Indoor water parks are favorite vacation spots throughout the state of Michigan, especially for swimming enthusiasts who still want to get in the water during the state's harshly cold winter months. Most of Michigan's indoor water parks are adjacent to a hotel. Indoor water park destinations include the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City, which charges only $149 per night for a family suite; Best Western Sterling Inn in the Metro Detroit areas, which has an on-site 22,000-square-foot waterpark, with room rates at $119 per night; and Houghton Lake's Comfort Suites with room rates at $89 per night. (All rates are current as of November 2010.) Most of the indoor water parks include large tube slides, lazy rivers and large indoor swimming pools.
The locals in Michigan refer to the coastline of Lake Michigan as the United States' "Third Coast" since it boasts more than 200 miles of sandbar on the lake's eastern shoreline. Unlike some destinations on the Atlantic Coast, no admission tickets or passes are necessary to access the beaches on Lake Michigan or Lake Superior off Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Lodging options near the Great Lakes include campgrounds, such as P.J. Hoffmaster State Park on Lake Michigan, which charges $27 per night for an RV campsite, as of fall 2010. Inexpensive hotels can be found in coastal cities such as Grand Haven, as well as Marquette and Ontonagon on Lake Superior on the Upper Peninsula.
Michigan provides less expensive ski resorts for winter sports buffs who don't want to pay the high prices at resorts in Vail or Lake Tahoe. The winter season in Michigan runs approximately from November through April, depending on the amount of snowfall. Downhill ski resorts include Crystal Ski Resort in northern Michigan, which provides packages for lodging and unlimited access to downhill ski slopes and cross-country trails for $79 per night as of November 2010. Another inexpensive destination is the Big M cross-country skiing recreation area, which is a volunteer-operated resort in Manistee National Forest. Admission is free for guests, but the resort does request that you make a donation if you use the resort's trails. Both ski resorts offer rentals and lessons.
