Topic
The Great Outdoors, page 3
From Great Lakes shoreline to waterfalls, trails, state parks, and quiet two-tracks, Michigan was made for getting outside. These notes connect the outdoor places to the communities around them.
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Inland Arenac: rivers, woods, and the Rifle
Inland Arenac County is shaped by the Rifle, Au Gres, and Pine rivers, state forest, hunting, paddling, and rural space.
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Inland Emmet: Alanson, Pellston, and the Inland Waterway
Littlefield, Maple River, McKinley, Center, and Springvale townships are Emmet County's quieter inland side, with Alanson, Pellston, and the Inland Waterway.
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Inland Iosco: the Huron National Forest and the quiet west
Inland Iosco is forest, trails, hunting country, and the quieter west-side communities around M-65.
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Lake Charlevoix
Lake Charlevoix anchors summer life, boating, fishing, and waterfront buying across seven Charlevoix County townships.
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Lake living in Mecosta County
Mecosta County lake buyers should ask about assessments, wells and septic systems, and legal lake levels.
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Little Traverse Bay and Petoskey stones
Little Traverse Bay anchors Petoskey and Harbor Springs, with premium shoreline and classic Petoskey-stone hunting.
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Living on Higgins Lake: deep, cold, and famously clear
Higgins Lake is a deep, clear, premium lakefront market in Gerrish, Lyon, and Markey townships.
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Living on Houghton Lake: Michigan's biggest inland lake
Houghton Lake is Michigan's largest inland lake, a shallow year-round resort lake with sewer and lake-board details buyers should check.
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Living on Hubbard Lake
Hubbard Lake is Alcona County's big inland-lake market, spanning Alcona, Caledonia, and Hawes townships.
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Living on Lake St. Helen
Lake St. Helen is Roscommon County's east-side all-sports lake, with legal lake levels and special assessments to ask about.
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Living on the Lake Huron shore in Alcona County
Alcona County's Lake Huron shore brings harbors, beaches, parks, fishing, dark skies, and Great Lakes buyer basics.
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Living on the Lake Huron shore in Iosco County
Iosco County's Lake Huron shore centers on Tawas Bay, sandy beaches, harbors, and shoreline-buyer basics.
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Living on the Saginaw Bay shore
Arenac County's Saginaw Bay shore offers Lake Huron frontage, boating, fishing, and shoreline questions buyers should check.
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Nub's Nob and The Highlands
Pleasantview Township is Emmet County's ski-and-golf pocket, with Nub's Nob and The Highlands north of Harbor Springs.
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Oscoda and the Au Sable River
Oscoda and Au Sable townships sit where the Au Sable River meets Lake Huron and the national forest.
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Oscoda County's jack pine forest and the Kirtland's warbler
Oscoda County's public forest, jack pine habitat, Kirtland's warbler tours, hunting, and trail systems shape rural life here.
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Otsego Lake
Otsego Lake is the county's namesake lake, with a state park, cottages, year-round homes, and waterfront-buyer details to check.
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Reed City: the Crossroads of two rail-trails
Reed City is where the White Pine Trail and Pere Marquette State Trail cross downtown.
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The Au Sable River and Mio Pond
Big Creek and Mentor Township buyers are close to the Au Sable River, Mio Pond, and one of Michigan's classic trout-and-canoe corridors.
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The Au Sable River: Crawford County's claim to fame
Crawford County's Au Sable River is a legendary trout and canoe river, central to Grayling and the river townships.
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The Grand Traverse Bay shore and Elk Rapids
Antrim County's Grand Traverse Bay shore centers on Elk Rapids, US-31, beaches, harbors, and prime waterfront buying questions.
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The high country where the rivers start
Otsego County's rural townships sit on high, rolling headwaters country with snow, forest, farms, and cold-water rivers.
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The Jordan Valley and Antrim's wooded interior
Antrim County's inland townships offer the Jordan River Valley, Mackinaw State Forest, trails, acreage, and rural privacy.
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The quieter corners: Norwood, Wilson, Hudson, and Chandler
Charlevoix County's quieter inland townships offer woods, farmland, small lakes, and larger rural parcels away from the resort-town core.
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The Rifle River Recreation Area, in your backyard
The Rifle River Recreation Area gives the Lupton and Rose City area a major state-park backyard.
