The fun begins when the snow arrives in our corner of Michigan. Check out our list of favorite places for hills, thrills and spills to enjoy some winter fun! Don’t stay inside: Gather up your coat, hat, scarf and mittens and head out to embrace the great outdoors and all our region has to offer. And to chase away your chill, we found some beverage options for you to warm up with as well as a few treats to sweeten up the season.
Up to Snow Good
THERE’S “SNOW” PLACE LIKE SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
- Hold onto your hat as you fly downhill at Meyer Broadwalk Park. Enjoy the tubes for a day of high-speed wintry fun.
- At Swiss Valley, you can test your skills on a 225-foot ski and snowboard hill. Then take a break at the Chalet, featuring pub food, drinks and weekend entertainment.
- Hit the slopes and adventure trails with skis or a snowboard, during day or night! Top off the fun at Timber Ridge Ski Area with a tubing park.
- With 20 runs to test your limits, Bittersweet Ski Area offers slopes for skiers and snowboarders of all levels to test their limits.
- If you can handle the thrill, speed down Echo Valley‘s legendary steep drop on a tube or toboggan.
- With cross-country skiing, 25 miles of dog sledding trails and a 219-site campground, Fort Custer Recreation Area is welcoming to all winter outdoor enthusiasts.
- Ready to race? A winter wonderland awaits at Dr. T.K. Lawless Park with inner tubes, sledding runs and seven miles groomed for cross country skiing.
- Featuring three lakes, the Kalamazoo River and more than 40 miles of trails, the Fort Custer Recreation Area offers many trail options for you to step into.
- With a linear trail running 34 miles long through picturesque woods, wetlands and pastures, the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park near Pinckney is an easy-to-navigate option for those of you who may struggle with directions.
- Serving up vast views of Lake Michigan, Saugatuck Dunes State Park’s four trails traverse over two and a half miles of snow-covered sand dunes that are over 200 feet tall.
- The largest state park in the Lower Peninsula, the Waterloo Recreation Area, showcases a cutting-edge and sustainable 22-mile DTE Energy Foundation Trail that’s groomed often.
- Known for its quiet serenity and scenic lake, Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve’s five miles of trails are also popular for lovers of wildlife watching.
- If you like to be outside but prefer a roof over your head to keep the snow out of your eyes, check out John and Dede Howard Ice Arena in St. Joseph. There, the outdoor rink beckons with a warming house and a hot cup of cocoa.
- The Rink in Battle Creek is the perfect spot to get some energy out and swirl around. During its public open skate, the ice is ready for you to show everyone what you’re made of.
- If you’re not overly confident on the ice and just want to watch others twirl their hearts out, the City of South Haven has a live ice rink cam for you to get in on the action. However, we suggest getting out on the ice and giving it a shot. Skate on over to South Haven and enjoy ice skating, Lake Michigan and walking around downtown for a full day of family fun.
- Portage’s ice rink at Millennium Park is a picture-perfect ice-skating spot for an excellent skating experience. Make some special memories with your family by making a day of it.
- Balsam Fir. Scotch Pine. Blue Spruce. Badger County Christmas Tree Farm is the place to choose your favorite tree along with a fir wreath or garland.
- Pre-cut or U-cut? The choice is yours! With 150 acres of trees, at Wahmhoff Farms Nursery you’re sure to find one that will deck the halls.
- Don’t forget to bring your camera! Memories are made at Tall Timbers Tree Farm with its century-old barn, hayrides and hot chocolate.
- At Pinecrest Christmas Tree Farm, you can take a ride into this family-owned farm’s field of trees on a horse-drawn or tractor-drawn wagon.
- Beat the hustle and bustle and head to Bredeweg Acres before the other elves select the best trees.
- Jingle all the way to Timberly Tree Farm to choose a tree with sizes up to 20 feet. Next, dash through the snow to the farm’s holiday store for extra cheer!
- Make your Christmas Tree hunt a full family experience! Rumor has it that Santa has even been known to stop by Butler Tree Farms.
- Presents come in all sizes and so do trees at Murdoch Nursery. Here you’ll find a large selection of cut-your-own and potted trees.
- Roam around Wilson’s Tannenbaum Farm to enjoy Michigan’s wilderness in search of the perfect spruce to serve as the centerpiece for a verse of O Tannenbaum.
- The Roche Collection, a contemporary, delicious and luxury wine collection produced and bottled right here in Kalamazoo, has a wide variety of wines to choose from. The local collection can be found at Market Fresh, Park Street Market, City Centre Market, Hardings on Gull Road and J&B Discount Liquor or shipped to your house.
