Destination Guide: Northeast Michigan

While Michigan's northwest may be the more nationally known vacation region, the northeast -- or "Sunrise Coast" -- boasts a collection of small towns and natural wonders worth exploring, too.

With just more than 11,000 residents, Alpena is the Northeast's largest city on Lake Huron. Here, the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary has preserved more than 100 shipwrecks. Mackinaw City is where you can pick up a ferry to head to historic Mackinac Island, situated between the lower and upper peninsulas.

In the town of Grayling, you can set up camp to fish trout or simply explore the 129-mile Au Sable River. The only elk herd east of the Mississippi can also be found here.

Further inland, Gaylord has emerged as one of the Midwest's top destinations thanks to a mix of great golf courses and nationally acclaimed resorts. Modeled after an alpine village, it's a favorite winter getaway because of its hilly terrain. Cross-country skiing and snowmobiling are also popular when the snow falls.

Treetops Resort is the most well known of Gaylord offerings and a former host to the nationally acclaimed Threetops Shootout. The resort, which features dramatic mountain courses, includes designs from Robert Trent Jones, Sr., Tom Fazio and Rick Smith.

The Garland Resort, in the small town of Lewiston, is famous for its large cabin main lodge and four tree-lined, secluded golf courses within steps of each other.

To the east, toward Lake Huron, the golf is a little less known but is more convenient for people coming from Metro Detroit and Port Huron. A favorite retreat is Lakewood Shores Resort, which recreates the look and feel of the fames seaside courses of Scotland.

Michigan's northeast is hardly as widely known and visited compared to the northwest cities of Petoskey and Traverse City. Those who have discovered it like it that way.
 

Recommended: Treetops Resort in Gaylord

Offering 81 holes of award-winning golf by Rick Smith, Tom Fazio and Robert Trent Jones, Sr.; Treetops Resort's five courses include The Masterpiece, Premier, Signature, Tradition and America's number one par-3 course, Threetops. Treetops is the home of Rick Smith's Golf Academy (rated in the top 25 nationally) and home of the Par-3 shootout, which was televised nationally on ESPN.