One thing I love to do in the Summer and that is swimming. It doesn’t matter to me where I swim as it is in the Great Lakes, a pool, or at a local water park. This got me thinking, are there waterparks in Michigan?

So there I went right to the good ole computer to do a little research to see if there are water parks in Michigan.

Upon my research, I was excited that I found a lot of parks, some of which I never knew existed. So the answer to that question is Yes, there are water parks and they are:

• Zehnder’s Splash Village
• Soaring Eagle Waterpark and Hotel
• Michigan’s Adventure & Wild Water Adventure
• Waterford Oaks Waterpark
• Great Wolf Lodge Water Park Traverse City
• Avalanche Bay Indoor Waterpark
• Surfari Joe’s Indoor Wilderness Water Park
• Gold Rush Indoor Waterpark
• Full Blast Recreation Center Battle Creek
• Fairview Beachfront Inn & Waterpark Mackinaw City
• Bavarian Inn Lodge
• Lakeside Resort – Houghton Lake
• Splash Universe Water Park Resort – Dundee
• Wyndham Garden Sterling Heights
• Boyne Moutain Resort
• Waterford Oaks Waterpark
• Red Oaks Waterpark
• Turtle Cove Family Aquatic Center Belleville

Waterparks in Frankenmuth

If you feel a little festive and it’s still winter, why not make a trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan. This little town has two giant hotels with waterparks including Zehnder’s Splash Village and The Bavarian Inn Lodge.

Zehnder’s Splash Village is known to offer something for all in the family and is the only retractable roof waterpark in Michigan. With both indoor and outdoor experiences this place is sure to be a winner with the family.

The Bavarian Inn Has four pools, one that is adult only as well as 3 whirlpools, with one for adults only. They have a few water slides and much more for your family.

Waterparks in Northern Michigan

Northern Michigan is where Michiganders go to escape the stress of everyday life in both the winter and the summer. With the Mackinaw Bridge and Mackinac Island some of the best things to see up north, there are many water parks to allow you to enjoy a relaxing time with your family.

Mountain Grand Lodge and Spa in Boyne Falls, Michigan is a nice place to check out. This 220 room hotel is connected to the Avalanche Bay Indoor waterpark.

This water park has some great pools, waterslides, hot tubs, a lazy river, and much more. You are sure to find something that you will enjoy here.

Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City is another highlight location. Aside from it being in Beautiful Traverse City, no matter who you are in the family, you will find something for you.

If you love to gamble right in central Michigan you will find a casino and a waterpark, so you mix the two and you are in for one heck of a weekend. The Soaring Eagle Waterpark & Resort is exactly a place a Gambler needs to be.

West Michigan Waterparks

Michigan’s Adventure tops the list of both northern and western Michigan Waterparks. You will find this beauty of a park just north of Muskegon.

Another interesting park that was not listed above because it’s a different kind of water par is Action Wake Park, which is known as a full-size cable park.

The Action Wake Park is located in Hudsonville, Michigan. So if you are looking for something unique and still involve water, this place is for you.

South Michigan Waterparks

If you are in southern Michigan there are some options for you. This really true if you are in Dundee Michigan visiting the Cabela’s store.

Dundee has a water park called Splash Universe and Is attached to the Holiday Inn & Suites Hotel.

Waterparks that you can swim and Roller Coasters within minutes of each other.

Of course, coasters and water parks, just go hand and hand. There is a special theme park that is owned by Cedar Fair and is located just north of Muskegon in West Michigan and it’s called Michigan’s Adventure.

I know we mentioned this park before, but it’s really one of Michigan’s biggest parks. The park offers dual admission for the theme park and water park, allowing you to ride and swim all day long. You cannot lose with that type of deal.

During our stay In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for a work trip, and right before we ended up at Hershey Park a few hours later, we had the opportunity to experience a gem attraction in town.

The Pride of The Susquehanna…

This is an authentic steam-driven paddle wheel river boat that according to the website was built 31 years ago by a community service project by the Harrisburg Area Riverboat Society.

The Ride itself is pretty interesting. It gets you out on the Susquehanna River which is a unique river in it’s own right. Although large and daunting, the river has an average depth of just 4 feet.

According to Wikipedia, the river is the longest river on the east coast coming in at 444 miles long. It is also the longest river in the 21st century in the United States to not be a working river and to not have commercial boat traffic.

