Winter Activities

Cross-Country Skiing, Snowshoeing, Sledding

The dunes in winter are a magical thing. Enchanting. Snow quiets the land. It blankets the old farmhouses, barns, great pines, forests, and cedars until the whole country looks like candy. The only way to get out there is on skis or snowshoes. Or make some noise by ripping down a hill, full-speed, on toboggan or sled. Seven of the thirteen trails in the Sleeping Bear Dunes were thoughtfully designed with cross-country skiing in mind. You can even sled down the massive Dune Climb in designated areas when it's covered with snow.

So come, explore. Make some tracks. Glide through powdery forests, stunning winter wetlands, and rolling white hills. Or tromp along a new path, toward the great gray, wave-pounded Lake Michigan coast, where snow clouds shroud the watery horizon and the icy feeling of glorious solitude takes hold down deep in the very marrow of your bones.

Downhill Skiing, Snowboarding

Up until around 14,000 thousand years ago, a colossal glacier covered what is now northern Michigan. The great Wisconsin Glacier was a mile thick and stretched from Hudson Bay all the way south to the Ohio River. When this massive, crushing river of ice eventually retreated, it left behind a country transformed a land of deep valleys, moraines, and towering vistas ideal topography for what is, today, the skiing and snowboarding paradise of northwestern Lower Michigan.

The Homestead offers skiing and snowboarding opportunity in the heart of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The resort's Bay Mountain rises 875 feet over scenic Lake Michigan and the surrounding countryside. Bay Mountain offers 16 challenging runs (for all skill levels) and also a terrain park for snowboarders with rail features and expanded air opportunity. With its picture postcard views, elegant accommodations, and all the amenities of a five-star winter resort, The Homestead is perfect for couples or families seeking the best skiing and snowboarding the Upper Midwest has to offer.