New to winter sports? Snow problem! Lessons abound for downhill, cross country and snowboarding taught by certified instructors in group, private, and semi-private classes for all ages and levels of experience.

    

Flurry of Good News

Day-trippers and resort guests alike will enjoy new developments and improvements at ski areas in both peninsulas. >more 

    

    

Cool Deals

Find the perfect package, deal or discount to save money on the slopes and enhance your Pure Michigan ski experience. >more 

    

    

Not All Downhill

Cross country skiers can glide along trails through our state parks, forests, beside lakes, across meadows and many with rest stops along the way. >more 

    

As a seemingly endless bolt of alluring, white carpeting is rolled out across the two peninsulas, Michigan is fit for winter royalty. Downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing, tubing and snowshoeing in Michigan offer enough thrills to cure any case of cabin fever. This diversity of snowsport options, often within a single resort or ski area, invites families to vacation together, and still lets everyone do their own thing.      

Many Michigan resorts and ski areas offer outstanding learn-to-ski programs for beginners of every age, and for experienced skiers looking to stay sharp. Check our list of downhill ski areas and cross country destinations to find the perfect class.

Ski areas across the state have teamed up with Michigan McDonald’s restaurants to offer an exciting and very affordable introduction to the sport of skiing and snowboarding, Discover Michigan Snowsports. The program includes a beginner lesson, ski or snowboard rental equipment and a beginner-area ski lift pass or cross country trail pass. Twenty-one ski facilities are offering the package. The lesson normally covers basic maneuvering on skis or snowboards, including stopping, turning, riding the lifts and getting up from a fall. The prices for the Discover Michigan Snowsports program are: $20 for Discover Michigan Cross Country Skiing; $30 for Discover Michigan Downhill Skiing; and $40 for Discover Michigan Snowboarding. The program is open to everyone seven years and older. The cost includes the lesson, lift ticket and rental equipment.

For the most up-to-date snowsports information, contact the Michigan Snowsports Association. 

Classic cross-country skiing is one of the easiest winter sports: By the end of their first afternoon on skinny skis, most people have not only survived the beginner’s trail but also are attacking those downhill sections with wild enthusiasm. Here’s where:

Independence Oaks County Park: The steepest hills and the best-laid tracks in Southeast Michigan are found at this Oakland County park near Clarkston, accessed from exit 89 off I-75. For beginners, the beautiful 2.5-mile Lakeshore Trail around Crooked Lake is easy. For daredevils, the Ted Gray Trail features an incredible, steep downhill run with a sharp curve in the middle of it. Independence Oaks also offers rental equipment and a warming shelter.

Muskegon Winter Sports Complex: The complex is located in the middle of Muskegon State Park and best known for its luge run, one of only five in the country. But extending into the wooded hills from the warming lodge are nine kilometers of cross-country trails. The heart of the trail system is two loops of 7.5 kilometers equipped with lights and underground wiring. The trails are illuminated until 10 p.m. and they make for a very unusual, even eerie, experience on skis.

Cross-Country Ski Headquarters: This Nordic center, reached from exit 239 off I-75, guarantees snow. That’s because the center owns a snow gun that is used even when Mother Nature is not cooperating. When she is, the center features 19 kilometers of trails in a rolling, wooded terrain. Also, you'll find one of the largest Michigan Nordic ski shops and the Stone Turtle Day Lodge, where homemade soups and giant muffins are served.

Forbush Corner: Groomed trails make it easier to learn how to ski, and nobody grooms them better than this Nordic center, located just north of Grayling via exit 264 off I-75. The center has a warming lodge, ski shop, rentals and a trail named Rollercoaster.

Vasa Pathway: The best destination for a variety of cross-country skiing experiences is Traverse City, and its crown jewel is the Vasa Pathway, home to the largest and most prestigious Nordic race in the Lower Peninsula. During the rest of the winter, Vasa belongs to recreational skiers. The trail is reached from US-31 just north of Traverse City in Acme

Garland Resort : The terrain is flat, and occasionally you’re skiing across a golf course, but this resort south of Lewiston has two things that appeal to many skiers: luxurious accommodations and the Gourmet Glide. Every Saturday in January and February, skiers follow 10 kilometers of trails, pausing along the way at five buffet stations to feast on smoked trout, cheese fondues, spiced wine and other treats.

Crystal Mountain : This downhill ski resort on M-115 near Thompsonville also offers a wonderful system of groomed cross-country trails, along with rentals, lessons and a Nordic center. The 40 kilometers of trails wind around the base of the ski hill and include Hawk Ridge, where you ski past overlooks of the Betsie River Valley and then enter the unique Michigan Legacy Art Park.

Sand Dune Cross-Country Ski Trail: Just across the Mackinac Bridge in the Upper Peninsula is a set of wooded sand dunes in the Hiawatha National Forest. The rolling topography of the dunes and abundance of lake-effect snow from Lake Michigan attracted local skiers, when a 16-kilometer, seven-loop trail system was built; a log cabin warming shelter was added later. You’ll love the names that have been given to the steepest slopes, including Feelin Lucky, Holy Cow and Goforit.

