The Trillium Up North are a Beautiful Site
Acres and acres of Northern Michigan are abloom with trillium during May, only adding to the beauty of spring Up North!
Photo by National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods
What began as an idea for a place of outdoor worship in the 1940’s turned into a project that now brings visitors to Indian River from around in the world: The National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods. This stunning 55′ x 22′ redwood cross, cut from one redwood tree, with a 28′ tall bronze crucifix is located on Calvary Hill near an outdoor sanctuary.
The Cross in the Woods is a Northern Michigan destination that brings more than 300,000 people a year to Indian River. Named a shrine by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the beautifully landscaped complex near Burt Lake State Park includes the 250-seat Long House Chapel, 1,000 seat church, Holy stairs, and the shrines of Saint Francis, Our Lady of the Highway, St. Peregrine, and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.
The Doll Museum includes more than 525 dolls and mannequins dressed in the appropriate religious habits of Diocesan clergy and more than 217 religious orders of priests, sisters, and brothers of North and South America.
The seven-ton bronze crucifix on the Cross is the work of famed Michigan sculptor Marshall Fredericks who spent more than four years creating the sculpture. The Cross was erected in 1954 and the Corpus was added in 1959. The cost for the figure of Christ created by Fredericks was $50,000. Fredericks donated his time on the project.
The National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods
7078 M-68, Indian River, MI, 49749
(231) 238-8973
Acres and acres of Northern Michigan are abloom with trillium during May, only adding to the beauty of spring Up North!
Northern Michigan builder Earl Young created the unusual mushroom houses in Charlevoix. Tours are available.
The Oden State Fish Hatchery in Alanson produces three strains of brown trout and one strain of rainbow trout.
Visit the Deer Park in Harbor Springs to see deer up close. Fun for the entire family.
Historic Mill Creek has 625 acres along Lake Huron, 3.5 miles of hiking trails, a reconstructed saw mill, mill dam, and more.
Sailing is a special pastime that often brings friends together in Northern Michigan. And no wonder. The sailing here is wonderful.
In Northern Michigan, you’ll find lighthouses where lighthouse keepers once lived and worked that have been restored and are open to visitors.
Bicyclists, walkers, and roller bladers can go from Harbor Springs to Charlevoix on the 26-mile long Little Traverse Wheelway.
McGulpin Rock, near Mackinaw City, has been used as a navigational tool by explorers and mariners since before the Pilgrims landed.