked it because of the scouting association and its relative isolation from crowds.”
Victory Park was the first stop on the second half of Jean’s and my backroad endeavor. A few days earlier we had begun our trek along Lake Michigan’s coast, north of Ludington.
Nordhouse Dunes
On that drive we traveled sandy, gravelly Nurnberg Road west of Quarterline Road to Nordhouse Dunes Trailhead at Lake Michigan. Driving through the (gorgeous!) tree-tunneled forest was an experience. You must want to go there to travel the rough washboard trail. But, in the end, you arrive at a parking area in the dunes where several trails head to the lake, about 1.5 miles by foot. We didn’t hike that day, but we ran into Tim and Kris Johnson from Byron Center.
“We came back to the car to get something,” Kris told Jean, who had noticed her Purdue T-shirt.
Jean and I are both Purdue grads, and one of the Johnsons’ kids is a student there. The Johnsons were camping out on the beach with four teens and loved the site.
“The water’s so beautiful, so nice and clear,” Kris said. “Our tent faces the lake and getting up in the morning to that view!”
Backtracking on Nurnberg, we met a county truck grading the road, making the ride back a bit easier.
The road to Nordhouse is 6.5 miles, and halfway along on the south side we spotted a two-track to a boat landing. We turned in and wound through more woods and vegetation. We found a small, wooded area with a few primitive campsites and a landing.
What a find! The landing is close to where Big Sable (aka Sauble) River enters Hamlin Lake. Tall grasses, cattails and wild rice, stretch into the lake. Narrow water trails lead from the landing, and any number of colorful butterflies float in the air. No other souls were there, just we two and the critters, making for a peaceful stopover.
Not all our finds are like that. Victory Park was certainly one, but our second stop after Victory was a letdown, for us anyway.
Wilson Hill Park, a few miles west of Victory, can be reached by paved Jebavy (aka Barnhardt) road. The first stretch, from Victory Park Road, follows unpaved Fountain Road. Approaching Wilson Hill, our first impression was of a lake resort. There’s a nice open grassy area with a swing set, covered picnic pavilion and grills. However, the boat ramp to Hamlin was a tight squeeze, with numerous boats on trailers jockeying in or out, as well as boats already moored.
Time to move on. One last stop to make on this trip.
Duneview
From Wilson Hill we headed down Jebavy Drive to Mavis Road, a real two-track! We got about 100 yards down the track and came to a wide puddle (small lake?) covering the track from last night’s heavy rains. Having encountered one bottomless puddle in my little truck on this trip, Jean suggested getting out and checking the depth.
“It doesn’t seem deep, but it might be a little soft,” she said.
Never mind.
We backed out, went back to Jebavy and took the long way around to find Duneview on Hamlin Lake’s North Bayou Park.
The park is no more than a parking lot and porta-potty located near a trailer resort, summer cottages and vacation rentals. From the parking area down a narrow street to the boat landing, the lake opens out in front of you at its widest point.
Duneview is an apt name. In an arcing panorama, state park dunes are visible all around, with towering yellow sand contrasting a blue sky and clear waters.
We met Earl Smolen and Ron White. They were keeping an eye on George Schwartz, windsurfing not far offshore.
Smolen noted: “It’s a good place to try windsurfing; it’s different than kiteboarding. Most news reporters get it wrong.”
Smolen is a nice chatty guy, and the conversation about the lake ⸺ “I’ve been coming here for 30 years” ⸺ was interesting as we waited for Schwartz to come into the landing.
“How was it out there?” I asked Schwartz, as he carried his board and sail to shore.
“When the wind gusts, it was good,” he replied.
And that was where we parted.
Jean and I headed back home to think about our next backroad trip.
How to get there
Nordhouse Dunes. From Ludington, head north on Jebavy Drive to northeast on Angling Road to east on Fountain Road to Stiles Road. At the stop sign, turn left on Stiles, heading north. At the T intersection, jog right then left onto Quarterline. Watch for Hamlin Grocery. Turn left (west) on Nurnberg Road to Nordhouse.
Victory Park. From Ludington, head north on Jebavy Drive to northeast on Angling Road. Follow Angling to Fountain Road rturn left at the curve onto Fountain Road. Turn right onto Victory Park Road, a gravel road. It makes a sharp curve to the left. Continue straight and watch for a sign for Victory Park, straight ahead. (Do not make the right turn to Sunset Bluffs Resort.) The park is at the bottom of the shady hill.
Duneview. From Ludington, take North Lakeshore Drive (M-116) until you come to a Y intersection by the appropriately named Y Country Store. Stay on Lakeshore past South and Middle Bayous (Tamarac Village) to Duneview on North Bayou.
Or grab a Mason County map and follow your nose!
