40+ Places To Visit This Spring: The Ultimate Spring Bucket List For Michigan
Michigan truly shows off in each season, but spring can be quite stunning! If you are planning a trip this spring, you should consider adding these Michigan activities to your bucket list!
Experiencing these events and exploring the outdoors can help promote exercise, imagination, and relieve the mind of stress in both adults and children. Let’s get out, explore, imagine, grow, and learn this spring.
Check out the Ultimate Fall Bucket List for Michigan
Attend a Flower Festival
Tulip Time Festival in Holland, MI
Dates: May 6st - May 14th, 2023
Holland, Michigan perfectly decorates its city and parks with over 5 million spring flowers, including its famous tulip. It also celebrates its Dutch heritage with events, dances, and displays throughout the festival dates. But you can enjoy it’s heritage at anytime by visiting the parks, learning about its history, and enjoying some homemade food at the local restaurants.
Cherry Blossoms in Traverse City, MI
Dates: Mid-May - Mid-June
The actual date that the cherry blossoms bloom in Traverse City can vary, and they only last for a few days. But, the general rule of thumb is around mid-May to mid-June. You can watch Traverse City’s Facebook Page for updates on the blooms in the springtime. Some years, you might be able to catch the Blossom Day festival hosted by Wineries of the Old Mission Peninsula, where they feature soon-to-be-released wines, special barrels, and delicate foods.
Lilacs on Mackinac Island, MI
Dates: June 9rd - 18th, 2023
Mackinac Island’s Lilac Festival is a 10 day celebration full of lilac themed events, drinks, and dishes. You can take tours, learn the history, enjoy gardening classes, and of course, visit the events and parade.
Peonies in ann arbor, MI
Dates: Memorial Day - Summer Solstice
While it’s not technically a festival, peony season in Ann Arbor is an event all on its own. Enjoy a leisurely stroll through the Peony Garden of Nichols Arboretum at the University of Michigan. The massive field of peonies is a beautiful spot for a picnic, reading, painting, or any other pastime, all while enjoying the wide array of colors and scents.
Flower day Eastern Market in Detroit, MI
Dates: Sunday, May 21th, 2023
Enjoy Detroit’s most famous market has celebrated spring for over 50 years with a day-long event held the Sunday following Mother’s Day. Thousands of annuals and perennials sprawl across four and a half acres including violets, pansies, daisies, and lilies.
Go for a Hike
If you aren’t year-round explorers like us, the spring is the best time to dust off your (waterproof) hiking boots. While a majority of the parks and campgrounds are open year round, some trails become accessible to vehicle traffic starting in March (unless you are far north in the UP, then you may have to wait a few more months). But spring marks the start of beautiful wildflower trails, littered with lady’s slippers, violets, trilliums, and Dutchman’s breeches.
Loda Lake National Wildflower Sanctuary Near Baldwin, MI
Dates: late March - June
Self-guided walking trails and boardwalks offer a variety of viewing locations for various wildflowers like pink lady’s slipper, round-leaved sundew, jack-in-the-pulpit, trailing arbutus, swamp milkweed, and columbine.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Near Traverse City, MI
Dates: late March - June
In the Sleeping Bear Dunes, you can see an array of early blooms including hepatica, bloodroot, yellow trout lily, trailing arbutus, and recumbent. The wetter areas in the park produce yellow cowslip and marsh marigold. You can find white trillium along the forest floor and jack-in-the-pulpit. Later in June, you can find blue harebell, orange dune lily, yellow puccoon and false heather, purple beach pea, and rosy pink of wind anemone.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Near Munising, MI
Dates: mid-May - early June
The early blooms of hepatica and bloodroot will cut through the remaining snow. Large-flowered trilliums will blanket the forest in white underneath bright yellow marsh marigolds. After an abundant of sunshine, you can begin to see trout lily, Canada mayflower, Dutchman’s breeches, squirrel corn, and jack-in-the-pulpit.
Tip: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore now requires entry fee
Hunt For Mushrooms Or Just Taste Them
Mesick Mushroom Festival in Mesick, MI
Dates: May 12th-14th, 2023
Mesick, MI is the mushroom capital in the United States. They host an annual mushroom festival celebrating Michigan’s morel mushroom through family events, guided morel hikes, Jeep events, food, concerts, and many other activities for everyone to enjoy.
