- Spending time in nature may be good for your physical and mental health
- As a four-season state, Michigan offers ample outdoor activities
- Read on for 12 outdoor activities you won’t want to miss in 2026
Studies show spending time outdoors is associated with good health and well-being, and looking at nature has been linked to stress reduction.
Plus, outdoor activities can just be a lot of fun!
Luckily, in Michigan, we have four seasons to play around in.
Here’s a list of 12 outdoor activities you might want to make time for in the coming year.
Winter
Take part in an outdoor cold plunge
Throughout the winter, a surprising number of people in Michigan swim and plunge into ice-cold lakes and rivers. It’s a practice that came over with Finnish immigrants and spiked during the coronavirus pandemic. While the science behind the benefits is inconclusive, cold plungers often say they’re hooked to the dopamine and endorphin rushes that are part of the experience. If you’re feeling ready to disrobe, find recommendations here.
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Attend an ice fishing championship
This year, Lakeview, a village outside Grand Rapids, was named the permanent host site of the USA Ice Fishing National Championship. In February, top anglers from across the country will duke it out there to determine who will go on to compete on an international level. Athletes will fish with tiny palm rods about the size of a spaghetti noodle to see who can pull in the most fish. If the competition is anything like the world championship hosted in Lakeview in February 2025, expect beer, wine and food trucks.
Skate Michigan’s largest ice ribbon
An ice skating ribbon is like an outdoor rink but it’s in the shape of a ribbon-like pathway. Michigan has had one at the Muskegon Luge Adventure Sports Park for a while, but a brand-new and even bigger one just opened up in Holland. In addition to a 700-foot skating ribbon, the Holland Ice Park also has an outdoor rink and a curling area.
Spring
Make maple syrup
In Michigan, between late February and early April, you can usually make maple syrup. The key is to do it when temperatures rise above freezing during the day and dip back down at night. If you drill into a maple tree (or birch or beech tree, for that matter) during that window, the sap will flow from the roots or branches out of the hole as temperatures warm. You can then take that sap and boil it into syrup. See a tutorial here.
Explore one of Michigan’s vernal pools
In Michigan, in the spring, an unknown number of puddles form across the landscape. Beneath the surface of those vernal pools, hundreds of creatures breed, live and feed. The Michigan Vernal Pool Partnership offers several opportunities for residents to explore the unique bodies of water and potentially find fun little animals such as fairy shrimp.
Listen to nature
Listening to nature has been shown to reduce anxiety. Well, these days, you can listen to the natural sounds of Michigan in a big way — by using a nature megaphone. You can climb inside those conical structures to tune into the amplified sounds of the outdoors. At least three of them exist in Michigan. There’s one in Afton, one in Houghton and one in Detroit.
Summer
Climb to the top of Copper Peak
Once the largest artificial ski jump in the world, Copper Peak in Ironwood was decommissioned in 1994. There are plans to turn it into “the world’s largest ski jumping hill,” but, while upgrades are underway, visitors can go to the top of the structure for thrills. But get ready! Close to the top, the stairs become see-through and you can see hundreds of feet below as you take the final steps of the climb. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Stay up all night cheering for the Canoe Marathon
The Au Sable River Canoe Marathon runs 120 miles from Grayling to Oscoda. The race starts at 9 p.m. and leaders finish about 14 hours later, around 11 a.m. the next day. The event is billed as the toughest spectator sport in America as fans stay up all night to cheer at various spots along the river. In summer 2025, Bridge Michigan followed along as one superfan showed us how it’s done. In 2026, the race will start on July 25.
Surf the Great Lakes
In Michigan, we may not have the ocean, but Great Lakes waves make it possible to surf here. Because the state’s waves are wind-driven, some of the gnarliest surfing happens in the spring, fall, and even the winter, when ice beards are a badge of honor. If you’re new to the sport, you’ll probably want to first give it a go in the summer, when water temperatures are more pleasant.
Fall
Watch salmon jump up the largest waterfall in the Lower Peninsula
Salmon may not be from Michigan originally, but many chinook and coho salmon can be found here these days after being introduced to the Great Lakes in the last half of the 20th century. If you head to Ocqueoc Falls in the Lower Peninsula’s Presque Isle County in autumn, when salmon are swimming upstream on a mission to spawn, you just might be lucky enough to spot them attempting to jump the mightiest (and only officially named) Michigan falls outside the Upper Peninsula.
Hike Michigan’s tallest mountain
At 1,979 feet, Mount Arvon in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is the tallest mountain in the state. While the roads to the summit’s trailhead can be difficult, the actual hike to the top takes a matter of minutes. Once you make it to the peak, you won’t find a view, but you will find a sign and a mailbox with a journal full of entries from past visitors. Take a photo while you’re up top and stop into the Baraga County Convention and Visitors Bureau on your way out for a certificate marking your achievement. Ready to go? Read our guide here.
Go on an elk-viewing expedition
September and October is elk mating season in Michigan, when male elk, known as bulls, go out and about trying to attract mates. Bulls sometimes make an otherworldly call, known as a bugle. Or they might fight rivals antler to antler. You can try to spot some in the wild at one of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ designated elk-viewing fields in the Pigeon River Country State Forest. Or pop into Elk View Park in Gaylord to watch the city’s own fenced-in herd.