Winter Activities
Nowhere in the Midwest is there a more alluring winter playground than the Grand Traverse Bay region, where all the snowy pleasures present themselves in abundance and variety. There's something for winter enthusiasts of every stripe. No matter how you take your snowy pleasures, you'll find easy downhill slopes, daunting steeps, terrain parks for trick-riding snowboarders and miles of cross-country and snowshoe trails.
Outdoor Activities
In addition to skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling, the Traverse City region also hosts several outdoor skating rinks, four year-round indoor hockey rinks and other winter diversions including sleigh rides. Follow the links below for details on the major outdoor sports.
Cross-country skiing
There are 11 cross-country ski areas surrounding Traverse City, including the stupendous Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which alone offers eight trails. Several other areas offer lighting and other amenties.
Downhill Skiing and Snowboarding
Two small community ski areas are right in Traverse City - Hickory Hills and Mount Holiday. Just a few minutes on the road can deliver for any one of several larger ski areas that offer runs both for beginners and advanced skiers.
Snowmobile Adventures
Two enormous networks of snowmobile trails connect Traverse City to hundreds of miles of solitude and freedom.
Snow Condition Reports
In season, we update local snow condition reports Monday through Friday for most area downhill and cross-country ski trails, snowmobile trails, ice rinks and sleigh rides. Call 800-72-SKI-TC
Suggested Indoor Activities
After you've had enough snow and sunshine for the day, explore some of the many indoor attractions that add sparkle to the Traverse City winter experience.
Casino Gaming
Two area casinos offer Black Jack, Caribbean Stud Poker, Craps, Roulette, and over 200 slots including progressives.
Horizon Books
An oak motif, two fireplaces and 100,000 titles define northern Michigan’s largest independent bookstore. Its Horizon Shine Cafe not only serves up great espresso, but a tasty lunch menu as well. Children’s books take up a third of the store’s main level. Another large section is devoted to Michigan history and other regional subjects. The bookstore has frequent appearances by nationally published authors. Music is featured on Friday and Saturday nights. Poetry is read every Wednesday evening.
Dennos Museum Center
A first-rate public museum located five minutes east of downtown. Dennos boasts one of the largest collections in the United States of sculptures, prints and drawings by the Inuit artists of the Canadian arctic, as well as 19th and 20th century American and European graphic art. Special visiting exhibits are featured year around. The center’s Milliken Auditorium also has an impressive calendar of jazz and classical performances.
Music House Museum
Located among the cherry orchards near Acme. Visitors are treated to an hour guided tour through a large collection of rare automated musical instruments, many of them 19th century antiques. Player pianos, church organs, air-powered music machines, early phonographs and radios, and colorful early jukeboxes fill the renovated white barn that houses the collection. The highlight of the tour is a boisterous demonstration of the Amaryllis, a 30-foot-wide, 18-foot-tall automated organ that entertained folks in the 1920s at the Victoria Palace ballroom in Ypres, Belgium. The rare, ornate device uses dozens of specially voiced organ pipes and percussion instruments to produce the sound of a large European orchestra.
Other Museums & Art Galleries
Visit a few of our over 35 museums and art galleries.
Shopping
There is a wide variety of retail shopping experiences to be had in the Traverse City region. From malls to quaint shops, you'll find what you're looking for on our shopping page.
Wineries
Traverse area wines are fast becoming among the finest offered nationally and internationally. The ideal climate, with vineyards protected by winter snows and conditions moderated by proximity to Lake Michigan, has given rise to a wine industry that has been recognized for its quality and variety since the first winery opened here in 1974.
