Cross Country Skiing in the Traverse City Area

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Hover your mouse over the markers on the map at right for names of the cross country ski areas, and click on the markers to open up a new window with contact and mapping information.

Several trails are detailed below, both groomed and ungroomed. If you have information to add to the descriptions below, please e-mail us.

Ungroomed Cross Country Ski Pathways & Trails

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

This 70,000-acre national park spread along the Lake Michigan coastline offers some of the best cross-country skiing in the Midwest. Spectacular dunes and beautiful overlooks amid pristine woodland settings create a memorable backdrop for your tour.

Seven trails designated for cross-country skiing offer a good mix for all levels of skiers, with most ranging from easy to moderate. A few have short, advanced sections thrown in for good measure.

The more popular trails are: Alligator Hill, which offers two great overlooks, a three-mile beginner trail and an additional two-mile intermediate and two-and-a-half-mile expert trail; Scenic Drive Trail, offering a four-mile easy skiing trail that winds up to the Lake Michigan and North Bar Lake overlooks (two of the best in the area); Empire Bluffs, a mile-and-a-half more-difficult trail that winds out along the dunes and offers spectacular overlooks of Empire and the Lake Michigan shoreline; Platte Plains, presenting a nice, easy four-and-a-half-mile trail that winds around Otter Lake; and the Bayview Trail adjacent to The Homestead, which offers a nice variety of trails, some with panoramic views of Leelanau County's rolling hills, Sleeping Bear Dune and Pyramid Point.

Since all of these trails are located on National Park Service land, you have to obtain a trail pass from park headquarters in Empire. Daily passes are $4, annual passes $20, and must be carried with you while skiing. Park rangers frequently patrol the more popular trails.

Betsie Valley Trail

This is a pleasant DNR pathway that meanders through low woodlands just west of Crystal Mountain. The six-and-a-half-mile pathway is one of the best for beginners in the area, with one section bordering the beautiful, swift-flowing Betsie River. It's all easy skiing.

Lake Ann Pathway

It's not long, but the hills will give you a good workout. One of the sportier area pathways, the trail glides by several picturesque small lakes, the Platte River and Lake Ann. It's not a good system for beginners, but all others will love it. The total distance around is 5.5 miles.

Lost Lake Pathway

Also known as the Lake Dubonnet Pathway, this is an excellent trail system for beginners. The scenic pathway meanders along the shore of Lake Dubonnet, along the headwaters of the Platte River and by an ancient glacial lake in the back part of the system, which is slowly drying up (hence the name of the area). This bog-like lake once occupied all of the low area you ski along. Divided into loops, the pathway's total distance is a flat, easy 6.5 miles. The shortest loop is 2.5 miles.

Sand Lakes Quiet Area

No snowmobiles are allowed in the 3,500-acre DNR preserve. It's wonderfully peaceful and quiet as you ski along the seven-mile wooded pathway, which crosses several small and beautiful frozen lakes dotting the area. The long, exterior trail is a relatively easy ski with just a few small hills. The interior trails and hinterland are quite hilly. This is also a very popular spot for winter camping enthusiasts. Weekends are very busy with people, but midweek, you'll have the place to yourself.

Groomed Cross Country Pathways & Trails

(Donation pipes are placed at most groomed pathways. There is no formal charge for skiing the trails.)

Vasa Pathway

This is arguably the premier cross-country trail in the state. It's long, has a lot of variety, scenic woodlands and impeccable grooming. The popular trail is a delight to ski, but not for beginners. The hills can be exhausting. There's little here for a beginner but a two mile single-track trail that loops around from the trailhead. The other two loops, groomed for both classic and skate, are six-and-a-half and 16 miles. Weekends and late afternoons will find large crowds on the trail. Weekday mornings and midday are the best time to avoid the congestion.

Leelanau Trail

Stretching over 15 miles through the last of the Leelanau County railway corridors, the Leelanau Trail connects Traverse City and Suttons Bay. The trail route features rolling hills, lush forests, picturesque orchards, peaceful meadows, and an aquatic medley of streams, lakes, and ponds.

Muncie Lakes Pathway

It's the antithesis of Sand Lakes; kind of like the groomed cousin. Also a popular pathway with locals, Muncie Lakes is the one trail that the Traverse City DNR Field Office grooms on an irregular basis. When it's freshly groomed, which is only once a week at best, it's one of the top classic single-track trails you'll find. The terrain along the 10-mile trail is much like Sand Lakes, rolling and wooded, dotted with small frozen lakes and bordered in part by the Boardman River. However, numerous snowmobile trails also bisect the area, so expect to put up with the noise and smell. They also frequently wipe out the tracks, which is why it would be nice to see grooming on a more regular basis during the season.

