Michigan’s parks come alive in spring and summer, but you might have to miss key attractions this summer as construction continues at some locations.
A visit to west Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will offer impressive lakefront views from the sand dunes, but you’ll have to enjoy them without the Lake Michigan overlook, set to be replaced by 2030, according to the National Park Service.
In northern Michigan, Dousman’s Mill, a key tourist attraction near Mackinaw City, will be closed for the entire 2026 season amid construction delays, according to Mackinac State Historic Parks.
Munising Falls in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Agate Falls Scenic Site, two popular Upper Peninsula waterfalls, remain closed to tourists as crews work on trails around the falls.
At nearly two dozen state parks across Michigan, you’ll run into construction-related closures that limit camping opportunities, and at least one state park is entirely closed to visitors.
Here’s what to know about closures at Michigan parks.
Popular Munising Falls still off-limits after flood damage
The Munising Falls Trail, one of the most popular and accessible sights at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, remains closed for the 2026 season following snowmelt flood damage in spring 2025.
Heavy rain and melting snow washed away 75 feet of the paved Munising Falls trail on April 28, 2025, according to the National Park Service.
Sleeping Bear Dunes overlook closed after sand shifted
At Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in northwest Michigan, the Lake Michigan overlook on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive was removed in 2025 due to shifting sand dunes, and will be rebuilt as part of a 2030 planning project, lakeshore Superintendent Scott Tucker said.
“Over the winter, the dune severed ties with the wooden viewing platform,” the park service said in a Facebook post in 2025. “Strong winds undercut the sand at the base of the platform and the western pilings no longer touched solid ground. This loss of structural integrity was an imminent safety concern. The platform has been removed.”
Popular Mackinaw City area mill shuttered this season
Dousman’s Mill near Mackinaw City will remain closed for the 2026 season amid construction delays, Mackinac State Historic Parks said.
Construction has been ongoing at the David A. Armour Visitor Center and restroom facilities since September 2025, with the visitor center now set to be completed in June and the restrooms in May, following delays, the agency said.
The historic mill will reopen in early May 2027, according to Mackinac State Historic Parks.
Upper Peninsula’s Agate Falls inaccessible
In the western Upper Peninsula, the popular Agate Falls Scenic Site on the Ontonagon River is closed this spring and summer amid repair work on the trestle bridge, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The project is set to be completed by Nov. 1, 2026.
Agate Falls Scenic Site, managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Parks and Recreation Division, is closed “for essential repairs and improvements to the site’s trestle bridge,” the DNR said.
The closure also includes rerouting an off-road vehicle trail that runs through the site, off state Highway M-28 in Ontonagon County.
“With the work taking place directly above the pathway and overlook, the site is closed to ensure public safety,” said Dan Dowdy, unit supervisor with the DNR Parks and Recreation Division.
Which state parks have construction closures?
Construction projects are underway at state parks across Michigan, prompting closures this spring and summer, per the Michigan DNR. Here are impacted state parks:
Detroit Free Press and Lansing State Journal contributed.
Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: State, national park sites closed in 2026. When parks could reopen
Reporting by Jenna Prestininzi, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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