Boyne Falls – Boyne Mountain and Trailway

Boyne Falls, Michigan, combines the name Boyne Mountain with a wide range of experiences. The resort operates year-round; activities offered there include skiing and snowboarding. There are also distinctive places on the mountain, trails for different ability levels, golf courses, and the Boyne Valley Trailway. When planning your trip, it is therefore worth first considering whether to focus on winter sports, getting active on trails, golf, or a combination of several places.

Boyne Mountain: Winter Sports and Scenic Viewpoints

Boyne Mountain offers skiing and snowboarding, making it a specific destination for a trip focused on winter sports. One distinctive feature of the resort is the first eight-passenger chairlift in the Midwestern United States. If you choose Boyne Falls for these activities, you can use Boyne Mountain as a central point of reference when planning your trip.

SkyBridge Michigan, a 1,200-foot-long suspension bridge with wooden towers, is located at the summit of Boyne Mountain. You can reach the bridge from the mountain’s base station by chairlift. Thus, the trip to the summit and the bridge itself are specific parts of this visit. The bridge’s length and wooden towers give the viewpoint a distinctive character, while the chairlift ride describes how to get there from the base station.

Trails and Scenery Around Boyne Falls

Boyne Mountain also has well-marked trails suitable for all ability levels. This makes hiking another way to shape your stay. If you would rather focus on walks and trails than winter sports when planning your trip, you can take this preference into account when choosing a vacation rental. No specific trail length or individual route is required.

Another geographic point of reference is the north branch of the Boyne River. It runs for 5.9 miles from the river junction in Boyne Falls to its source just west of Thumb Lake. These details place the river’s course between Boyne Falls and a point west of the lake.

The Boyne Valley Trailway

The Boyne Valley Trailway is a 6.3-mile-long, paved, non-motorized multi-use trail connecting Boyne City and Boyne Falls. It also links facilities in Boyne Falls and the year-round Boyne Mountain Resort with Boyne City and continues on to Charlevoix. This trail is especially worth considering when choosing a theme for your trip if you would like to include a non-motorized connection between the places mentioned. The 6.3-mile length refers to the described Trailway between Boyne City and Boyne Falls; its further connection to Charlevoix is described separately.

The history of its route is also notable: the Trailway lies mostly along the route of the former Boyne City, Gaylord & Alpena Railroad. The railroad once ran between Boyne Falls and Boyne City. The present-day multi-use trail thus connects its current use with a historic transportation route, without equating the former railroad route with today’s trail.

Golf as a Separate Part of Your Trip

Two distinct golf courses are described: The Alpine and The Monument. The 18 holes of The Alpine begin at the summit of Boyne Mountain and wind downhill to Deer Lake. The route from the summit to the lake makes this course distinctive in its layout. The Monument has a 7,086-yard golf course; you can reach its summit by taking a scenic golf cart ride of about one mile. The approximate distance is important: the ride is about one mile long.

Find more destinations in Charlevoix and Beaver Island.

For the broader travel overview: Charlevoix County.