Wide open, very decent course. Bit surprised - it was Father's Day , offered us twilight price at 2…read morepm . $42 carts were good, staff was good. Had a beverage after. Perfect day !

The workers were just mean. Not welcoming at all. The cart girl drove straight past us and didnt…read moreask if we wanted drinks. The guy at the front desk was actually mean. 2/10

Fun, friendly place with great food! If you are in Cass City, stop in. You won't be disappointed!read more

Nice course. The owner, Ben, really cares for this course. Friendly, trusting, and easy going…read more Well kept and reasonably priced. Carts are well maintained. Not a bad place for a quick nine and a bite to eat. Bar has a nice variety of adult beverages. Go ahead and give it a try!

We were here just after Labor Day so the beach was pretty much dead which was awesome for us as we…read morehad the whole place to ourselves. The wind made it a bit too chilly to do much outside from walk along the beach but had it been a bit warmer it would have been a great place to go swimming or wading. I hadn't realized that nearby is also a dark sky park so I imagine you'll have some dynamite night sky gazing if you're there after sunset. I'd love to come back and take some astrophotography shots with my camera this coming summer. Also worth noting, not sure if this is the case in peak season times but the park has a solid public restroom as well. Very clean!

2020-07-25. Oak Beach County Park, Port Austin, MI…read more In Michigan, everyone boasts of the beauty of the mitt; the scenic scapes of the UP (Upper Peninsula), the old world charm of Mackinaw and Mackinac Island, and the great outdoors of the Grand Traverse County. But there's another part to every mitten, and today my travels took me here, to Michigan's thumb. Well, to what I call the Thumbnail to be more precise. The thumbnail I refer to is the coastal areas of Michigan's thumb, from Bay Port to the West, to Harbor Beach to the east. One thing this area isn't lacking are beaches, beautiful sand beaches bordering Saginaw Bay or Lake Huron. While many a property here gets a piece of the water, there are many pubic beaches as well. The beaches are smaller and encompass only a few hundred feet of waterfront, but they make up for it in how many there are within close proximity to one another. Caseville has a decent size beach, but is often very crowded, and with COVID still looming around, we decided to go further north to Port Austin. Our day began at Bay Port to pick up some smoked fish, then to the Port Austin Farmer's Market. After that I had 3 beaches picked out. Oak County Park, Veteran's Park, and Bird Creek Park. Bird Creek Park is a 1000 foot expanse of beach to the immediate east of the Port Austin State Harbor. From here, you would be able to see personal boats come and go. The parking lot has enough space for about 70 vehicles, and spaces fill up by early afternoon. Not finding any spots within social distancing guidelines, we moved to the west side of the Port Austin State Harbor to Veteran's Waterfront Park. It's about half the size of Bird Creek with approximately 500 linear feet of beachfront. This side has the breakwater, so if you're in to boat spotting, it's not the optimal side to be on. While these two parks are adjacent to each other with only about 500 feet between them, there is no direct path to get there on foot. You will need to drive from one lot to the other. The parking lot is proportionally smaller here with about 40 parking spots. Not having any luck at Veteran's we moved to my original choice of Oak Beach. During our journey west, we passed by several other beaches. 4 miles away is Port Crescent State Park. Being a State Park, a Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry. We had ours, but if you don't have one, no worries, you can purchase one at the entrance. The cost is $12 for the year + $5 convenience fee for not purchasing it when you renew your License Plate tabs. This beach is the largest of them all by far, and spans about 2 miles. There's one central lot, and despite the price of parking, many come to enjoy this beach. This was my backup beach, so we pressed on westward. The next beach is at McGraw County Park. A small pubic park with no pavilions and only about 400 feet of beachfront. After this one is our destination, Oak Beach County Park. This park is much bigger compared to McGraw with two large pavilions, a playground, 2 horseshoe pits, and about 700 feet of beachfront. Here, we were lucky enough to find both a spot on the beach and in the parking lot. In addition to the pavilions, fixed charcoal barbecue grills are scattered throughout the park for public use. There are restrooms with one shower stall in each as well as a rinsing well to get the excess sand off your legs before heading home. Still on the Lake Huron side, the water is much cooler and the water remains shallow throughout the buoy markers for swimmers. At spots there are pockets where the water does get about 5 feet deep, so if you have little ones, take care to make sure they don't wander off to far on their own. If you venture past these deeper wells, it gets shallow again (about 3 feet). The bottom is sandy so muddy waters are kept to a minimum. Overall a nice beach with nice amenities. 4 stars. The great thing about this beach park is that there is a nature center about a half mile away. The Huron County Nature Center has many hiking trails that are well marked and pets are welcome. Overall, Michigan's Thumbnail Coast boasts many smaller beaches which is quite a nice change from the densely populated ones of Metro Park and Stony Creek. The water is cleaner and cooler, a bonus on those really hot days. There is one more beach if you continue on the Journey to the West. Thompson County Park is very similar to McGraw County Park, with about 400 feet of beachfront and no pavilions or playgrounds. So don't give up if you can't find a spot straight away. Our day trip was to conclude with a stop at Rybak's Ice Cream, but they were closed due to COVID, so we checked out The Grindstone General Store and Blue Moon Ice Cream Shoppe. If you would like to experience more, come dine-with-me.yelp.com I'd love to have your company... Bon Appétit!

