After winter’s long sleep, the beauty of this wonderful place is at its fresh peak. The hills and valleys are misted in new greenery, the endless beaches are coming alive with warmth, and the air is filled with the scent of millions of flowering cherry trees.

A Traverse City spring has a gentler, more sensuous feel than most people associate with the “Up North” experience. It’s a time of moist warm mornings, golden afternoons and cool, lingering evenings; the summer crowds and heat haven’t arrived yet, and everyone seems to be wearing a mellow glow.

Even the travelers who find their way here in springtime are a different breed. They’re looking for something special -- a quiet retreat from the humdrum, a village shopping adventure, or a tasting tour of the beautiful wine country of the Leelanau and Old Mission peninsulas. (And it doesn’t hurt that in spring the enchantment of Traverse City is available at very reasonable prices.) 

Between now and May 17, the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau is offering a special "Traverse City Escape" package that combines special rates at participating hotels and resorts with great deals at some of the area’s best restaurants and special discounts on shopping, spa services, movies, wine tastings and other entertainment. 

Traverse City is an increasingly famous wine-producing region, with over 30 wineries and tasting rooms offering tours and tastings of their award-winning vintages, and its many restaurants are creating a national reputation for their fresh, innovative regional cuisine. (Bon Appetit has even named us one of America’s Top Five Foodie towns!) Spring is an excellent time to enjoy it for yourself -- before everybody else arrives. 

The region enjoys more than 150 inland lakes and hundreds of miles of Lake Michigan shoreline -- including the majestic Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, voted “Most Beautiful Place in America” last fall by viewers of Good Morning America . And although the water’s still a little chilly for swimming, you’d be surprised how many good sunbathing days there can be in a Traverse City spring! 

Surrounding Traverse City are deep, fragrant forests crisscrossed with trails for hikers, horseback riders and cyclists, and more than 20 golf courses with some of the most striking configurations ever designed. This is Michigan’s “Golf Coast,” an area Golf Digest named #12 on its list of the World’s Top 50 Golf Destinations. 

On a single morning, you could enjoy one of the best meals you’ve ever had, amble through the shops and stores of a friendly, tree-shaded village like Suttons Bay or Elk Rapids, or cast your line into one of America’s most famous trout streams. You could paddle the shores of a forest lake, play a round of championship golf, or take a drive through the most gorgeous display of spring wildflowers you’ll see anywhere.

Michigan’s Recreation Passport-- your $10 ticket goes to preserve and protect locals parks, trails and historic and cultural sites in state parks. The Recreation Passport also replaces the state park sticker to get you into all 99 state parks and 1,000 boat launches.

You can get your Recreation Passport when you renew your license plate online, by mail, at Self Service Stations, at a Secretary of State office or when getting a new plate.

Get Ready to Go Camping 

A day trip is always fine but if you want to instil in your children a genuine love and appreciation for the beauty of wildlife then the only way to do that is to let them experience living in it. Thus, you have to gear up for camping. Camping at the park is very affordable and you can even enjoy discounted rates during the off-season. There are mini-cabins available as well as 237 camping sites, some equipped with 50 AMP electricity hook-ups. If you’re afraid of roughing it completely, don’t worry because the campgrounds also offer free use of modern restrooms.

Hiking

Children are bundles of excessive energy and instead of letting them tire you out, you can turn the tables around...in a good way of course. Start early from camp for a hiking trip around Brimley State Park. Although the park doesn’t come with established trails, the grounds are still fairly safe and easy to explore as long as you have sufficient experience.

There’s also an abandoned railroad corridor nearby that can add a sense of excitement and adventure to your hiking expedition. While exploring the area, you can take the time to educate your children about the different flora and fauna that you come across. Let them know what their natural habitats are, how they survive, and what various man-made activities are endangering their lives.

Fishing

Brimley State Park is home to quite a number of aquatic species including walleye, bass, northern pike, perch, and whitefish. Fishing is normally a bit too “passive” for children’s tastes but there’s a way you can make it more fun for your children. Teaching them neat tricks about baiting should do the trick. You can also turn your fishing trip into a competition and reward the first one to have a great catch.

While waiting for a bite, you can entertain your children with stories about the different fish species they can expect to encounter, how they interact with each other, and what would happen if the life cycle or food chain became unbalanced due to man-made activities like dynamite fishing.

Brimley State Park also offers other recreational activities such as boating and skiing, both of which give your children the ability to view the area with a different but equally delightful perspective.

Submitted by Belle Arzadon, camper, nature lover and writer September 2010.

