Saugatuck Dunes State Park | |
Iucn Category: | III |
Iucn Ref: | [1] |
Photo Width: | 280 |
Map: | USA Michigan#USA |
Map Width: | 280 |
Relief: | 1 |
Location: | Laketown Township, Allegan County, Michigan, USA |
Nearest City: | Saugatuck, Michigan |
Coordinates: | 42.7033°N -86.1997°W |
Designation: | Michigan State Park |
Area Acre: | 1000 |
Established: | 1977 |
Administrator: | Michigan Department of Natural Resources |
Website: | Saugatuck Dunes State Park |
Saugatuck Dunes State Park is a public recreation area covering on the shore of Lake Michigan between Saugatuck and Holland in Allegan County, Michigan.
The site was once part of the estate of inventor Dorr E. Felt, whose summer home, the Felt Mansion, is an in-holding within the state park that is undergoing restoration. Built by the inventor of the comptometer in 1928, the Felt's summer home was sold to the St. Augustine Seminary in 1949 and used as housing for young students, and later on, for cloistered nuns. In the 1970s, the building was purchased by the state of Michigan and used as a state police post, with nearby buildings serving as a prison. The state completed purchasing the site for state park purposes in 1978.
The largely undeveloped state park features of hiking trails, 200adj=midNaNadj=mid sand dunes covered with trees and grass, and of beachfront located two-thirds of a mile from the picnic parking area.