Ask around Glen Arbor this month and you will hear that Sugar Loaf is "coming back." It is, in the sense that matters most: the mountain that sat behind a chain-link fence for a quarter century now belongs to the public, permanently, free of charge, forever. What you will not hear as often is the more useful detail. The thing under construction right now, the thing Leelanau County actually approved in May, is a parking lot and a single trail. The pavilion, the sledding hill, the ice rink, all of it, is years away. If you are planning a hike up that summit this year, the gap between the story and the site plan is worth understanding before you lace up your boots.
Here is what's actually true, in order, and what it means for anyone who lives close enough to walk there.
The Story Before the Story
The public version of Sugar Loaf's revival starts in July 2025, with a fundraising campaign and a codename, "French toast," that Leelanau Conservancy executive director Tom Nelson gave the project during three and a half years of quiet negotiation. But the real work started earlier and privately. In 2020, an anonymous ownership group called SPV 45 LLC bought the 285-acre former ski resort and spent years funding the removal of the derelict hotel and the abandoned chairlifts, well before any donor ever wrote a check. The owner's representative, Ross Satterwhite, a Leland resident, is the one who approached the Conservancy and invited it to design a conservation and recreation vision for the site. The public fundraising campaign that followed didn't buy the land. The land was a gift, contingent on the community raising the money to build what comes next.
The Fifteen-Month Sprint, At a Glance
The pace once the public campaign launched was unusual even by Leelanau's donor-heavy standards. Here is the timeline that got Sugar Loaf from a closed-off memory to an active construction site:
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2020 | SPV 45 LLC buys the property, begins clearing the hotel and lift infrastructure |
| July 17, 2025 | Conservancy publicly announces the donation offer, contingent on raising $8 million by December 31 |
| September 26, 2025 | Goal reached, $8 million from more than 1,100 donors in about two months |
| March 11, 2026 | Ownership officially transfers to the Conservancy |
| May 13, 2026 | Leelanau County planners approve Phase 1, limited to a parking area and initial trail work |
| June 19, 2026 | Groundbreaking on the Sugar Loaf Scenic Area |
| July 2026 | French Valley Vineyard launches Sugar Loaf Red and Sugar Loaf White wines in partnership with the Conservancy |
That is a fast, well-documented arc. What it does not show is a finish line.
What $8 Million Actually Buys
The $8 million figure gets repeated constantly, but it is worth being precise about what it covers. It does not cover a finished amenity. Per the Leelanau Conservancy's own project page, the money funds trail construction, ecological restoration in the Good Harbor Bay Watershed, and infrastructure to make the site safe for visitors. The eventual vision, described consistently across multiple reports, includes:
- A publicly accessible trail network for hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing
- A universal access loop trail for visitors with restricted mobility
- A summit pavilion for scenic views
- A sledding hill and nature play area
- A native plant garden and habitat restoration work
One detailed account of the plan noted that these amenities would be phased in over four to five years, not delivered at once. That timeline matters more than the fundraising total, because it tells you what fall 2026 is not going to look like.
Why Phase 1 Is Just a Parking Lot
When Leelanau County's planning commission approved the first construction phase in May, zoning administrator Scott Sheehan described the scope plainly.
"Phase 1 is going to be the parking lot and just basically getting it set up for public use and safe public use. A lot of people are going to want to get out there and use it."
That is the entire first phase. Not the pavilion, not the sledding hill, not the loop trail for visitors with mobility needs. A place to park a car and a route in. The groundbreaking that followed in June, covered by 9&10 News, confirmed the same limited scope: a parking area and what the Conservancy calls the Legacy Trail, with a public opening date still undetermined at the time of that report.
What Won't Be Coming Back
Two pieces of the old resort footprint are permanently outside this project. The former airstrip and the golf course remain in the landowner's hands and are not part of the Conservancy's plans, so they will not become public land alongside the rest of the property. And while visitors will eventually be able to hike or backcountry ski to the 1,080-foot summit under their own power in winter, there is no plan to bring back chairlifts or downhill skiing in the form Sugar Loaf once had. The comeback is real. It is a different comeback than the one some longtime residents may be picturing.
How to Actually Watch This Story This Fall
If you want a signal rather than a rumor, there are a few concrete ones worth tracking. In its July 2026 announcement of a wine partnership with French Valley Vineyard, benefiting the Conservancy's ongoing work, the organization stated it expects an initial public opening sometime in mid-to-late 2026, which puts the window squarely in the months ahead of us right now. You can taste Sugar Loaf Red and Sugar Loaf White at the French Valley Vineyard tasting room in Cedar, and both wines are showing up at select local restaurants and markets around the region. If you want the history rather than the hardware, the Leelanau Historical Society's exhibit "Sugar Loaf: A Retrospective," at its museum in Leland, gathers donated skis, photographs, and memorabilia from the resort's decades of operation. And if you'd rather help build the thing than wait for it, the Conservancy maintains an open volunteer list for trail work and invasive species removal on its website.
The Village Isn't Waiting
None of this has put downtown Glen Arbor on pause. Art's Tavern, the corner institution at Lake Street and M-22 since 1934, changed hands again in June 2025 when Paul and Barb Olson, who also operate Jolly Pumpkin and Mission Table on Old Mission Peninsula, became its fourth owners since Prohibition. As Crain's Grand Rapids Business reported, the Olsons kept the cash-only policy, the ceiling pennants, and the retractable pool table exactly as they were, with only minor menu tweaks planned for the colder months. A few blocks away, the Glen Arbor Arts Center has been named one of ten standout arts destinations in the Great Lakes region, and its fall calendar runs through late September with classes, an artist residency, and exhibits open to the public. And on weekend afternoons through early fall, the M22 Wine Patio keeps its live music series going, a low-key routine that has nothing to do with what's happening up on the mountain and everything to do with why people stay in Glen Arbor while they wait for it.
Sugar Loaf will get its pavilion and its sledding hill eventually. This year, it is getting a parking lot, a trail, and a lot of patient attention from people who remember what used to be there. If you're the kind of person who wants to understand a place at this level of detail before deciding whether it's home, that instinct tends to serve you well beyond the trailhead too. If you'd like to talk about what's happening in Glen Arbor's real estate market alongside everything else changing in the village this year, Lydia Wiley would welcome the chance to schedule a private consultation.