National Morel Mushroom Festival in Boyne City, MI
Dates: May 18th, 2023
Boyne City’s National Morel Mushroom Festival focuses on dining and taste testing the local chefs’ morel-themed creations. Various events, local restaurants, and areas for mushroom hunting. Many events were downscaled this year, so be sure to check their Facebook for updates and festival news.
Visit the Soo Locks
Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie
Date: March 25, 2023
Onlookers come to celebrate the event at Sault Ste. Marie’s Soo Locks Opening Day with freighter viewings, visitor center exhibits, and refreshments. Be sure to walk around the town to visit local museums, shops, parks, and the restaurants, where you can get a homemade pasty (the UP specialty).
Pull down your bicycle
There are more than 1,300 miles of bike paths across Michigan, ranging from smooth asphalt to hilly mountain bike trails. Biking the 8 mile, paved bicycle rout around Mackinac Island is a must-do experience for anyone. For the more experienced biker, head up to Copper Harbor on Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula for 35 miles of rugged single track mountain bike trails. There are biking events all over the state, but here are a few for example!
Metro Grand Spring Tour In Willow Metropark
Ann Arbor Classic Bicycle Show
Michigan Mountain Mayhem Spring Classic in Boyne City, MI
Visit Famers Markets
Michigan is famous for its locally-grown produce and farmers markets. We love to buy fresh produce, flowers, homemade honeys, and other artisanal products at our local famers markets and stands. Here is a few of my favorites:
Detroit’s Eastern Market
Eastern Market, Detroit, MI
Downtown Market in Grand Rapids
435 Ionia Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Flint Farmers Market
300 E 1st St, Flint, MI 48502
Ann Arbor Farmers Market
315 Detroit St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Blocks Stand and Farm Market
Address: 29160 Eureka Rd, Romulus, MI 48174
Check out local botanical gardens
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, MI
Address: 1000 E Beltline Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525
Cost: Adults $14.50
Seniors $11
Students (with ID) $11
Children 5-13 $7
Children 3-4 $4
Children (2 and under) free
This is a beautiful garden that has been on my bucket list for years! In the spring, you can watch their butterflies hatch through April and in the summer, their gardens come to life with lavender bushes.
Dow Gardens in Midland, MI
Address: 1809 Eastman Ave, Midland, MI 48640
Cost: Annual Pass $20
Adult $10
Kids $200
College Students with ID $2
Kids 5 and under free
The Dow Gardens are absolutely stunning! Pokémon Go had just come out when we lived in Midland, so we frequently visited to go hunting. I wish I had my camera when we lived up there because the views were gorgeous. There is even a kids area where the flowers are planted to create art from an areal view, a little bit of play equipment, and a few places to sit while your kids run and enjoy nature.
Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor, MI
Address: 1800 N Dixboro Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Cost: free with $1.90 per hour for parking
Matthaei Botanical Gardens are probably my favorite Botanical garden so far, but we shall see after this year! I love their forest school area outside, their outdoor walkways and boardwalks, and the trails in the park surrounding the gardens. Their inside is stunning with a fountain, tropical plants mixed throughout, and a cacti area in the rear of the building.
W.J. Beal Botanical Gardens at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Address: W Circle Dr, East Lansing, MI 48824
Cost: free
Michigan State University’s campus houses the nation’s oldest continuously-operating botanical garden. The garden dates back to 1873 and includes more than 5,000 plant species. Be sure to look for fruits and vegetables, flowering plants, medicinal, and rare and endangered plants.
Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, Belle Isle Park, MI
Address: 4 Inselruhe Ave, Detroit, MI 48207
Cost: free
This is Belle Isle’s conservatory, and Belle Isle in general, is a beautiful historic part of Detroit. If you are coming down to the Metro Detroit area, I highly recommend visiting the conservatory as well as taking some tours around Detroit.
Kick off boating season
Boating season kicks off in the spring and Michigan has 3,200 miles of shoreline (more than any other state, except Alaska). You can sail the Great Lakes, all the lakes inland, paddle the Les Cheneaux Islands, go waterskiing, kayak the rivers or out to Turnip Rock.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check and update your boating devices so they are clean for the environment. It’s so important to keep our waterways clean to support our ecosystems and habitats.
Go Fishing
Finishing season opens in the spring for Michigan’s native species. Be sure to check out the shores of Grand Haven, take a boat out of Bay City, or try fly fishing in the Au Sable or Manistee Rivers.
