The places that don't make you apologize for the kids. Restaurants with crayons that aren't an afterthought, parks with shade and bathrooms, the ice-cream stop with the line on a hot Tuesday.
A Glen Lake tradition since 1986, next door to Old Settler's Park in Burdickville rather than in Glen Arbor village. Hand-dipped Moomers ice cream, milkshakes, and malts out of the take-out window, plus a shelf of local wine and beer and Great Lakes Chips for anyone provisioning a picnic instead. Closed Mondays; Tuesday through Saturday runs until 9pm, later than most anything else on this end of the lake.
The gelato counter next door to Grocer's Daughter's chocolate shop in Empire, open later into the evening than almost anything else in town — noon to 8, daily. Small-batch flavors rotate using the chocolate maker's own ingredients rather than a syrup base. The short walk between the two shops makes for an easy after-dinner stop if you're staying in Empire instead of driving back to Glen Arbor.
Western Avenue's daily stop for the cinnamon roll everyone in Glen Arbor already knows about — baked fresh, finished with cream cheese icing, gone by mid-morning some Saturdays. Breakfast runs until 11:30, then the kitchen resets for lunch and dinner without much of a lull. The garden patio out back is the better seat over the front dining room. No reservations, so a July Sunday means a short wait.
A 1.5-mile round trip through beech-maple forest and open dune grass, ending on a bluff more than 400 feet above Lake Michigan with Empire, South Bar Lake, and the Sleeping Bear dune field laid out below. Six interpretive posts mark the geological history along the way. A short staircase near the end is the only real obstacle — otherwise it's an easy, family-length hike. Park entrance fee applies: $25 per vehicle for seven days.
Little Glen Lake doesn't have a formal beach, but this grassy picnic area off M-109 — a short walk from the Dune Climb parking lot — is the closest thing to one: restrooms, picnic tables, and enough shoreline to carry a kayak or paddleboard in from the car. The water here is warm and shallow compared to the open lake, which is why it fills up on a hot July afternoon before the dune parking does.
North Bar Lake sits just inland of Lake Michigan at Empire, separated from the big lake by a narrow sandbar that opens and closes with the seasons. The water here runs warmer and calmer than Lake Michigan proper, which is the trade locals make on a windy day — walk the sandbar out and you can stand in both lakes within a few steps of each other.
Behind the township hall on Western Avenue, one morning a week — local produce, baked goods, and Leelanau cherries in whatever form that week's vendors brought them. The season is short, mid-June through mid-September, so a spring or October visit to Glen Arbor means missing it entirely. Tuesday only; there's no rain-date culture here, vendors set up regardless.
The 450-foot wall of sand that drops straight into Little Glen Lake — climb it and the payoff is a view back across the water instead of forward into more dune. Kids treat the descent as the whole point; the climb up is the part that humbles adults in July heat. Park entrance fee applies. Go at 9am or after 5pm in summer — midday sand temperatures make the climb genuinely uncomfortable.
The park's headquarters and the place to start before the Dune Climb or Pierce Stocking — exhibits, a park film, and rangers who know which trail is actually shaded on a 90-degree afternoon. It's in the village of Empire itself, not out at the dunes, so it's an easy stop on the way in rather than a special trip. Pass sales here went cashless in 2023 — bring a card.
Nearly 200 cherry products under one roof in the Great Hall — salsa, barbecue sauce, chocolate-covered dried cherries, all built around the Montmorency and Balaton crops grown a few miles inland. Free sampling is the whole model here; walk the aisles and taste before buying. The campus also holds the winery tasting room and the Public House restaurant, connected by garden paths, so budget more than a quick gift-shop stop.
Kayak, canoe, and paddleboard rentals for the Crystal River, which carries paddlers from Glen Lake's outlet to Lake Michigan through a gentle, sandy-bottomed current shallow enough for kids. The 2–3 hour trip passes deer, blue heron, and the occasional bald eagle. On-site retail shops sell apparel and run evening wine tastings with live music in summer. Open daily, 9 to 7 — book ahead for a July Saturday.
A mile of Lake Michigan beachfront wrapped around a full resort — golf, skiing, tennis, a spa, multiple restaurants — a short drive from Glen Lake itself rather than on it. Open to day visitors as well as guests, though beach access and some amenities are easiest to use if you're staying on property. The winter side runs skiing and snowshoeing on the same hill that's a golf course in July.
A family-run craft chocolate maker in Empire, working with clean ingredients and small batches rather than a mass-market recipe — the kind of chocolate shop that ships nationally but still feels like a local stop first. The gelato and sweets counter runs separately next door with its own hours. Worth the short detour off M-22 even for someone who wasn't planning to buy chocolate that day.
A drive-in movie theater in Benzie County, roughly 20 minutes south of Empire on M-22 and M-115 — current releases, a diner counter, and a box office that opens at 7:30 with the first movie at dusk. It's a real trip, not a stop on the way home, but it's one of the few drive-ins still running new releases rather than nostalgia double-features. Bring a radio or use the car's; the sound runs through your dashboard.