North Manitou Island

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North Manitou Island is located in Lake Michigan, approximately 12 miles west-northwest of Leland, Michigan. It is nearly eight miles long and over four miles wide, with 20 miles of shoreline. It has a land area of 57.876 km² (22.346 sq mi) and has no population. Smaller South Manitou Island lies to its southwest.

North Manitou Island: southern dunes

Both islands are in Leelanau County and are part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, although they are over 6 miles offshore. 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. No wheeled vehicles are allowed on the island other than those used by the park service. No campfires are allowed on the island except at a public firepit near the ranger station.

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.

By 1847 there were piers on the eastern and western sides of the island. These piers were used by passing steamers to stop for refueling while traveling in Lake Michigan. No Native Americans lived on the Manitou Islands at this time, probably due to the islands' isolation and lack of natural resources.

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. There is a cemetery in the southeast of the island where some of the islands former inhabitants are buried.

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. Wilderness camping is permitted throughout the island, and there are 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 is one sizeable inland lake, suitable for fishing, called Lake Manitou and another Tamarack Lake, which is now essentially a swamp. The island is flanked by dunes on its northwest and southwest sides.

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. Butler's Garter Snakes are abundant on the island. There is an annual deer hunting season to limit the size of the population.