cool trees. cool branches. small waterfall. but big river! many bugs, many ticks. bring bug spray.read more

I love this place. And hesitate making it more known. But this place, even with the summer crowds…read moreis extremely peaceful and soul feeding place. It's beautiful and relaxing. I've had my kids get their senior photos taken here. It's out of the way, but it's so beautiful, it's a place you have to go to. Historical information, the falls are one of the key locations that the lamprey were discovered to be in the Great Lakes and a great deal of research still takes place within a few miles of this location.

Mountain Bikes trails are hard to follow and aren't any good ! No single track that I could findread more

Well-maintained state trails. Shady, soft forest surface. Hilly and scenic. Lots of ORV trail…read morecrossings; I imagine it can get loud when the riders are out, but it was quiet and peaceful the day we went. My current favorite northern Michigan hike.

We visited Hoeft State Park for the first time last weekend. It wasn't our favorite state park we…read morehave visited but it was still very nice. The sites are very small and they are not very level. We were on site 72 and we had to move our tent three different times to get it staked into the ground. The site was very unlevel and rocky. There are a handful of nice sites throughout the park but it felt very crowded because the sites are so small and everyone is so close together. They do have a bathhouse with showers and toilets. They do not have an updated shower house but it did the job. The staff were very friendly. It was a quiet park because it is so secluded. It is right along the shore of Lake Huron. There is beach access. The water was warm in mid July. The cell service is spotty if you have AT&T. I don't think we would camp here again but we were glad to visit and check it off our list!

Once we visited this park, we had officially visited all 5 Great Lakes…read more.. ...And this park immediately made Huron one of our favorites. The water is so pretty and clean! I grew up on Lake Erie and lived on Lake Ontario for a little while, so I'm not used to seeing such bright blue-green water at a Great Lake. (Erie & Ontario are very brown) Aside from a perfect Lake Huron experience, this is just a nice park in general. Plenty of places for kids to play (including playgrounds), hiking trails, and other activities. All the facilities are in acceptable conditions and there weren't very many people there when we were, which made it feel like we had the park to ourselves (on a Sunday!)... There is a fee to get in. The ranger told us we could pay $9 and have access to ALL Michigan state parks, which of course we did.

We found the sawmill while driving along the coast from Cheboygan. We decided to stop as it said it…read morewas historic site and place to visit. This place was great! The tour guide was just very enthusiastic and really into milling. She was able to explain everything and it was quite fascinating to see. Well worth the price of the admission tickets. Definitely a must do when in this area.

This is a historic park on route 23 - about 5-10 minutes drive SE of Mackinaw City. There are a…read morehandful of structures restored from the 1800s. The main focal point is a water powered sawmill that existed there - where one can see the engineering skills of the day. This was the first industrial-like setup of the time. There are scheduled demonstrations run by people who help out at the park to first explain the wood cutting, first the manual effort, then the new way. For our tour, the demonstrator asked for a small child to help - making it interactive in a way. Beyond the tour there are hiking trails - complete through the woods, around, up and down hills and around ponds. For $9 per person additional, there is an adventure tour - great for older kids. Includes ziplining, treetop walking, rock climbing, and a view from the tower. Be prepared though, we showed up at 3:30 (the adventure tours are on the hour) and the last tour (5:00) was already sold out. Very shaded throughout, well maintained... allow 90 minutes without the adventure tour unless you get ambitious and do hiking trails... Allow 2.5 hours otherwise (either hiking or adventure tour).

We love this spot for a bit of a view and some great stairs! You can also choose to go the 'back…read moreway' and hike through the woods to get to the overview which is what we do! I prefer going down stairs than up them so that is my secret hiking too! Always a lovely time to hike here as there is quiet and lots of tree cover so it is cooler and restful. The hike is not too strenuous but also not just a walk which is perfect. We didn't get many bugs which was also nice and could go without a walking stick too. I love that they have separate trails for biking and hiking as well as a disc golf course that meanders through the woods. We are usually almost alone when hiking which is perfect if you want to just focus on nature. The overview tends to be a bit busier so we did meet up with more people toward the end, but everyone is very kind and friendly. Love this spot and we go as often as we can!

