Map view
Boyne Mountain Resort, Boyne Valley
Best time to visit: Jan-Feb, Dec
Cost: $$
- Ski resort with a collection of accommodations, located near Boyne City
- Boyne Mountain has continued use of the first chairlift built, constructed by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1936 for use at its new resort in Sun Valley, Idaho
Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- The University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens includes botanical gardens, natural areas with trails, and several research-quality habitats
- The botanical gardens includes outdoor display gardens, the Gaffield Children's Garden, and a conservatory
The Henry Ford
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- History museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn
- The museum collection contains the presidential limousine of John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln's chair from Ford's Theatre, Thomas Edison's laboratory, the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop, the Rosa Parks bus, and many other historical exhibits
- It is the largest indoor–outdoor museum complex in the United States
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids
Best time to visit: June-mid Nov
Cost: $
- Botanical garden, art museum, and outdoor sculpture park located in Grand Rapids
- Opened in 1995, Meijer Gardens quickly established itself in the Midwest as a major cultural attraction jointly focused on horticulture and sculpture
- Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park includes a tropical conservatory, an 8-acre Japanese garden, major works of modern and contemporary sculpture on the grounds and indoors, along with a series of outdoor gardens and nature trails
Clinch Park, Traverse City
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Sandy beach on West Grand Traverse Bay featuring picnic tables, and trail access
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- One of the world's oldest independent African American museums, founded in 1965, The Wright museum holds the world's largest permanent collection of African-American culture, with a collection of more than 35,000 artifacts
- The Wright, whose exhibits include Underground Railroad documents and letters from Malcolm X and Rosa Parks, also hosted memorial events for Parks and the "Queen of Soul," Aretha Franklin, who lay in state in the museum's rotunda in 2005 and 2018, respectively
Detroit Institute of Arts
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- One of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States
- With over 100 galleries, the DIA collection is an encyclopedic collection which spans the globe from ancient Egyptian and European works to contemporary art
#17 in Best Museums in the USA
Belle Isle Loop, Belle Isle Park
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Island park in Detroit, developed in the late 19th century, and the largest city-owned island park in the United States
Michigan Heroes Museum, Frankenmuth
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Museum that focuses on the history of Michigan's military and space heroes from Michigan
Mackinac Island Outer Loop
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Island and resort area located in Lake Huron, and because of its historic significance, the entire island is listed as a National Historic Landmark
- The island was long home to an Odawa settlement and previous indigenous cultures before European colonization began in the 17th century
- Based on a former trading post, Fort Mackinac was constructed on the island by the British during the American Revolutionary War
Saugatuck Dune Rides
Best time to visit: June-mid Nov
Cost: $
- Tour by buggy driver guides who point out lakeshore dunes, trees, and grasses on a rugged offroad trail, located in Saugatuck
Heidelberg Project
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Outdoor art project in Detroit, created in 1986 by the artist Tyree Guyton, who was assisted by his wife, Karen, and grandfather Sam Mackey
- The Heidelberg Project is in part a political protest, as Tyree Guyton's childhood neighborhood began to deteriorate after the 1967 riots
- At first, the project consisted of him painting a series of houses on Detroit's Heidelberg Street with bright dots of many colors and attaching salvaged items to the houses
- It was a constantly evolving work that transformed an inner-city neighborhood where people were afraid to walk, even in daytime, into one in which neighbors took pride and where visitors were many and welcomed
Holland State Park - Macatawa Campground
Best time to visit: June-mid Nov
Cost: $
- In addition to swimming, boating, fishing, and camping, Holland State Park features dune areas, picnic areas, and views of Holland Harbor and the Holland Harbor Light
Scoville Point via Stoll Trail, Isle Royale National Park
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Isle Royale National Park is a park consisting of Isle Royale, along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior
- Isle Royale is the fourth-largest lake island in the world
Gilmore Car Museum, Kalamazoo
Best time to visit: June-mid Nov
Cost: $
- Automobile museum located in Hickory Corners, that exhibits over 400 vintage and collector vehicles and motorcycles from all eras in several vintage buildings
- Opened in 1966, today its collection consists of over 500 vehicles, including an 1899 Locomobile Steam Car and a 1930 Rolls-Royce prop car used in the 1967 film The Gnome-Mobile
W.J. Beal Botanical Garden, Lansing
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Botanical garden located on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, claimed to be the oldest continually maintained university botanical garden in the United States
- The garden displays 1,800 plant taxa, in economic, systematic, landscape and ecological groupings
River Bends Yellow Trail and CK Canal Loop, River Bends Park
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Wooded park featuring a disc golf course, hiking trails, and archery range
Mosquito Falls and Chapel Falls via Chapel Loop, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, along the shore of Lake Superior
- The park has extensive views of the hilly shoreline with picturesque rock formations, waterfalls, and sand dunes
- Pictured Rocks derives its name from the colorful sandstone cliffs northeast of Munising
Empire Bluff Trail, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- National Lakeshore located along Lake Michigan's eastern coastline
- The park was established primarily because of its natural features, including forests, beaches, dune formations, and ancient glacial phenomena
- The lakeshore also contains many cultural features including the 1871 South Manitou Island Lighthouse, three former stations of the Coast Guard (formerly the Life-Saving Service) and an extensive rural historic farm district
Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $$$
- Historic hotel and coastal resort on Mackinac Island, constructed in the late 19th century
- The Grand Hotel is known for a number of notable visitors, including five U.S. presidents, inventor Thomas Edison, and author Mark Twain