Endurance hikers can hike traverse more than 200 miles on the Shore-to-Shore Trail that connects Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. But there is a trail in Michigan that fits any interest or stamina level. 

The city of Lowell near Grand Rapids is the home of the Michigan chapter of the North Country Trail Association. The North Country Trail connects 7 states via 4,600 miles of hiking trails. The Michigan portion of the trail is 1,105 miles and begins at Pittsford near the Ohio border, and travels southwest, then north to Cheboygan. The trail continues in St. Ignace and extends across the Upper Peninsula to Iron Mountain. 

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (ABC News: the Most Beautiful Place in America) offers a combined 100 miles of hiking on 13 trails. The Bay View Trail is a hilly hike of 7.5 miles and offers a spectacular view of Lake Michigan. Catch the ferry boat to the South and North Manitou Islands, both part of Sleeping Bear. On South Manitou you can hike past Florence Lake, take in the wreck of the Francisco Morazan or enjoy a ten mile hike around the island. Experience nature and hike along the bluffs on North Manitou.

Plan a trip to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula. Hike the 90 miles of trails within Pictured Rocks 73,000 acres along 42 miles of Lake Superior's south shore. You can also take a tour of the Au Sable Point Light Station, about 12 miles from Grand Marais; it’s a 1.5-mile hike between the parking lot and the lighthouse. Summer tours are Wednesday – Sunday through September 15 as staffing permits. The 30-40 minute tour is just $3 for those six and older. 

The Hoist Lakes Foot Travel Area is part of the Huron-Manistee National Forest and managed for hikers. There is plenty to see including wetlands, wildlife and rich forestry. Hoist offers 20 miles of trails for intermediate and advanced hikers with steep hills that rise up to 1,000 feet. If you are looking for solitude, this is the place you want to be.  

Combine a hike with birding and visit one of many wildlife refuges and wilderness areas. Near Saginaw is the 9,400-acre Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.  The refuge includes a 5.5-mile trail where you can hike and observe Canada Geese, deer, muskrats, beavers, ducks and turtles and more than 200 species of birds including great blue herons, great egrets and bald eagles. Interpretative signs help identify areas and four observation decks allow you to take in breathtaking views. If your feet get tired, hop in the car and drive the new 7.5-mile Wildlife Drive that opened in July 2011.

Waterloo-Pinckney Recreation Hiking Trail is a 36-mile point-to-point trail located between Chelsea and Pinckney. The trail is rated as moderate and includes the picturesque Pond Lily Lookout and Sackrider Hill, a climb 1,200 foot climb. Take a rest at the Gerald E. Eddy Discovery Center mid-way along the trail to learn about the area’s unique natural communities, cultural history and to participate in the interactive geology exhibits. The Waterloo Recreation Area is the third largest park in Michigan with more than 20,000 acres. 

Even urban dwellers don’t have to go far for a good hike.  Southeastern Michigan’s Island Lake Recreation Area in Brighton offers a scenic trail following the Huron River. Seven miles of the 12-mile trail have been designated a part of the National Scenic River program; Michigan has 13 designated scenic rivers. Camping is available at Island Lake.  Proud Lake Recreation Area in Commerce Township has a 21-mile hiking trail good for all skill levels.  Two trails run parallel to the Huron River with excellent wildlife viewing opportunities. 

Hiking in late afternoon from the Gillette Sand Dune Visitor Center toward Lake Michigan, we quickly emerged from the forest to open dunes. It may have been February, but the winds off the Great Lake had swept the snow off the rolling hills of sand, which, in the low angle of the winter's sun, took on a golden brown hue.

We trudged across the sand and then stopped on the beach, stunned at the sight: Lake Michigan was open water, but the shoreline had been transformed into a thick shelf of ice and frozen formations that on this clear, cold day glittered like a jeweler’s display case of diamonds.

This is the season for ice hikes. For the next four to six weeks adventurous families and others can head to the nearest Great Lake to take in some of nature’s greatest sculpture: shoreline ice.

Call it winter beachcombing. Those long stretches of sandy shores that you love to stroll during the summer are just as interesting in February and March, after the prevailing winds have piled up ice bergs into craggy but impressive shapes and figures.

Arrive on a calm day like ours, and each jagged edge of the ice becomes a prism reflecting the sun into sparkles of light and bands of color. Better yet, try to arrive on a windy day when the surf is rushing toward you. The waves disappear under the icy shelf, and then suddenly erupt through cracks and holes like mid-winter volcanoes.

