Welcome to the sweet small towns (and one island!) of the Petoskey-Mackinac Straits region. Check out these travel ideas for your next Northern Michigan vacation.
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BAY HARBOR
With the Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Mammoth Distilling and the newly opened Brandy’s Harbortown restaurant and cabana bar, this waterside district is hopping. Don’t Miss: Bay Harbor Classic Car & Boat Festival, June
BOYNE COUNTRY
This gorgeous tapestry of recreation is woven from Boyne City, Walloon Lake Village, Boyne Resorts and shorelines on both Lake Charlevoix and Walloon Lake. Find fabulous craft beer pubs, boutiques and an abundance of waterside parks, including Young State Park. Hotel Walloon is a favorite for travelers seeking vintage elegance. Don’t Miss: National Morel Mushroom Festival, May
CHEBOYGAN
In this city blessed with Lake Huron and Cheboygan River frontage, view shipwrecks through a glass-bottomed boat with Nautical North Family Adventures, and hike and bike on more trails than in any other county in the state. Entertainment ranges from the restored Victorian-era Cheboygan Opera House to the super-authentic Jack Pine Lumberjack Shows. Cheboygan Brewing Co. has the craft beer scene covered and no one leaves town without eating at the Hack-Ma-Tack Inn & Restaurant on the Cheboygan River. Don’t Miss: Cheboygan County Fair, August
CROSS VILLAGE & GOOD HART
Treat yourself to browsing these quaint towns on scenic M-119, otherwise known as the Tunnel of Trees. In Good Hart, find the Good Hart General Store, Primitive Images, Good Hart & Soul Tea Room and A Studio gift shop. Farther north, in Cross Village, stop at Three Pines Studio and Legs Inn—an authentic Polish restaurant in a cool stone-and-timber building. (Check out our video below on how to spend 48 hours in Cross Village—we had a great time!) Don’t Miss: Blissfest Music Festival, July
Photo by Dave Weidner
Photo by Petoskey Brewing
HARBOR SPRINGS
Beach day in this town? Choose from kid-friendly Zorn Park beach downtown or 300 feet of relatively secluded bliss at Thorne Swift Nature Preserve. Harbor Springs is also the launching point for the scenic M-119 Tunnel of Trees—20 miles of natural beauty. Before you take off, browse the elegant boutiques and relaxed eateries that call this sweet downtown home. Don’t Miss: Little Traverse Yacht Club Ugotta Regatta, July
MACKINAC ISLAND
Take the eight-mile scenic bike ride around the island, go back in time at Fort Mackinac, rock in a rocker on the longest porch in the world at Grand Hotel, gorge on fudge, relax on a carriage tour, sip a cocktail waterside at Pink Pony, snap a selfie at Arch Rock and never, ever get in a car. These are just a few of our favorite things to do on this glorious island. Don’t Miss: Mackinac Island Lilac Festival, June
MACKINAW CITY
How could you not love a city tucked at the base of the Mackinac Bridge and at the edge of the storied Straits of Mackinac? For the best history lesson ever, visit Colonial Michilimackinac. To see how the cosmos looks from the tip of our beautiful peninsula, visit Headlands International Dark Sky Park. Don’t Miss: Mackinac Bridge Walk, September
PETOSKEY
For adventure, set your kayak into the whitewater at the Bear River Valley Recreation Area. Get your culture on browsing the exhibits at Crooked Tree Arts Center, or take in a concert in the resort community of Bay View, known for its gingerbread cottages. Wind down in the historic Gaslight District, where the Victorian-era storefronts are packed with fabulous shops, galleries, boutiques and eating/drinking establishments. Don’t Miss: Art in the Park, JulyÂ
ST. IGNACE
Learn about the Mackinac Bridge (while you are looking at it!) at Bridge View Park, take the historic walking tour along the Lake Huron Boardwalk to the Wawatam Lighthouse or lose yourself in the silky Lake Michigan sand dunes along US-2. Don’t Miss: St. Ignace Car Show Weekend, June
Read Next: Cruise Michigan’s U.S. 2 for Surreal Sand Dunes & Scenic Stops
When visiting Northernmost Cape ~ Harbor Springs, Mackinaw City, Cheboygan, Petoskey ~ don’t miss the large antique district and Historic depot museum in Pellston. Step back in time and take a stroll along the maple river which was once the center of a huge logging empire. 20 minutes from anywhere, Pellston is a great place to visit and enjoy the day.