Permit required — 🔴 Three separate things must be on the machine: a Michigan Recreation Passport, an ORV license, and an ORV trail permit. On summer weekends and holidays you also need a parking voucher.
⚠️ These are live coastal dunes and they move; faces change between visits and drop-offs are not where they were last season.
Guide
About this area
The only place in Michigan where you can legally ride the Lake Michigan sand dunes. 450 acres of open dune inside Silver Lake State Park, in Golden Township about four miles west of Mears. One of the best-known dune riding destinations in the country and the eastern equivalent of Glamis or Dumont.
At a glance
Quick facts
Best season
ORV season runs 1 April to 31 October
Managing agency
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Permit status
Permit required
Access
Getting there
Silver Lake ORV entrance — via the DNR Welcome CenterEntrance
Off US-31 in Oceana County, about 43 miles north of Muskegon and 28 miles south of Ludington. Head to the DNR ORV Welcome Center at 8505 W Fox Rd, Mears, and buy your permits there or online beforehand — they are not sold at the ORV entrance itself.
🔴 Three separate things must be on the machine: a Michigan Recreation Passport, an ORV license, and an ORV trail permit. On summer weekends and holidays you also need a parking voucher.
Where to buy
Michigan Dnr e-License — buy online before you travel — https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/buy-and-apply
Michigan Dnr Hunt Fish mobile app
Silver Lake ORV Welcome Center, 8505 W Fox Rd, Mears MI
Area information is informational only and may be inaccurate or out of date. Verify access, weather, closures, permits and hazards before and during any trip. See Terms.
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