Any Great Lake shore can provide this spectacle to some degree. The most impressive ice is found in the western Upper Peninsula along Lake Superior in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, where the volcanoes are so big, you could climb them.

The most accessible volcanoes — eruptions that can be witnessed without leaving the warmth of your car heater — are found at the northern end of Lake Michigan where US-2 skirts its shorelines just west of St. Ignace.

We ventured to P.J Hoffmaster State Park on the outskirts of Muskegon.

From just outside Gillette’s visiting center we picked up the park’s half-mile Lake Michigan Trail and headed west for the big blue. The trail begins as a massive boardwalk and viewing area that are handicapped accessible, designed to allow everybody to experience the solitude of the sheltered back dune.

From the boardwalk the Lake Michigan Trail continues as an easy-to-follow path, even in the winter, until it breaks out of the hardwoods and pines into the park’s grassy foredunes. In about three steps we went from the sheltered winter forest to a sweeping view of the beach; we headed toward the lake and then gingerly walked onto the frozen shelf and across its ragged surface.

We peered down at its overhanging edge, made smooth by the continuous slaps of the surf, and admired huge icicles pointing toward the open water. For a while, the hope that a volcano will erupt is enough to keep you warm.

Author and world traveler Jim DuFresne resides in Clarkston and is a regular contributor to Michigan Blue.  Michigan Blue magazine, Michigan's Lakestyle magazine, is published bi-monthly by Gemini Publications.

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

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.

Before our mountain bike ride along Ocqueoc Falls Pathway, we walked over to take a look at the cascade itself, one of only two natural waterfalls in the Lower Peninsula. From the parking lot off M-68, it’s a short stroll to this series of rock ledges where the Ocqueoc River quickly descends six feet.

Ocqueoc Falls is not Tahquamenon Falls by any stretch of the imagination. It’s not even what my son, Michael, remembered.

“It looks small,” he said.

“Well, it’s the middle of the summer,” I said, “and you’ve grown.”

Michael was first here as a 5-year-old tyke who viewed the rushing current from a different perspective, about three feet closer to the ground. The pathway is a six-mile loop with two crossover spurs, and we hiked the first loop that day, a three-mile walk that ended with him on my shoulders.

Now, 15 years later, we were back with our mountain bikes, and this time I wasn’t worried about my son finishing the ride on his own. He’s taller than I am, and as a mountain bike route, Ocqueoc Falls is a fairly easy outing.

The trail is a wide, firm single track, the riding non-technical, and the terrain level, with the exception of a few gentle slopes. This makes the state forest pathway ideal for young riders or, in our case, older ones who like to ride as much for the forested scenery as a spirited workout.

From the trailhead in the parking lot, we began our ride like we did our hike, following the pathway in a counter-clockwise direction to save the best for last. Within a few minutes we climbed a low ridge and then followed the pathway along the edge of it for the next two miles.

This is casual cycling, mountain biking so mellow that you spend more time viewing the river and the high hills that encase it to the west than the trail in front.

Eventually, we descended off the ridge, crossed the Little Ocqueoc River and, for a couple of miles, meandered between open meadows and small pockets of woods. At post number four the trail swings sharply to the west and emerges at the banks of the Ocqueoc River. For the first time since we jumped on our bikes, we stopped pedaling.

We were hardly tired. But the idea of sitting on the riverbank, watching the current roll along without a soul around, was too inviting to pass up. There are times when we ride to work up a sweat and times when we ride to slow down.

The final two miles of the pathway is perhaps one of the most scenic stretches for mountain biking in the Lower Peninsula. Here, the trail hugs the Ocqueoc, sometimes dipping down to the water itself but mostly skirting a high riverbank. Near the end we came to a junction with one trail curving back to the parking lot and the other heading straight.

We continued straight and ended this casual ride at Ocqueoc Falls, where we took an extended break, not knowing how long it might be before we were back here again.

Ocqueoc Falls Pathway: Is a 6-mile loop with two crossover spurs that form shorter loops of 5 and 3 miles in length. The pathway is open to hikers and mountain bikers.  Easy to moderate in difficulty. No fees. For more info., call Gaylord Dept. of Natural Resources at (989) 732-3541. To get to trail from Rogers City on M-23, head west on M-68 to reach the trailhead parking lot (12 miles).

Jim DuFresne is a Clarkston-based author of more than a dozen guidebooks. His newest title is “Backpacking In Michigan” (University of Michigan Press).

Michigan BLUE magazine is "Michigan's Lakestyle Magazine" and is published bi-monthly by Gemini Publications.  Lisa Jensen is the editor.