The hike starts off rough if you're unable to walk up 450+ steps. It definitely makes you wonder…read morehow good of shape you're in. There's plenty of benches along the large staircase to assist your travels. The overlook at the end of the stairs makes it worth it. Absolutely stunning. The view of all the house, trees, and lake blew me away. I could sit up there for hours. Once you reach the overlook, the hikes starts. It's a beautiful 2+ miles hike. Plenty of trees, animals, and plants to keep you company on the walk. I would live in the woods here If I was able.

One of michigans hidden gems. Swim in Lake Huron, fish off the pier, or spend the day hiking along…read morethe shore or abandon quarry.

Michigan's newest State Park…read more To start out with Michigan apparently wasn't ready for this addition. They have had 3 years and are still working on maps and signs for the park. Sheesh! That being said it is truly a beautiful spot for a state park. Great view of Thunder Bay. Crystal clear water. Lots of green trees. Besides being a great place to see Thunder Bay they also have sink holes. Here's where the lack of signage and maps falls in to place. Finding the initial trail is hard because there is no sign marking it. However you start walking it and eventually you come to a temp lamenated sign saying sinkholes that way plus a note about sign being temporary and permanent signs are being worked on. No further info about distances. So we walked along a rocky path that seemed like it was on another world until eventually the path entered a forest. After walking for at least a mile but was more like 1.5 to 2 miles we came to another sign saying sink holes 1 mile that way. So we walked even further till we came to a pathway cross roads with another temp sign pointing 1 way for Quarry or another way for sinkholes. After walking a little further we saw 1 final sign saying sinkhole in half mile. That seemed much further than a half mile from the 1 mile sign. After having walked so far we kept going. Eventually just when we were about to give up and turn around we found the largest of the sinkholes which was filled in with Crystal clear water. It was very pretty but there was no way to get down a very steep hill to get a better look at it. Also no more signage. No info about sink holes. No directions to the other sinkholes which arent filled in so you can see them better, Nothing. So then the 2 to 3 mile hike back to the Parking lot. I barely made it. 4 to 6 miles round trip without any warning that is how far away the sink holes are. That's crazy. Also for the most part the trail is in good shape but for crying out lound would some benches kill you. You need a place to sit and rest. The trail and sinkhole lake were pretty but not worth a walk that has become known as the Never-ending hike. The park overall is a solid 4 stars. The hike maybe 2. However add benches and maybe 4 wheeler rentals along with better signs and maps and could easily be 4 stars. Heck maybe it might bump overall to 4 1/2 stars. Rockport is worth a visit just beware what your getting into.

We rode bikes around the island. I thought Arch Rock was the coolest stop we made. It was the most…read moreimpressive natural formed object on the island. Definitely worth checking out.

This is Mackinac Island attraction located at the east of island. This attraction can be reached by…read morehose, bike or walk. Walk is about 30 minutes. I would suggest visit the Mackinac fort then exit at the back to the arch. This is better after the fort because you already went to the elevation of the arch. So the climb is already done. The arch is a natural rock arch overlooking the lake. It is beautiful.

Sue is an absolute rockstar. We called the night before and she got us all set up for an early…read moremorning solo kayak rental. Checking in was easy. She fit the equipment and had us test everything out before going to the water. She set up a route for us on the map according to our skill and time. Even recommended a few sights to see and a small hike. Overall just awesome

From the first contact with Sue to arrange our tour to a perfect paddle with Tim on Lake Huron…read moreseeing the absolute best of Les Cheneaux Islands, to Tim's recommendation for a post-paddle hike, we had the perfect U.P. day! We were looking for an adventure with our new-ish kayaks. We fortuitously read a Michigan tourism magazine tucked into the Chicago Tribune; the magazine featured a story about kayaking in Les Cheneaux with Woods & Waters. It sounded great! Though we are comfortable on the water, we thought it would be good to have a guide in an area new to us -- and Tim was a perfect guide for our half-day paddle! We learned so much about this beautiful and interesting area, saw an eagle and its nest, did a quick mid-paddle hike to get an amazing view to go with our rock skipping and gained a few kayaking skill tips that will make us better kayakers. It certainly was a bonus that the water and weather cooperated -- water like glass and just enough sun. Tim - thanks for the advice to do the Narnia hike - that was our afternoon adventure! We ended our day at Les Cheneaux Distillers. The day couldn't have been better. We loved our paddle so much and felt comfortable with our newfound knowledge from Tim that we went back for a quick paddle the next morning. We wish we could have stayed on the water all day! Thank you Sue and Tim. We will see you next time!