DID YOU KNOW?

  

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the Crystal Highlands corridor, the strip of land between Platte Lake and Crystal Lake. But did you know it’s also the site of a proposed scenic road that would run between U.S. Highway 31 and M-22?  This gateway road, dubbed the Benzie Scenic Road, will eventually take visitors from Beulah into Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  While part of the Park Service’s original plan, this road has been slow to develop because the land must be acquired from willing sellers rather than by government purchase and condemnation, as with the early park.  Still, the whole idea of another scenic road has piqued my interest, and I’ve been exploring the corridor’s backroads as they currently stand.  The land is mostly dense hardwood, very hilly, with spectacular glimpses of the lakes and distant dunes.  With only 50% of the land currently purchased, I know the Benzie Scenic Road won’t be built in my lifetime, but it’s been fun getting to know the corridor anyway.