Beautiful park and walk in the water, some people swim too. Although you need to pay $5 parking…read morefee, it's worth it.

One of our hands-down favorite places to hike. There's tons of hike-in camping spots along the…read more11-mile hiking trail, which largely follows the shoreline of the Manistee River with a few inland jaunts on a few of the oxbows. Despite being fairly well known, it's pretty pristine and doesn't feel overly busy but it's also never completely vacant. The river views are lovely, there's plenty of wildlife (great fishing & birdwatching), and there's a cliff swing over the water (huge adrenaline rush for this 43-year-old) on an off-shoot path just past the suspension bridge and a waterfall at mile 3.5 if you're coming from the north. You can return on the main path or on the other side of the river on a section of the North Country Trail.

What a great hiking trail! Parking wasn't bad at Red River Bridge Access…read moreOnce on the trail it is well marked. Campsites were clean and it looks like the hikers who enjoy the trail take good care of it. I didn't see one bit of trash the whole day. It was pretty busy, with folks heading both directions, everyone was very friendly and they all seemed to be enjoying the day! The views are beautiful. Absolutely the best hiking we have done in the lower peninsula. We will absolutely be back!

This is the best beach in Northern Michigan to watch the sunsets. We enjoy watching the boats in…read moreand out of the harbor, too.

The water is so shallow you can walk super far out! Not crowded! Peaceful! & Clear water! Be kind…read moreto the locals!

Really great place to check out for some trail time in nature! I can't wait to come back in summer…read moreor fall, as our visit was in winter- but still beautiful. We only saw one other couple hiking, so it was very serene. We started at the Mt Baldy trailhead parking area and went to the outlook trail. It was a fairly easy half mile with beautiful views and benches. We then went to the dune trail for the dune/bluff overlook. That, especially the part going right up to the dune, was a bit more challenging and steep. Could have been the snow obscuring steps or something though. It was VERY windy right on the lake but so beautiful with the epic views and the sand mixing with the snow. After that we headed back to the parking lot. Total it was about 2.5 miles. Trails are well marked and in the winter it appears appropriate for snow shoes or cross country skiing. There's so much more to check out than that at this preserve, so I'll definitely come back if we come to this area again.

Pretty easy trail to follow. The whole map, if you walk fast can probably finish in 2 hours. There…read moreare no trash can on the trail so don't leave anything behind. There is a trail that reach the cliff and it has great views. If you physically can't climb Bear dunes, it is a good alternative

Such a beautiful scenic area with plenty of short distance hikes that offer fantasies views for the…read moreminimum effort requires. We have the national park pass which we were able to use during our visit. We stopped by numerous overlooks and of course, the main one where you can see the two land mass/bear cubs lay and the mama bear watching over them. You can read about the lore and why this area is named sleeping bear dunes. It's a cute, albeit sad story of love and loyalty and never leaving behind those you love. Now on to the wondrous nature view you'll find here. Sand dunes, yes! But also a beautiful lake view unobstructed by modern buildings. Pure nature beauty. This really is a place to visit. Don't skip it if you're in the area! It is dog friendly. There was even a kind man up on top of the dunes overlooks giving treats to pups. Our pup enjoyed the treats and the attention and I enjoyed creating memories with her and my husband in the middle of nature. Go check it out!

Sleeping Bear Dunes is a must if you are nearby! There are beaches that are free to enter, but to…read morego into the actual park and see the big dunes, you have to pay $20 per car, or you can get in with a National Parks pass. Most of it is drivable once you're in, and you can park your car off to the side of the road and view multiple different overlooks. The dunes are huge I was surprised. They're much bigger than I am used to seeing at Indiana Dunes! We stopped at the Lake Michigan overlook. There's a parking lot with plenty of parking. To get up to the overlook, you'll have to walk up a smallish sand dune. It's easier if you take your shoes off. Once you get up, there's super steep dunes that many people attempt to go all the way down then climb up on all fours. It's extremely hard to get back up!! Walking through sand is not easy. There's even a sign that warns you of the dangers of doing so and the damage it does to the dunes. There was a firetruck and ambulance on sight ready to rescue anyone.

