2022 Shoreline Ride

Community Information

DNR Website & Registration

Know Before you go

Map

Volunteer Information

Volunteer Signup

Michigan Shoreline Horse Friends Facebook

Rules and Tips for Shoreline Rides

• Silver Lake State Park's shoreline horseback riding season will take place November 1–30 annually.
• Reservations open September 1 annually.
• A $10 reservation per horse per day is required in advance and can be made at MiDNRReservations.com. Only vehicles with a reservation for the current day are permitted to enter the ORV lot.
• A valid Recreation Passport required on all vehicles.
• Familiarize yourself with the map and what areas you can ride your horse. Follow the signed route through the dunes to the shoreline. Open riding within the ORV area or pedestrian area is not allowed.
• You must bring your own horse.
• Alcohol is prohibited.
• The parking lot gates are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Gates will open every day regardless of conditions and it is the visitor’s discretion to enter the dunes.
• You must clean up manure in the parking lot; however, a designated manure collection trailer is provided. Bring your own fork and muck bucket. No manure to be deposited in any dumpster.
• No drinking water is available for people or horses. Please plan accordingly.
• Vault toilets (or outhouses) are in the parking lot and in the dunes.
• You cannot use tie downs on horses near water.
• Be aware that DNR staff may be working in the area and operating 4-wheel drive trucks and tractors during the first two weeks of November.
• The dunes are open to hunting, but it is not a frequent occurrence.
• There is limited refuse service provided for trash

Please text TROT to 80888 to sign up to be notified from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources of opportunities. If you have previously signed up notifications through TROT to 80888, are still in the DNR notification system. 

The MDNR has asked for a Michigan Shoreline Horse Friends volunteer group to be formed to help sustain these opportunities with Parking Lot Directors/Greeters/Hay and Manure Maintenance and ORV Dune Route Manure Maintenance. The Michigan Horse Council is providing a utility vehicle for Dune Route manure maintenance. 

We will be organizing a volunteer sign through Sign-Up Genius, so please consider which dates you may be able to volunteer. If you are traveling with family or a friend, you should be able to volunteer on the same dates as you ride as long as your horses are not left unattended. Please watch for a future email with those volunteer opportunities. 

Please join the Michigan Shoreline Horse Friends Facebook page to be informed of the most current information. Invite your friends also! https://www.facebook.com/groups/michiganshorelinehorsefriends/

Silver Lake State Park Lake Michigan Shoreline Horseback Riding Details: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/things-to-do/horseback-riding/shoreline-riding

Participants must bring their own horses. 

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) will offer Daily Parking Reservations $10.00 /participant for 100 participants per day in the Silver Lake State Park ORV Parking Lot in Mears, Michigan. The MDNR is working on a reservation system hopefully to be ready Thursday, September 1st at 8:00a.m. to accept reservations for November SLSP Lake Michigan shoreline horseback riding. https://midnrreservations.com/

Participants and Volunteers must have a Michigan Recreation Passport on their vehicles.
https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/buy-and-apply/rec-pp

Participants will be allowed to traverse the most direct dune route across the SLSP ORV Dunes starting at the ORV Dune Exit Ramp, 1.1 miles of ORV Dune Route, to approximately three miles of SLSP Lake Michigan shoreline, and return the same ORV Dune Route. See map.

Participants are required to pick up their own hay and horse manure in the ORV Parking Lot and dispose in the Manure Collection Trailer or take back home in their own horse trailer. Please bring your own manure fork and muck bucket.

The SLSP ORV Dune Route manure maintenance will be maintained by the Michigan Shoreline Horse Friends volunteer group at the end of the day with the use of a utility vehicle and disposed in the Manure Collection Trailer in the ORV Parking Lot.

Please bring water for both you and your horses. Due to winterization, there will be no water available on site. 

There will be vault toilets available in the SLSP ORV Parking Lot and along the ORV Dune Route. 

THANK YOU for helping launch and sustain these fabulous opportunities for horseback riders!! We appreciate YOU and YOUR COOPERATION!!