Michigan Adventurers Club

This event is hosted by Chris Gray from Northern Michigan Hiking, Backpacking & Biking group (NMHBK for short) and is posted @ other sites as well

Ring in the new year in Northern Michigan on a 2 day hiking or cross country skiing adventure at a cabin on Higgins Lake in Roscommon, MI! This is our 8th year at the cabin, and we always have a blast with new and familiar outdoorsy friends! The total cost is $64.60 per person for the 2 nights, with space for 34 people.

We'll meet Tuesday, December 30th any time after 3 pm at the cabin. The cabin has a full kitchen (stove, microwave, refrigerator, dishes/silverware, coffee maker). Feel free to do your own hikes each day, I also put together an optional itinerary. We'll have a huge party on New Years Eve (Bring your favorite mask or costume!), a variety of games, a DJ, a large projector screen with the New Years ball drop, night hikes, and time by the fireplace with friends. This is a fun event for newbies to the group and familiar faces. There are many hiking, cross country skiing, downhill skiing, and tubing options within 15-30 mins including Hartwick Pines, the Mason Tract Pathway, the cross country skiing headquarters in Roscommon, Hanson Hills in Grayling, Forbush Corner in Frederick, Wakely Lake foot travel area, and the Marl Lake trail.
Day by Day Itinerary: (Optional)

Tuesday December 30th- 2 pm hike at the Wakely Lake trail, approx. 5.5 miles-optional, head to the cabin any time after 3 pm.
Wednesday December 31th- 9:30 am- Forbush Corner in Frederick- rent cross country skiis (or bring your own). If not enough snow we'll hike the Mason Tract, 11.5 miles. We'll then return to the cabin for our potluck, set up New Years decorations (including a picture room), enjoy a masquerade ball, and ring in the new year!
Thursday January 1st- noon- Hike the Old Growth Forest trail, and Au Sable River trail at Hartwick Pines, approx. 5 miles, then head out.
Items to bring: A board or card game, a potluck item and snacks. (Potluck item should be a min of $25, in order for everyone to chip in evenly.) Popular games include Cards Against Humanity, giant Jenga game, regular cards, Twister, Settlers of Catan. We'll have a google sheet for the games/potluck items to coordinate. Other items to bring: A blanket or a sleeping bag, a pillow and twin sheets. There are a few rooms separated with bunks in each room, expect late nights, (1-2 am for some people to be up), especially on New Year’s Eve. Camping outside is also an option for a few people.

Group items to bring: Paper plates, garbage bags, napkins, plastic cups and plastic silverware. Included in the sign up fee: Champagne for midnight on new years eve, new years horns, beads and hats. There's a large room with plenty of tables and chairs to ring in New Years, 5 bathrooms, and another large room with a fireplace and couches. This is on a 40 acre Higgins Lake property, featuring night hikes down to the lake and surrounding area.
Please Paypal or Venmo $64.60 to reserve your spot on the trip. (Paypal is cgray081@yahoo.com, Venmo is @Chris-Gray-177. The price will be slightly lower if we get over 20 people. I'll refund full payment if you can't make it and I can find a replacement at least 10 days before the trip date. No refunds within 10 days of the trip. (Dec 20 is the last day for a full refund if a replacement can be found.) I'm looking forward to a great holiday and seeing you all there!

12/10/25 ** GET READY TO RESERVE **
See Next Steps below:

What:
Join us in June 2026 for a camping / kayaking / biking / hiking weekend in Ludington! We consider it one of Michigan's most beautiful state parks. Ludington has it all: dunes, beaches, forested hiking, lakes and rivers. Downtown Ludington is bikeable from the park to shop, eat or have a drink.

When:
Thursday June 18th to Sunday June 21st.

Where:
We'll be staying at the Ludington State Park Campground.

Activities:
We'll schedule hiking, biking, kayaking and dinner in the town of Ludington. A specific activity schedule will come closer to the event date.

Feel free to join some, all or none of the activities; it's up to you. Jan, the dogs and I will be there for the week and do all of these things.. come up earlier in the week if you want to. Note: we won't have an activity schedule for this earlier time.

Next Steps
Get ready to book your site! This is a popular park and good sites will go quickly.

Like the last few years' events, you'll need to be ready to reserve the dates and site you want 6 months, to the day, before your check in.
If arriving Thursday, that will be 8am on Thursday, December 18th... just adjust that date if you're coming earlier or later. It's a popular destination in June so you'll want to be ready.

Book your campsite at https://midnrreservations.com

There are different kinds of sites; some better for RVs and some better for tents / tents only. We'll be staying in Middle Beechwood, but you can camp in any of the 3 campgrounds based on what works best.

If you are planning to share a site * the DNR limits are up to 2 cars and up to 6 people per site. It's best if groups sharing discuss tent sizes to make sure there'll be room *

Questions:
Feel free to post in the comments or contact me directly through Meetup for topics I haven't covered here

Disclaimer and your acknowledgement:
By signing up for and participating in this event, or any other Michigan Adventurers Club event you are acknowledging that you are aware and have made your guests aware of the risks, dangers, and hazards associated with this activity and freely accept all such risks, dangers, and hazards, and fully assume responsibility for your own safety, and further agree to release and discharge the organizers of this event from and against any and all liability arising from your and your guest’s participation in the group activities.