Do you only go to the dunes in the summer? Make this the year to venture out there now! Winter is an excellent time to explore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, especially with a National Park Ranger on snowshoes! Holiday hikes will begin at the Visitor Center on Highway M-72 near the village of Empire at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 28, and Saturday, December 30, 2006. For the rest of the winter, snowshoe walks will be offered every Saturday in January and February, meeting at the same time and place. (If there is no snow, rangers will still offer a guided walk.)