Winter days in Southwest Michigan are like snowflakes, no two are alike. You can fill the hours between a rosy sunrise and a star-spangled night on the shores of Lake Michigan with so much exhilarating recreation, joy and peace that this season easily will become one of your favorites.

Our holiday season is picture-postcard-perfect. Charming, Victorian-era coastal towns and rural villages welcome shoppers with free parking and quaint stores and galleries brimming with artisan gifts and foods. Special weekends line the streets with the soft glow of luminaries, reindogs parading in silly sweaters, the ho-ho-ho of our welcomed North Pole visitor and the brilliance of St. Joseph’s festive bluff lined with holiday light displays that twinkle until mid-February. 

As winter settles in, come surf the roaring waves of Lake Michigan. Paddleboard or kayak on mirror-smooth waters. Or be awed by Nature’s exquisite sand art on our beaches or the majestic ice formations on the piers and lighthouses. Cross-country ski, snowshoe or fat-tire bike along whisper-quiet trails. Soar down the slopes of Swiss Valley Ski & Snowboard Area in Jones or get a mega-workout boarding and sledding at Warren Dunes State Park in Bridgman. Warm up sipping locally-made wines, beers and spirits or attending standing-ovation concerts and plays. Make memories at winter ice carving and polar plunge festivals. Or spend romantic moments watching flames flicker in our fireplaces, gliding arm-in-arm at our skating rinks or saying farewell to the sun as it splashes crimson-gold colors across the horizon. Tomorrow promises a sparkling new day.