I was in town for their pink lady's slipper festival. It's a small fair held at the nature center…read morewith live music, food, and vendors. It was pretty fun! The pink lady's slipper is an orchid that is native to the eastern United States and is abundant near the center and it's also the logo of the center. The volunteers mentioned there were over a hundred spotted near the trails and you were sure to see them (which we did, over 20+ sightings!). The nature center itself has dioramas about the ecology of the area, bathrooms, a water fountain, and a bird feeder where you can watch wild birds and chipmunks. There were so many goldfinches and mourning doves at that time of day. There's also a tank with a rescued turtle to look at too. It's very family friendly and the trail I went on near the center was paved with a bunch of signs, although there's also more trails which are unpaved. This is a neat little place and I would recommend it!

This place is a hidden gem in Port Austin not only does it have a great nature walk and agility…read morecourse it is free! I never knew that it had a little indoor Research Center that teaches about the wildlife and history of the county it was very interesting and the highlight of going here was for my daughter to be able to pick out a fossl that was local to the lake they even have a little gift shop in the back that you could buy bookmarks, books, birdhouses, bird feeders, and much more if you're going up here to vacation please take the time to check this out it will not be a disappointment.

The museum, gift shop, and lighthouse were closed when I visited. I checked the website and the…read moremuseum will open next week on May 23rd. There is a campground by the lighthouse and a nice view of the lake. It is worth stopping by if traveling along Lake Shore Road.

This is a nice lighthouse to stop at and at least walk around. Unfortunately that's all we could do…read moretoday as it's closed due to COVID restrictions. There is a museum that can normally be toured and the lighthouse itself. The parking lot is right next to the lighthouse so there isn't much walking involved. It's also wheelchair accessible by ramp. Unlike some lighthouses that are on a pier this one is right on the shore. It is very well keep from the outside and there are lots of signs to read about the history of the lighthouse. I found a beach to sit on by the water, which was nice. I would stop here again if visiting this area. Easy in and out, parking, and walking.

In the area for a family vacation and stopped by McGraw County Park. It's a small roadside park…read moremeant specifically to enjoy the beach. There was a public restroom, grills, a small parking lot, and a couple paths leading down to a beautiful, clean, soft, sandy beach. That's it. The park is dog friendly and does not allow alcohol/glass on the beach. The water was nice, a little stirred up when we were there, but clean with very few rocks around tripping you up. It also stayed rather shallow, quite a distance out, for wading and swimming. Fantastic sunset views. Great experience. We will definitely be back.

I attended a wedding here this weekend. Ubly is somewhere that despite growing up within an hour of…read moreit, I had no idea it was even there. That being said, it is a gorgeous place. Pulling up to the banquet center, you get all of the best views of the small town. The wind farm is perfectly within view and towers over the course. I hadn't ever seen more than one wind turbine in a place so my mouth was wide open looking at this. There had to have been 30 of them and with the way the scenery was in Ubly, it felt like I was transported into some kind of a Norman Rockwell painting. The banquet center does not look like much at all from the outside. Structurally it's pretty standard compared to other reception areas I've been to. There is a covered drop-off pick-up area for the guests, separate entrance areas for the vendors, there is a large waiting area/room for earliest guests to spend their time in, and then there is the banquet area. The banquet area is where the location really closed the deal with me. Their reception area was transformed into such a lush, faitrytale like atmosphere that it took me off guard a bit. It was perfect for a wedding. Everything was covered in tulle and low lights and it gave the entire area more of a glow versus any harsh lighting. The wedding colors were draped in cloths, covered in tulle, and wrapped in ribbons everywhere you could imagine. Being realistic, I am not sure whether this is the work of this esablishment, the wedding party, or a paid decorator.But I will say that this location threw a reception that easily rivals some of the best places I have been to. And I would highly suggest checking them out if you are considering an event near the area.

The folks at Ubly Heights Golf are the difference makers between average and great. The course is…read morewell maintained and is a true links style track. The Head Pro Dave is the type of guy that will take his time to help you, give you pointers on how to play the course and treat you like a friend. They value the opportunity to earn your business and it shows in the fantastic way they have always welcomed my son and I. It's a bit of a drive from where we live but we play it as often as we can. Great prices with great links style golf and great people who make it worth the drive.