Big M

This is an excellent U.S. Forest Service trail system located between Wells and Manistee. Groomed by the Manistee Ski Council on a volunteer basis, the area offers a warming hut and about 15 miles of classic single-track trail.

Opened in the early 1980s, it was the site of a former downhill ski area that had been idle for about 20 years. It was laid out by John Capper, a well-known ski trail designer who lived in the area at the time. He has since passed away, but Big M stands as a tribute to his imaginative ski trail designs and the fun and excitement they've brought to cross-country skiing.

MacKenzie Pathway

This popular Forest Service trail system is located adjacent to Caberfae Peaks Ski Area. Groomed with both single- and double-track sections regularly by volunteers, the scenic, wooded 5.5-mile trail system offers a nice variety of loops for all skill levels. You don't even see the downhill area from the trail system, although there is a connecting link.

The outer parameter offers the easiest skiing. The trails all circle in toward the center, where the most difficult skiing is to be found. The section of the trail that borders bubbly Johnson Creek is particularly picturesque.

Cadillac Pathway

A popular DNR pathway located on the outskirts of Cadillac, it's also groomed in the classic single-track tradition. The 10-mile loop offers a good workout with lots of quick hills on the last two loops. A portion of the trail system meanders along the scenic Clam River.

Cross Country Touring Centers

(There is a charge for skiing these pathways; each area is different.)

Timber Ridge Resort

Under new ownership in 2005, Timber Ridge Resort has undergone recent renovations. In addition to providing a series of well groomed cross country trails that connect to the Vasa Pathway, Timber Ridge also provides equipment rentals, well lit trails for night skiing, learn-to-ski cross-country clinics, group ski events, showers, lockers and a lodge where you can unwind after you ski. All of this within Traverse City limits.

Black Forest Wilderness Valley

Located at the Black Forest Golf Course near Gaylord, Black Forest Wilderness Valley offers cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. It is open on weekends only, Sat. 9-5 and Sun. 9-4. 231-585-7090, fax 231-585-7010.

Boyne Nordican

Located at the base of Boyne Mountain, the Nordican is to cross-country skiing what the Mountain means to downhill skiers: excellence. Nobody does it better than long-time cross-country guru Lou Awody, Boyne's Nordic director. He offers a nice choice of trails for all ability levels. If you want to ski to the top of Boyne Mountain, which is a good workout, you can. If you want to ride the lift to the top and pick your way leisurely down the cross-country trails, you can. More than 20 miles of trails are groomed for both classic and skate. And it's one of the first to open and last to close.

Crystal Mountain

Crystal was one of the first downhill ski resorts in the area to recognize the potential for cross-country skiing. They hired Big M trail designer John Capper to lay out the original trail system, which was an instant hit with the "skinny ski" crowd. Although the system has been largely rerouted, much of Capper's original feel and excitement has been retained. Crystal's grooming equipment keeps the more than 20 miles of trail in great shape.

Forbush Corners

Nobody lays down a better-groomed surface than Dave Forbush does. Considered to be one of the top touring centers in the state, Forbush is located just north of Grayling. It's a perennial favorite of local skiers and racers who find the rolling terrain and 20 miles of meticulously groomed trails a delight. All are groomed for both skate and classic styles. A portion of Forbush's trail connects with nearby Hartwick Pines State Park trails, offering even more terrain and lots of scenery to enjoy. Famed Russian ski coach Nikolai Anikin has conducted race clinics here in the past.

Hanson Hills

Located just east of Grayling, this county-run area offers an excellent trail system that includes several different loops - the longest about eight miles. The grooming has improved considerably over the years, with classic tracks and skating lanes. What they don't offer is much for the beginner. As hilly as the Vasa Pathway, the scenic, wooded trails that cavort over hill and dale offer a good workout and lots of great skiing.

Shanty Creek

Located in the middle of Antrim County's hill and dale country, the system connecting Schuss Mountain Village and the Summit Village is one of the best point-to-point trails in the region. With 20-plus miles of groomed trails for both classic and skate, this system offers a lot of cross-country skiing. Much of the land between the two locations is quite hilly, although the trail was rerouted last season so you don't have to climb over the front face of Schuss Mountain as you start the trek. An excellent transportation system between the two locations keeps waiting to a minimum if you decide to ski one way and ride back the other, which is what a lot of skiers opt to do.

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