Cultural landscape features within Sleeping Bear Dunes includes gardens, fence rows, pine plantations, windbreaks, cemeteries, antique orchards, old roads, meadows, agricultural fields, and ornamental plantings such as lilacs. Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear helps to restore these aspects of human settlement that provide a sense of place, and preserves our shared heritage. This work is critical to telling the story of life on the rural landscape. There are on-going volunteer opportunities to help with these projects.

Garden Team – We have restored the kitchen gardens, perennial flower garden, and raspberry gardens at the Olsen Farm. Our team of gardeners plant and maintain these in the summer. We are pursuing restoring other gardens at historic properties as well. Learn how you can get involved by signing up to be on the Garden Team.

Adopt-a Landscape – help plant replacement sugar maple and fruit trees, prune apple trees, assist in preserving the 80 varieties of orchards found in the park, by watering newly planted grafts or remove invasive vegetation.

Mowers – our mowers maintain fields that have been cleared. The tractors and mowers are purchased by Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear through the generosity of donors.

If you are interested in volunteering for any of these programs, please complete and submit our volunteer application.