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The Tunnel of Trees: Good Hart and Cross Village
Friendship, Readmond, and Cross Village townships follow the Tunnel of Trees along Emmet County's quiet Lake Michigan bluff country.
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The White Pine Trail and the Muskegon River
Big Rapids, Morley, and Stanwood sit on the White Pine Trail, with the Muskegon River running through Big Rapids.
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Torch Lake and the Chain of Lakes
Torch Lake and the Elk River Chain of Lakes shape Antrim County waterfront life and lakefront buying questions.
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Trails, forest, and lakes: Ogemaw's outdoor life
Rural Ogemaw County is shaped by state forest, ORV and snowmobile trails, small lakes, and outdoor access.
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A great bird marsh where the rivers meet
Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge protects a remnant of the Shiawassee Flats and is a major migratory-bird destination south of Saginaw.
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A place dark enough to see the Milky Way
Lake Hudson Recreation Area became Michigan's first dark-sky preserve and remains a quiet southwest Lenawee outdoor spot.
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A sprawling garden hidden in the Irish Hills
Hidden Lake Gardens is Michigan State University's large botanical garden and arboretum in Franklin Township near Tipton.
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A state park and a great marsh on the bay
Bay City State Park and Tobico Marsh make Bangor Township one of Bay County's main outdoor stops for shoreline trails and birding.
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Clark Lake and the Irish Hills
Columbia Township is home to Clark Lake and part of the Irish Hills, a long-running resort and lake-country landscape.
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Devils Lake: the Irish Hills' old summer resort
Devils Lake and Manitou Beach carry Lenawee County's old Irish Hills summer-resort story.
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Dow Gardens and the treetop walk
Dow Gardens and Whiting Forest give Midland a public garden, historic home, and nationally noted treetop canopy walk.
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One of NASCAR's fastest tracks is in the Irish Hills
Michigan International Speedway brings one of NASCAR's fastest major tracks to Cambridge Township in the Irish Hills.
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One of the country's biggest nature centers
Chippewa Nature Center in Homer Township offers more than 1,500 acres of trails, rivers, exhibits, and homestead programs.
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Sleepy Hollow State Park and the county's wild side
Sleepy Hollow State Park, Lake Ovid, Maple River wetlands, and Rose Lake give Clinton County a strong outdoors side.
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The Cascades: a glowing waterfall built by one man's dream
Jackson's Cascades is a man-made illuminated waterfall in Sparks Foundation County Park, built from William Sparks's hometown dream.
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The Flat River and the Fred Meijer trails
Greenville and Edmore connect into the Fred Meijer trail network along the Flat River and north toward Alma.
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The Grand River and Ionia State Recreation Area
The Grand River, Ionia State Recreation Area, and Fred Meijer Grand River Valley Trail give Ionia and Saranac easy access to paddling, trails, camping, and wildlife.
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The last raised bog in Michigan
Minden Bog is a rare raised peat bog in Minden Township and the quiet headwaters of the Cass and Black rivers.
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The Ledges at Grand Ledge
Grand Ledge is named for the sandstone cliffs along the Grand River, with trails, climbing, fossils, and a long resort history.
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The Lower Peninsula's biggest state park is right here
Waterloo Recreation Area sprawls across roughly 20,000 acres of lakes, trails, campgrounds, wetlands, and glacial hills.
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The Pere Marquette Rail Trail
Downtown Clare and Farwell connect to the Pere Marquette rail-trail system for biking, walking, running, and skiing.
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The tip of the Thumb
Port Austin sits at the tip of the Thumb, with beaches, a farmers market, kayaking, Turnip Rock, and the Port Austin Reef Lighthouse offshore.
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An "up north" weekend without leaving the county: Livingston's big parks and trails
Livingston County has large state recreation areas, major trails, and enough public land to feel like an up-north weekend close to Detroit.
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Beaches, big dunes, and a luge run on the lakeshore
Muskegon's Lake Michigan shore has major beaches, dune parks, and a public luge and winter-sports complex.
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Lake St. Clair and the Nautical Mile
Lake St. Clair defines Macomb County's eastern edge, from fishing and muskie waters to the Nautical Mile in St. Clair Shores.