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park : Michigan’s largest state park has 42 kilometers of groomed cross-country ski trails that take you deep into this wilderness. Scattered along the trails are five ski-in cabins, the frozen shoreline of Lake Superior and stands of 300-year-old hemlocks. Hop on the ski area’s chairlift to quickly reach the crest of the Porkies and the dramatic views from West Vista.

Author and world adventurer Jim DuFresne resides in Clarksto and is a regular contributor to Michigan BLUE. Michigan Blue magazine, Michigan's Lakestyle magazine is published bi-monthly by Gemini Publications. Lisa Jensen is the editor.

(This article first appeared in the January/February 2008 issue of Michigan BLUE Magazine.)

The rustic cabins at Harlow Lake near Marquette are headquarters for a perfect winter weekend adventure.

The snow-covered forest is a patchwork of blues as the full moon filters through towering, old-growth pines. An open expanse of snowy lake is painted pastel, but deeper in the woods, shadows drip inky indigo.

Creaking snowshoes and the soft squeak of fresh powder underfoot are the only sounds this winter night as we tramp down the trail to our cabin for the weekend. The night tightens around us as the moon slides behind a cloud bank harboring another band of Lake Superior-inspired snow squalls. But the cabin's cheerful window glow guides us the rest of the way to where four friends and a roaring woodstove await.

These are the Harlow Lake cabins of the Little Presque Isle tract of the Escanaba River State Forest, just north of Marquette in the central Upper Peninsula. Though Marquette (population 20,000) is the U.P.'s biggest urban area, these cabins and surrounding acres of mature hemlocks see relatively light use, so a winter day spent in the woods at Harlow is often a solitary one.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources maintains five rustic, one-room, walk-in cabins generously spaced around the 64-acre, kidney-bean-shaped lake. An additional cabin perches on the high bank of nearby Harlow Creek. While the cabins lack electricity or plumbing and are only spartanly furnished, the surroundings are luxuriously wild. In this region of northern Marquette County, the sandy plains of the southern U.P. collide head-on with ancient bedrock slabs. The result is a series of rounded bald-rock peaks and forested valleys that parallel the undeveloped Lake Superior coastline.

Cover it all up with a couple feet of lake-effect powder, and you have the perfect setting for a winter-weekend adventure.

Our friends are thinking the same thing, poring over trail maps by candle and lamplight on the big pine plank table that dominates a corner of the small room. Everybody is stripped down to their long underwear as the woodstove chews through birch and oak splits from the overflowing wood rack outside. Besides warming us, the stove is working on a simmering stew and pot of red wine mulled with cinnamon and cloves. The food smells almost win out over the odor of our wet dogs and wool socks drying nearby. Almost.

At daybreak, four of us set out for an ambitious snowshoe hike to bag two of the 1,000-foot peaks that shoot out of the woods near the cabin. A series of loosely marked trails and a converted railroad grade link the bald, granite knobs of Hogback and Sugarloaf mountains. A three-mile section of the North Country Trail running along the Lake Superior coast will bring us back to the cabin door at day's end.

In all, the Harlow Lake area boasts about 20 miles of trails that range from flat to ambulance-ride steep, allowing for several days worth of exploring on skis or snowshoes.

Scrambling up the last yards over icy granite to the top of Hogback is a hands-and-knees affair. However, as soon as you top out on the 1,200-foot precipice, all the gasping, sliding and scrambling of the previous hour disappear. The air is still; everything is quiet under a bluebird sky. We dangle our legs over the cliff's edge and lay back on the sun-warmed rocks. This is sunbathing, Yooper style.

The hike up Hogback and exploration of side trails would have been enough to fill a great day, but Sugarloaf Mountain beckons from across the valley, where it rises dramatically right from the Lake Superior coast.

This three-mile hike from Hogback to Sugarloaf offers a lesson in Lake Superior weather, as deep snow inland dissolves into mere inches as we approach the lake. The big water sends bands of heavy snow clouds to the interior where they dump on higher terrain, while the shoreline stays relatively mild in both temperature and snowfall.

The view from atop Sugarloaf is astounding. To the north, the scimitar shoreline swings out to Little Presque Isle point, an island a hundred yards offshore, beyond it, only the endless blue of the world's largest body of fresh water. Look west or south and you'll see only forest, broken here and there by rocky outcroppings and lakes. Turning to the east, you see Marquette, tiny and tidy tucked between the shore and hills.

The historic city, founded by our lake's namesake, Amos Harlow, is experiencing rejuvenation along its once-commercial lakefront. A suite of silent sporting events like the Noquemanon Ski Marathon and the Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Race have given it a reputation as a playground for the active traveler. Northern Michigan University's 8,000 students keep the old town feeling young, and an abundance of unique local restaurants and eclectic coffee shops cater to visitors and locals alike.

