GREAT HIKES WITHIN 20 MINUTES!

Download AllTrails App before you venture out!

First things first:  Walk around the Village!  Stop by Three Pines art studio, Peninsulas Gift shop, Black Barn Farm, and The Vilalge Mart.  The community is super friendly and love visitors.  Once you've made a lap through town, head down Chippewa Drive and check out beautiful Cross Village Beach - The perfect spot to watch the sunset, and just a 10-15 minute walk from your front door!

North Country Trail South Sturgeon Bay Loop: Distance: 4.9 miles (loop). 

Distance from Spirit Lake Retreat: 15 minute drive. 

Location: 1999-1567 W Sturgeon Bay Trail, Levering, MI 49755 

Explore this 4.9-mile loop trail near Carp Lake, Michigan. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 1 h 41 min to complete. This trail is great for hiking, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring. The best times to visit this trail are July through October. 

This trail starts at Lakeview Trailhead and follows the North County National Scenic Trail through a forested area with enjoyable hills and scenic views. The second half of the hike takes you along a sandy beach area off Lake Michigan. This area can have a lot of mosquitos, so make sure you bring bug spray.

All-trails link: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/michigan/north-country-trail-sturgeon-bay-south-loop 

Thorne Swift Nature Preserve: Distance 0.9 Miles (loop)

Distance from Spirit Lake Retreat: 20 minute drive

Location: 6696 Lower Shore Dr, Harbor Springs, MI 49740

Head out on this 0.9-mile loop trail near Harbor Springs, Michigan. Generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of 18 min to complete. This trail is great for walking, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring. The best times to visit this trail are May through May. You'll need to leave pups at home — dogs aren't allowed on this trail.

All-trails link: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/michigan/thorne-swift-nature-preserve 

Woollam Family Nature Preserve: Distance 0.8 miles (non-loop)

Distance from Spirit Lake Retreat – 7 minute drive, 15 minute bike ride

Location: 5581 N Lake Shore Dr, Harbor Springs, MI 49740 

Enjoy this 0.8-mile out-and-back trail near Cross Village, Michigan. Generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of 20 min to complete. This trail is great for birding, hiking, and walking, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring

All-trails link: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/michigan/woollam-nature-trail 

Cross Village Nature Trail: Distance: 0.5 miles (non-loop)

Distance from Spirit Lake Retreat (walkable from Motel) – 10 minutes walk

Location – head East on Levering road (immediately in front of Spirit Lake Retreat) and walk about .5 miles. Look for hidden trial head on left side of road – just across from Recycling sign.

Enjoy this nature walk through old-growth woodlands of Cross village. This township owned trail is great for quiet walks in the woods and birdwatching

Trail details: https://www.crossvillagetownship.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/natrail4web.pdf 

Wycamp Lake (AKA: Spirit Lake) exploring. Distance: Up to you! Various loops and in/out trails

Distance from Spirit Lake Retreat: 5 minute drive

Location: Head North on North Lakeshore Drive (main road through town) Drive until you see Spirit Lake Rd (Seasonal Road, drive down seasonal road at your risk). Find a place to park, then follow your senses until you find the lake!

Wycamp Lake is a shallow lake in Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. 709 acres (287 ha) in size, it is located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Cross Village, Michigan. It is located within Mackinaw State Forest and is served by local unimproved roads and by the North Country Trail. A typical shallow lake in the North Woods, the lake is partly surrounded by wetlands. Like much of the Mackinaw State Forest, the region around the lake was cut over in the late 1800s for timber; exhausted land parcels were allowed to return to the public sector. Much of the lake's watershed is owned and managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (M-DNR). The lake is technically a reservoir; a dam at the Wycamp Creek outlet controls the flowage of the lake's water to Lake Michigan. The creek and lake shoreline have been inhabited for centuries, and the Wycamp Creek Site, a Lake Michigan shoreline campsite by the lake's creek outlet, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Stone tools excavated at the site could have been used to hunt birds, and Wycamp Lake is a noted bird-hunting location to this day.