There are so few Lake Michigan beaches where dogs are permitted, so the fact that this one allows…read moredogs off-leash to run and frolic is just the best thing ever. The sign at the entrance to the Frankfort Beach indicates where the dog-run beach is located. It's a bit tricky because you have to have the dogs on-leash until you get down to the beach and to the section where they are allowed off-leash (basically, take a left when you hit the base of the pier and walk down until you're past the huge beach and are in the section where the dunes are close to the shore. Occasionally, much of this area will be under water at high tide, FYI. Our dogs are super-social adventure dogs and they love this place! While most dogs take advantage of that off-leash time to swim, catch balls and try to eat the waves as they lap onto the shore, my hyper-social chihuahua takes the opportunity to sit down with every single stranger who has their chairs/beach blankets set up in this section of the beach. Fortunately he's cute as the dickens and nobody seems to mind!

Wonderful beach for dogs to go unleashed!! Great family home in northern Michigan! Park in main…read morebeach area and walk up for dog area.

Gorgeous park at the tip of the Mitten's pinkie finger. I got there shortly before a spectacular…read moresunset where the sky was all lit up with pinks and oranges and purples. I took a short walk where my friends who had camped there the previous night as well showed my the historic lighthouse and some message in a bottle painted sign that was very reminiscent of Steve "ESPO" Powers. I set up my trusty old dome tent and camped on the same site as my friends and nobody said peep about doubling up like that. I left out around 10:30 or so and didn't hit any trails as I had packed some snacks for late but no breakfast. Not much in the way of restaurants or groceries around here so I hit the road. Can't speak to the trails or day use part of the park but the campground and adjacent beach was beautiful.

Stopped here on a whim to checkout lighthouses during our mini getaway. This beach did not…read moredisappoint! It was so calm and peaceful. Beautiful water. Hardly any people. The people who did visit didn't stay for long so we had the whole beach to ourselves. We had camping chairs in the car so we just put them in the water and sat right in the water and enjoyed the view. They have a gift shop and the only restrooms I noticed were portajohns. We built some rock towers but put the rocks back when we were done because some of the rocks had snail eggs on them.

The Michigan Legacy Art Park, located within the Crystal Mountain resort, is about half a mile away…read morefrom the "main" area of Crystal Mountain where you get your rentals and lift passes. It's an easy trek over and then the actual park is about 1.5-2 miles round trip depending on which routes you take. This is such a cute idea for a park and honestly, I wish all parks were like this! There were a lot of interesting art pieces stationed throughout the park and most were highlighting local artists and organizations. There was some student art as well, but predominantly professional artists having their art on display. It's a very intentionally curated art park. We came here in the winter, so some of the smaller and/or lower down pieces were buried under the snow, but the vast majority was still accessible. There's an informational plaque next to each piece of art, so you can't miss each "exhibit". My personal favorite piece was the gazebo one with a mobius strip sculpture located in the middle of it. The sculpture was made entirely from one piece of Black Willow tree wood, which I found so impressive! This gazebo area was also just so peaceful and a great place to meditate and just listen to all the sounds of nature around you. Because it's located a bit away from the rest of the resort, you don't get a ton of foot traffic here. But the art park does connect to some of the cross country skiing trails, so if you want to do a proper "loop" hike around the art park, it will involve going onto the cross country trails for a short portion of it. So be mindful of your surroundings and share the trails with the skiiers during those parts! But other than that, I think my friend and I only encountered two other groups of people as we hiked throughout the park and we spent around 1.5 hours here, stopping to appreciate each piece of art throughout our hike as well. There's also a cute little free library at the front of the park, so definitely very family friendly! All in all, a great activity that I can imagine would be stunning and unique during each and every season and a great option, especially during the winter, if you're looking for other activities to do at Crystal Mountain outside of skiing and snowboarding!

Amazing experience. Beautiful easy 2ish mile hike dotted with beautiful art. I found the place by…read moreaccident and so glad I did.

Any place we visit with our kids we always find or 'owe them' some park fun. There are a few…read moreparks in the area but the F and M park from what I found definitely is the best. Our kids loved it. Wide open for them to run around. A very cool playground and I appreciate the old school metal slide that our daughter got to experience that so many parks have removed. Everyone around was really friendly. Easy walk from the main strip. If youre visiting TC with kids, definitely check this Park out.

Nice park with a train themed play scape area. There was a pavilion, basketball courts, swings and…read moreslide. Only street parking though.