Start from 23 curated places around Harbor Springs, MI, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Polish Kitchen
A small counter-service spot on M-119 south of town that has quietly become the most loved restaurant in the area. The menu is short and focused: pierogi stuffed with potato and cheese, kielbasa, borscht, and rissoli, all made from scratch. Locals drive from Petoskey and Charlevoix for the pierogi alone.
The New York Restaurant
The longest-running upscale dining room in Harbor Springs, occupying a handsome corner building on State Street since 1904. The menu leans into northern Michigan ingredients — Great Lakes whitefish, locally sourced produce, and a solid wine list in a room that balances old-fashioned ambiance with polished service.
Trails & outdoors
Thorne Swift Nature Preserve Trails
Three short, well-marked trails — Cedar, Balsam, and Beach — totaling about a mile wind through cedar swamps, hardwood forest, and wildflower meadows before descending to a quiet Lake Michigan beach. The dune observation platform midway offers an elevated view over the tree canopy toward the water.
Petoskey State Park — Old Baldy & Portage Loop
The park's main hiking loop climbs through oak and hemlock forest to the Old Baldy overlook, a bare sandy hilltop with sweeping views of Little Traverse Bay and the Charlevoix Lighthouse on a clear day. At 2 miles with 170 feet of gain, it's approachable but rewarding.
Things to do
Stafford's Pointer Boat
The Pointer is a restored 1940s mahogany excursion yacht offering one-hour narrated cruises from Harbor Springs' marina across Little Traverse Bay. It's the only way to see the private Harbor Point colony and the Little Traverse Lighthouse, which is completely invisible from land.
Nub's Nob Ski Area
The local alternative to the bigger Highlands, Nub's Nob has 246 acres of ski terrain and a loyal following of northern Michigan families who appreciate its less crowded slopes and genuinely ski-centric culture. The lodge has an old-school warmth — wood fires, housemade chili, local beers on tap — that the larger destination resorts can't replicate.
Landmarks & sights
Andrew J. Blackbird Museum
Housed in the 1870s home of Odawa leader Andrew Blackbird, this small museum traces the deep history of the Little Traverse Bay Bands through artifacts, documents, and rotating exhibits. It's a rare chance to understand the Indigenous roots of this lakeshore region before European resort culture arrived.
Tunnel of Trees Scenic Drive (M-119)
The 20-mile stretch of M-119 north from Harbor Springs to Cross Village is one of the most celebrated drives in the Midwest — a canopy of hardwoods and hemlocks arching over a two-lane bluff road 200 feet above Lake Michigan. Pull-offs appear at key viewpoints, and the road dead-ends at the Legs Inn in Cross Village.