Slow down! It's turtle season at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

(WWJ) — It’s turtle season at one of Michigan’s most popular destinations and officials are reminding visitors to slow down.

Park rangers from Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore are telling drivers to slow down on Sand Point Road, where turtles are often seen crossing between the beach and the marsh, near the main headquarters of the national park.

Rangers say “the blacktop of the road is also very cozy and warm to a cold-blooded turtle, making the road an ideal sunning spot (in the turtles' opinions).”

If you’re heading to Pictured Rocks this summer, officials say if you see a turtle crossing the road, you should give it some time to cross.

“It'll get there...eventually,” said a post on the Pictured Rocks Facebook page .

“The turtles crossing Sand Point are typically snapping turtles, so it's best to avoid picking them up - for all parties (and digits) involved,” the post said. “Never push a turtle back to the side it is coming from. It's trying to cross the road for a reason!”

Anyone who parks on the side of Sand Point Road is also being told to double check there are no turtles already in the spot before you park and depart the spot.

Pictured Rocks is located along the southern shores of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula, with sandstone cliffs, beaches, waterfalls, sand dunes, inland lakes, deep forest, and wild shoreline.