For Christmas this year, one of the gifts that Santa brought our family was the Michigan Adventure Bucket List by Reach International Outfitters. It’s basically a pack of 50 scratch off cards that have adventures/places to visit all around the state of Michigan. They have icons at the bottom of each card that give you an idea of cost, season to visit, time of day to visit, if it’s an active/relaxing adventure and how long the adventure typically takes.
Chris and I really want to focus on quality family time with the kids right now. Specifically, we want to build memories, explore new places and do lots of outdoor activities together. So we were really excited to find a product that encouraged that while also providing new ideas and places to check out.
With winter break winding down, we were all getting a little antsy at the house. So this felt like a great time to go on our first adventure! We wanted to stick somewhat close to the house this time, and had to make sure that our activity was good for the winter season. So we settled on Midland, Michigan!
This was less than an hour away, not expensive, available year-round, active, outside, should be done during the day and would take 1-2 hours. Sounded good to us! So what was this mystery adventure? The nation’s longest canopy walk at Dow Gardens! We grabbed our winter gear and set off to Midland!
The parking was a little confusing – there was construction happening in the lot and we didn’t see the entrance right away. But once we found it, everything else was easy to navigate. It was a bit of a walk to actually get to the canopy trail. Probably 1/2 mile or so. And it was a good thing that we brought our winter gear! It was COLD! (Maybe around 20 degrees!) The kids and I were all bundled up in snow pants, gloves, hats and boots. And we were still very cold! But walking around helped warm us up and the cold weather actually benefitted us a little because we were the only people on the trail for the majority of the time we were there!
The canopy walk consisted of a series of metal bridges that were connected by trees and overlooked the Dow Gardens and several creeks and ponds. I’m sure this would be really beautiful (and busy) in the spring/summer/fall. It was still nice in the winter, but I would love to re-visit to actually see the garden as well.
There were a few different obstacles throughout the trail that we really enjoyed. First, we came across a glass-bottom lookout. The floor of the balcony was completely see-through! Of course, Chris loved it! Morgan and I were both a little nervous, but still had to check it out. Jenna was less than trilled to step on it. Haha!
Next, we found the “web area”. It was a net that you could climb/lay on in place of the canopy trail. Again, Chris was the first to jump in, followed by Morgan and then Jenna. I’m not a big fan of heights and especially do not like wobbly things that are high in the air. So this wasn’t my cup of tea. Jenna didn’t love the web either because her poor little feet weren’t big enough and kept going through or getting caught, making her fall. But she did make it out to the middle with Dad and sissy.
The last obstacle we found was a rope bridge that led up to a little “circle-hangout area”. (I have no idea how else to explain this. Haha!) It wasn’t straight across, rather led up to another area. This made it much more difficult for Jenna and Morgan to maneuver. But that didn’t stop them! They were determined to follow Dad (are you surprised that he went first?!). Unfortunately, Jenna wasn’t able to make it all the way to the top because it go rather steep at the end. Morgan was right on her tail, so I actually had to climb over her to help push Jenna up to Chris. It was quite the sight!
Overall, we had a really nice time exploring the canopy walk. We did some racing, piggy-back rides, shoulder rides, balance beam walking and just enjoyed each other’s company. By the end of our 2 hour experience, we were all tired, cold and hungry. (Or in Jenna’s case, HANGRY!) So we set off to grab some lunch at a nearby restaurant. Jenna was demanding chicken nuggets, so we had to deliver!
For anyone else looking to do something in the Midland area, I would definitely recommend the canopy walk at Dow Gardens. However, I would suggest checking it out in a warmer season, when you can also enjoy the garden views. We will probably make our way back there later this year.
Has anyone else purchased the Michigan Adventure Buck List by Reach International Outfitters? Or maybe something similar? What are some of your favorite places you’ve visited in Michigan that we should check out? Please comment below! We would love to add to our destination list!
As always, thanks for reading!
xoxo
Crystal