The ride gives you a great view of the City of Harrisburg’s shoreline and an peaceful ride with skipper giving you some fun facts about the River and Harrisburg in general.

The ride lasts about 45 minutes or so. It is pretty relaxing and inexpensive. The rides starts around $11 per rider. If you are in Harrisburg and have some time to burn, visit the Pride of Susquehanna to schedule a tour.

One thing we love to do with our time off is explore. It was a normal Saturday and we were off doing our normal thing on the weekends, shopping, but then we decided to start exploring since we were already near a target location.

Sometimes we get lucky and will head out of state, but we live in the great State of Michigan, which is a beautiful state that is filled with things to see and do. We tend to forget that at times, and it’s starting to become a goal that we explore more of Michigan on when we have time off.

We got in the car and started to head north, which if you live in Michigan is the thing to do. No matter where anyone lives in the lower peninsula of the State, if you ask them what their normal weekend activities are, usually it’s “going north”.

Up north may mean different locations across the state, but when you live in a State that is filled with beautiful lakes and thousands of miles of shoreline from the great lakes the options are endless on any given day.

We made a quick stop at Northwoods Wholesale Outlet in Pinconning, Michigan. This is a large sporting store that is filled with tons of stuff that has reasonable prices. It’s a great place to visit if you are in the area, especially if you are a sportsman. After the quick visit we continued our journey up north toward Tawas City, Michigan.

As we started to to get close to the city, we quickly got some beautiful views of the lake, which got even more beautiful as you enter the city. The amazing shoreline Tawas City has is exceptional, providing the scenery you would expect from a beautiful lake shore city, the gorgeous lake.

The Unique Tawas City Treasures

One thing that stood out to us right away was the continuous shoreline that the entire town had. The city does a nice job providing access and utilizing the shoreline so that tourists and the residences had plenty of access points to Lake Huron.

While you’ll find the normal small town things, such as a local Walmart, some local marts, a few restaurants, and bars on the left side of the road as you head north, they did a fantastic job on keeping the lake shore visible and it’s beautiful. The Drive alone up was pretty attractive as I am a sucker for lake front views, and the lake view from Tawas City was fantastic.

As you continue your journey north, you find several parks to stop at, a marina that is well kept plus beautifully landscaped with a small store, and a campground right next to the Marina.

Since we were running a little late in the day, we did not go any further than the city limits. If we would of had more time we would of made it a little further north and visited the Tawas Point State Park, which is home to the Tawas Point Lighthouse, which we may take another weekend trip just to visit the lighthouse in the future.

Tawas City Downtown Is A Happening Little Place…

We turned off and drove downtown to see what was available. The family was in the mood for Ice Cream so we parked behind the Dairy Queen Which was visible from the main highway.

The First thing I noticed when getting out of the car was the smell of charcoal and Pizza. Yes, there is a G’s Pizzeria in the Downtown area and the aroma from that place was pretty noticeable. It almost drowned out the charcoal and wood burning smell you normally capture while in a shoreline city and campgrounds. Which by the way for some strange reason is a fantastic.

So if you love Pizza and in town, give the place a try. We have not tried it, but have a G’s Pizzeria near us and usually they have the best pizza in town. By the way that smelt, I’m sure they will have amazing pizza.

Anyway, we got ourselves a few ice cream treats and sat in front of the restaurant to just embrace the warm feeling the vibrate little town provided, It was relaxing and visually fantastic.

In the downtown area you will find a few pizza joints, some cool little gift shops, and few restaurants. The downtown area was pretty packed as there were people walking around everywhere and cars everywhere as well. Parking was limited.

If you pull out of downtown and go south you will find a bunch of other stores and restaurants, including Walmart and some pretty normal fast food chains.

On place that caught my attention was a small little BBQ place just as you come into town. The smell was amazing and it may very well be something we’ll check out on our next visit.

If you are looking for just a Hotel, there are a few options, but I would look into lake shore cabins as well. This is a big thing along the great lakes that offer a little more privacy and lake exposure than most places.

But for the rest of this visit we just spent some time in a little park and enjoyed the cool breeze from the lake. If you love lake shore towns, Tawas City will be a winner in your book as well.

More About Tawas City

• Population around 1,827 per 2010 Census
• Post Office First Established in 1856
• City serves has a harbor of refuge, which means it is used by large cargo ships to escape severe storms on Lake Huron.
• Tawas City Travel Guide

Tawas City Gallery