Thompsonville: Trails, Art and Summer Experiences

Thompsonville offers a range of ways to spend your stay: a historic site in Sharp Park, the Michigan Legacy Art Park, the Betsie Valley Trail, and summer activities at Crystal Mountain. There are also two special rides in Thompsonville. If you’re looking for a vacation rental, you can consider whether you’d like to focus more on art and history, time on the trail, or active pursuits. This lets you begin choosing your destination with the experiences that suit your trip in mind.

Discover History and Art

The historic “Rail Diamond” is located in Sharp Park in the Village of Thompsonville. The name refers to a specific point of interest in the park and adds a historical dimension to its other offerings. The park has 20 campsites, six of which have electrical hookups. When looking for vacation accommodations, the experiences you’re interested in during your stay are therefore an important consideration.

Another cultural stop is the Michigan Legacy Art Park. It is open daily during daylight hours. If you’d like to include art in your trip, you can make the park a focus of its own and consider it separately from an outing on the trail or the summer activities. This lets you shape your stay around the experiences you want, rather than combining all the activities into a single itinerary.

The Trail and Directions to the Parking Lot

To access the Betsie Valley Trail, use the Thompsonville Parking lot. From US-31, the route follows North County Line Road, South Pioneer Road or Weldon Road, Lindy Road, Front Street, and Thompson Avenue. After six miles, turn onto South Pioneer Road or Weldon Road; after another 0.5 miles, turn onto Lindy Road, and after a further 1.5 miles, turn onto Front Street. Street parking is available along Thompson Avenue. This route provides specific directions for getting there. You can make the trail a focus of its own in your trip planning.

Summer Activities and Rides

In summer, Crystal Mountain offers activities such as biking, archery, a climbing wall, an Alpine Slide, and live music. The selection ranges from biking and archery to music and a ride on the alpine slide. Which activities you choose to include depends on whether you’d like your trip to feature active pursuits or music as well. These activities at Crystal Mountain are offered in summer.

In Thompsonville, the Edge Adventure Course is an elevated ropes and zipline course located 20 feet above an outdoor pool and ending with a 130-foot-long zipline. The Crystal Coaster Alpine Slide begins with a ride up the mountain on the Loki quad chairlift. Then, two winding tracks, each 1,600 feet long, lead downhill. The activities differ in how they unfold: the Coaster starts with a chairlift ride uphill, followed by two downhill tracks, while the zipline is the final part of the Edge Adventure Course. You can compare the details when deciding which type of activity to include in your stay.

Tastings and Regional Spirits

The Iron Fish Distillery in Thompsonville offers tastings and craft cocktails in its tasting room. It is considered Michigan’s first fully field-to-glass farm devoted exclusively to small-batch spirits distillation. The tasting room and its focus on small batches give this visit a different character from the trail, art park, or rides. The distillery is one mile from Crystal Mountain; this distance refers specifically to these two locations.

If you’d like to include the trail, keep the directions to the parking lot in mind. If you’re more interested in culture, history, tastings, or summer activities, make those a focus of your further planning. Another place at the same broader level is linked here: Honor.

Go to the broader travel overview: Benzie County.