We scramble down the backside of Sugarloaf to meet the lake, a blend of small sandy beaches, cobblestones and smooth-bedrock points. The trail hugs the sinuous shore, climbs to the edge of 50-foot cliffs over the water, then drops to a big sand beach at Little Presque Isle. In summer, the island is reachable by wading waist deep in the shockingly cold lake, but in winter an ice bridge forms, and you can walk right to it. The backside of the island has sheer cliffs that often form wild ice formations after a storm.

We're all moving a little slower after the day's climbs. Even the dog is wondering whose idea it was to go this many miles in deep powder. He'd been bouncing through the snow in front of us all day, but now is taking the easy road, plodding on the packed trail behind us, tongue swinging low.

A yellow glimmer through the trees and the smell of wood smoke guide us across Harlow Lake as shadows stretch to the east. As we pile into the cabin, ruddy-cheeked and tired-eyed, we notice two things are different. Our sopping wet clothes from the day before are dry and folded, and there's a huge pizza and a growler of locally brewed ale waiting for us. The two sleepy heads who opted to stay back today and soak up some cabin time made a dash into Marquette, where they did laundry and restocked provisions.

The Harlow cabins are certainly wild, but with a gem of a town like Marquette nearby, not so wild that you can’t eat well and enjoy dry undies.

Aaron Peterson is a writer, photographer and cabin connoisseur based near Marquette. Lisa Jensen is the editor of MichiganBLUE Magazine.

IF YOU GO

Harlow Lake is about five miles north of Marquette off County Road 550. Harlow Lake Road, unpaved but decent, takes you to a parking area convenient to the cabins. The farthest walk in is about a half mile to Cabin 5 (my favorite). Cabins have water from a hand pump, and firewood is supplied. Furnishings include a table, benches and four unpadded bunks. A standard-issue, MDNR vault toilet rounds out the rustic experience.

Cabins are $65 per night, with a two-night minimum. Reservations are taken beginning in November each year at the Marquette MDNR office: (906) 228-6561. If cabins aren't your thing but hiking is, plop down at The Landmark Inn, an historic boutique hotel in Marquette's charming downtown. A 15-minute drive gets you to the Harlow Lake area.

Downtown Marquette boasts three unique coffee shops and a handful of eating establishments for all tastes. Also, take a drive up Third Street for additional great, locally owned venues. Between Marquette and Harlow, stop by Phil’s 550 Store in the little cluster of homes just north of town, referred to locally as “Philville.” It’s a catch-all convenience store with a good variety of beverages, area maps and lots of local color.

If you need gear, check out The Sports Rack on Washington Street downtown or Down Wind Sports on Third Street for all your silent sports needs.

(This article first appeared in the Jan/Feb. 2008 issue of MichgianBLUE Magazine, and is reprinted here with the permission of the writer and MichiganBLUE Magazine)

Gaylord's Aspen Park  is a cross-country skier's haven and an animal lover's delight.

There are two places in Michigan where it's possible to see elk while cross-country skiing; the Shingle Mill Pathway in Pigeon River Country State Forest, and Gaylord's Aspen Park.

We've skied at Shingle Mill Trail  a half dozen times and never seen an elk or even the tracks of one. But the first time we skied at Aspen Park we saw elk; because it was impossible to miss them. There were six of them: huge animals just standing on the edge of the woods a hundred yards away from us before two of the bulls suddenly squared off and clashed antlers.

All of this groomed ski trails, a hemlock forest and clashing elk was in the middle of Gaylord, four blocks from a K-Mart.

Open since 2001, Aspen Park is a dandy. The Gaylord Department of Public Works used a $250,000 state grant to redesign this 100-acre park by building two miles of trails and adding benches, mini-shelters and trail signs.

They finished off the project by installing lights for night skiing: fitting for Gaylord, which averages more than 140 inches of snow per year due to its lofty position. At 1,380 feet, it's the highest incorporated city in the Lower Peninsula.

The reason for the elk is Aspen Park's location: It's adjacent to the city elk pen, a 105-acre enclosure that contains a herd of more than 30 animals. If you've never seen an elk this close, you're in for a treat. They are an impressive species, with some of the bulls easily tipping the scales at more than 600 pounds and crowned with huge racks.

The public works department feeds and manages the herd and also maintains an elk viewing area just off Old US-27, where people can sit in their cars and watch the animals. However, seeing the elk while skiing Aspen Park is much more enjoyable. The park has five short trails that form an easy, 1.65-mile loop with two crossover spurs and are groomed regularly for classic skiing. We skied it in a counter-clockwise direction, beginning with a gentle descent from the parking lot to the first segment of the Hemlock Trail.

Within a few minutes we had skied through the pines, passing a few large hemlocks along the way, and arrived at North Trail. This trail led us out of the woods to the north end of the loop where there was a mini-shelter that overlooked the elk pen. When six strolled out of the woods, we watched them in fascination until it was too dark to see them across the field any longer.

We completed the loop by skiing Elk Trail. Along the way, the lights suddenly popped on, illuminating the trail and casting a soft glow into the dark woods. Reason alone to ski Aspen Park all over again.

Writer Jim DuFresne resides in Clarkston. Lisa Jensen is the editor of MichiganBLUE Magazine.