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Oval Beach, a hand-cranked ferry, and the big dunes
Saugatuck's outdoor draw includes Oval Beach, the hand-cranked chain ferry, Mount Baldhead, Saugatuck Dunes State Park, and dune rides.
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The Allegan State Game Area and the great goose migration
The Allegan State Game Area is a huge public-land anchor west of Allegan, known for trails, paddling, hunting, camping, and fall Canada geese.
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The Kal-Haven Trail
The Kal-Haven Trail is a 34-mile rail-trail between Kalamazoo and South Haven, with Bloomingdale at its midpoint.
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The state's biggest amusement park
Michigan's Adventure in Dalton Township is Michigan's largest amusement park, with roller coasters and a water park on one ticket.
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'Big Red': Holland's Beloved (and Not-Always-Red) Icon
Holland's beloved Dutch-gabled icon, guarding a hand-dug channel into Lake Michigan — and famous for a coat of red it didn't wear until 1956.
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Agate Falls
Bond Falls' quieter sibling sits a few miles downstream on the same river — about forty feet of glittering water you can take in from a trail or an old railroad bridge above.
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America's First National Lakeshore Is in the U.P. — and the Cliffs Are Painted by Minerals
America's first national lakeshore is in the U.P., where Lake Superior cliffs rise 200 feet and minerals paint them in streaks of color.
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Asparagus and Its Queen: The Pride of Oceana County
Oceana County calls itself the Asparagus Capital of the World, with the crop, the hand-harvest, and the queen to back it up.
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Big Sable Point: The Striped Giant You Have to Hike To
A 112-foot black-and-white giant in the Ludington dunes, reached only by a 1.8-mile hike — one of Michigan's tallest lighthouses.
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Bond Falls
Many U.P. folks call Bond Falls the prettiest waterfall in Michigan after Tahquamenon — a hundred-foot-wide staircase of cascades you can stand right in the middle of.
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Canyon Falls and the 'Grand Canyon of Michigan'
A short walk off US-41 near L'Anse leads to a fifteen-foot plunge into a box-walled gorge — the start of the 'Grand Canyon of Michigan,' which downstream runs a mile wide and 300 feet deep.
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Crisp Point: The Light That Was Nearly Lost to the Lake
A lonely tower on Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast that nearly slid into the lake — saved by stubborn volunteers and relit in 2013.
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Drummond Island: The Last British Holdout
The second-largest freshwater island in the U.S., a last British holdout until 1828, and home to one of the world's rare alvar grasslands.
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Grand Haven's Red Catwalk: A Lake Michigan Postcard
Two fire-engine-red lighthouses and a long catwalk marching into Lake Michigan — maybe the most photographed scene on Michigan's whole coast.
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Harsens Island and the Largest Freshwater Delta in North America
The biggest island in the largest freshwater delta in North America — the marshy, ferry-served Venice of Michigan.
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Hungarian Falls
Above Hubbell in the old Copper Country, little Dover Creek puts on a big show — three drops totaling about ninety feet — a short walk from Michigan's tallest waterfall, Douglass Houghton.
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Laughing Whitefish Falls
One of the best names in Michigan, and a shape to match: the Laughing Whitefish River fans out about a hundred feet down a stepped limestone wall in a quiet, uncrowded state park.
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Manganese Falls
At nearly the northern tip of the Keweenaw, Manganese Falls hides in a slot so narrow and deep you peer down from an overlook to glimpse it — a tucked-away stop on a Copper Country waterfall tour.
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Michigan Has a Waterfall the Color of Root Beer
Deep in the Upper Peninsula, the Tahquamenon River plunges over a 50-foot ledge in a froth of root-beer-colored foam — colored by tannins, not anything unclean.
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Michigan Touches Four of the Five Great Lakes — and Has the Longest Freshwater Coastline in the Country
Michigan borders four of the five Great Lakes and has the longest freshwater coastline in the country — 3,288 miles of it, including the place Good Morning America once called the most beautiful in America.
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Morels: Michigan's Secret-Spot Spring Ritual
Each spring, Michigan's woods fill with secretive hunters chasing the honeycombed morel — and the towns that throw festivals for it.
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Munising, the Waterfall Capital
Munising calls itself the Waterfall Capital of Michigan, and with around seventeen named falls in Alger County — several reachable on a short walk — it has earned the title.
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