Nature
Mount Baldhead, a 250-foot sand dune across the Kalamazoo River from downtown Saugatuck, has long been one of the area’s defining landmarks. Oral tradition says the Potawatomi gathered there for annual rituals, and after European settlement it became a lookout and popular destination for visitors by 1850. Tourism grew in the late 19th century, and stairs and a watch tower were added in 1887. Its bare summit changed in the 1930s when vegetation was planted to slow erosion, and Oval Beach opened beside it in 1936. During the Cold War, the summit also housed a rare gap-filler radar installation, adding military significance to its natural and recreational importance.
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Saugatuck, Michigan · United States