- In the heart of downtown Kalamazoo, Tempo Vino Winery offers a full selection of white, red and dessert wines as well as gift baskets for you to really impress.
- Julian Winery and Distillery in Paw Paw is the most-awarded winery in Michigan and has been committed to quality and local Michigan fruit for 100 years. Branching out from the grapevine over the years has not changed their innovative wine-making techniques that are a hallmark of their business, using grapes from the Lake Michigan Shore Appellation, Michigan’s premier grape-growing region.
- Pour on some support for the leadership and business strategy students from the Western Michigan University Haworth College of Business that launched the purpose-driven wine brand, Bronconess. The wine can be found at over 70 locations in Michigan thanks to its distribution partner Imperial Beverage.
- Green Door Distilling Company is on an adventure producing award-winning spirits since 2016 as Kalamazoo’s first distillery. Its love of Michigan and commitment to honoring Kalamazoo’s rich distilling history shines through its craft. Read more about Green Door’s Kalamazoo roots.
- Kalamazoo is not just in the name at The Kalamazoo Stillhouse; owners Nic and Joanna Merrill have called our community home their whole lives. Their lineup of honest spirits includes the Bronson Park Gin—a tribute to the distillery’s home in downtown Kalamazoo.
- Journeyman Distillery has got it all going on in Three Oaks, with a full restaurant, event spaces and an 18-hole putting green. All of Journeyman’s spirits are certified organic and kosher, steeped in family history and poured with love. Learn more with this shot glass-size company snapshot.
- Long Road Distillers has been shaking things up on the distillery scene since 2015 in Grand Rapids’ west side. With over 70 awards and accomplishments for their spirits and business under their belt, taking the long road has proved to be the best route.
- Grand Rapids is also home to Eastern Kille Distillery, which has been making waves in West Michigan and beyond. Its signature spirit—the Michigan Straight Bourbon Whiskey—distilled with Great Lakes pride (and water!), is one that Michiganders can call their own.
- While wine might be on your mind when thinking of St. Julian, the Paw Paw-based producer of Grey Heron Vodka, rum, brandy and gin, has been passionate about Michigan’s farms and fruit for almost a century.
- It’s all Pure Michigan at Grand Traverse Distillery, with tasting rooms around the state. Sourcing grains from within a few miles of the distillery, you could say that everything about Grand Traverse Distillery is, well…grand.
- As a fine arts gallery owner for over 30 years with a love of both art and chocolate, Cherri’s Chocol’art owner Cherri Emery turned her passion for chocolate into a business and opened up Cherri’s Chocol’art right here in Kalamazoo.
- Skip the traditional box of chocolates and indulge in something else sweet. Chocolatea not only offers a delicious selection of warm beverages, but it also serves up a selection of baked goods, 16 different macarons and bulk chocolates.
- Don’t settle for any old box of chocolates. Confections with Convictions specializes in truffles hand-crafted with fair trade organic chocolate from original recipes by chocolatier Dale Anderson. It carries vegan chocolates and caramels, too.
- Ope’s Cookies, a Kalamazoo cookie favorite, can be enjoyed for breakfast, dessert, snack or really any meal, which is why they would make a great stocking stuffer or gift to a neighbor or friend. Indulge in the over 15 different flavors of cookies that are both healthy and delicious.
- From Britain to you, Eileen’s English Toffee is made locally in Richland using an authentic recipe from Surrey, England. Made to crumble in your mouth, indulge in a snack pack, a pound or a toffee brownie.
- The perfect couple for many, chocolate and coffee are Five Lakes’ specialty. If you’re looking to add a little something extra special to go with one of the house specialty blends, we suggest a pecan caramel patty or chocolate-covered pretzel stick.
- There’s no better way to keep yourself from going “nuts” than by indulging in some nuts. Heilman’s Nuts and Confections selection of nuts, mixes, brittles and chocolates is guaranteed to delight.
- Sweets have been an important part of the Schultz family since she can remember and now she’s sharing that love with the community! Mrs. Schultz’s Sweets include her famous caramels, truffles, chocolate-covered strawberries and more.
- Featuring a wide selection of candy and soda, Rocket Fizz in downtown Kalamazoo has hundreds of sodas from microbreweries all over the world plus almost every candy ever made.
- You’ll feel like a kid in a candy shop when you enter the doors of Veni’s Sweet Shop. Beyond chocolates, handmade sweet selections include rock candy, saltwater taffy, fruit slices, malted milk balls and licorice.