Whether you go there for the animals or for the blooms, the spring is a phenomenal time to visit the Detroit Zoo. April makes the perfect month because all the early buds are blooming and bringing color, but also their annual Earth Day event is hosted then. Walk around the zoo and see if you can find all the various ways the Zoo is becoming sustainable and better for our planet + the animals.
Hunt for Petoskey Stones
Lake Michigan begins to reveal her Petoskey stones as the temperatures rise. Tossed into the beach by winter storms and then hidden by thick ice and snow, the stones become visible with the thawing of spring.
Enjoy outdoor concerts
One sure way Michiganders love to welcome the warm weather is by heading to outdoor music venues or local parks for concerts in the park. Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park begin their music in the spring; Meadow Brook Amphitheatre or DTE Energy Music Theatre in metro Detroit; Kresge Auditorium at Interlochen Center for the Arts near Traverse City; and Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant.
Eat Ice Cream
Eating ice cream is our favorite warm weather pastime (I wish I was kidding). But seriously, just finished a good hike? Celebrate with ice cream. Michigan is having a beautiful sunset, go pair it with some ice cream. There is seriously nothing better than trying all of the local made ice creams! Head over to Uncle Ray’s Dairyland in Fenton; House of Flavors in Ludington; Moomers Homemade Ice Cream in Traverse City; Marv’s Dairy Dan in Westland (one of our favorites); or Han-D-Dip Dairy Barn in Livonia (I love their hand dipped, frozen bananas for a dairy-free alternative).
Kick-off Running Season
It’s time to get a start on racing season! I love a good 5k during the spring and fall months, and would love to become a regular runner. If you are up for anything between a walk, 5k, to a marathon, check out the Martian Invasion of Races in Dearborn; the Wheatlake Festival of Races in Big Rapids; the Town Crier in Saugatuck; the Bayshore in Traverse City; and the Probility Ann Arbor.
Go Bird Watching
I have loved bird watching ever since I was a little girl. I need to pull down my bird watching kit so I can hand it down to Evelyn. Michigan’s resident birds will begin their return north for the season and there are plenty of beautiful bird parks/sanctuaries all over Michigan. In northern Michigan, you can visit the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory and the birding trails near Mackinaw City. Belle Isle Park is also a hotspot for migrating birds in Southeastern Michigan.
Baseball Resumes in April
If you are a sport lover, the Detroit Tigers open the season at Comerica Park in April! Or you can enjoy the many minor league ball games including the Lansing Lugnuts, the Great Lakes Loons in Midland, the Traverse City Pit Spitters, and the West Michigan Whitecaps in Grand Rapids.
Visit A Waterpark
Beaches are more our thing. But I’m sure when our daughter is older, we will frequent a few of the amazing waterparks in the surrounding area. The Splash Universe in Dundee, MI was one of my favorites as a kid, but you can also checkout Zehnder’s Splash Village Hotel and Waterpark, Great Wolf Lodge, and Avalanche Bay.
Go Golfing
Michigan houses nearly 800 golf courses ranging from the shoreline at Arcadia Bluffs Golf Club, Bay Harbor Gulf Club, Treetop Resort, Forest Dunes Golf Club in Roscommon, or Marquette Golf Club.
Stroll The Greenfield Village
Mid-April also marks the opening of the Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village in Dearborn! This was one of my absolute favorites as a kid and I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many times my brother and I begged our grandparents to take us. It is home to over 80 acres of historic homes, buildings collected by Henry Ford, events, tours, history, the Wright Brothers’ bicycle shop, authentic Model Ts and a Cotswold cottage. In the summer, you can also enjoy live concerts and other events throughout the year.
Go Wine Tasting
Hello wine month! May is Michigan’s Wine Month, when the state spotlights nearly 150 wineries. Or, if beer is more your style, Michigan is also home to some amazing breweries!
Pack Your Bags And Go Backpacking
As always, hit those trails. Michigan has so many wonderful state parks that are accommodating to backpackers, hikers, and campers alike. If you are parents like us, getting your kids outdoors to learn, explore, build, create, and thrive is so important! Walking on the uneven ground helps with coordination, nature is naturally sensory-rich, and you don’t have to worry about them breaking anything. We love to get Evelyn outdoors to learn and experiment more than spending time indoors with countless toys that she will eventually grow out of.
So, what will you do this spring?
