SPRING AT THE COTTAGE
Everything's coming back to life, and it's just the right time to reconnect with nature and your favorite people at the lake.
SPRING INTO SPRING
Round here, spring is a sprint, not a slow stirring. Come join us on the lake, trails, and markets as we shake off winter.
MAPLE SYRUP SEASON
Sap flows when it freezes during the night and warms up during the day. Round these parts, it's a cottage industry, carried out in small sugar bushes and shacks, several right in Lake Odessa—Possehn Maple Syrup, Brodbeck Maple Syrup, and Morris Maple Leaf Farm, pictured. You can find their syrup, cream and candies at local stores, or contact them to arrange a tour or even help with the harvest.
MAPLE SYRUP FESTIVAL
Since 1940, nearby Vermontville has hosted this spring festival the last full weekend of April, and it's no short stack of events. There's a parade, maple queen and court, pancake breakfasts, a 5k, fireworks, live bands, a flea market, and carnival rides. And while the classic syrup abounds, the dozen some area sugar bushes also churn out maple infused cotton candy, bark, brittle, and popcorn.
A BITE IN THE AIR AND A FIRE IN THE ARCH. IT'S SUGAR SEASON!
Tag along with the ABC 13 news team as they tour the sugar shack in full swing at Morris Maple Leaf Farms here in Lake Odessa, Michigan.
PIERCE CEDAR CREEK
This 850 acre preserve is worth the half hour drive. Explore, free of charge, 9 miles of hiking trails that wind through forest and prairie and alongside streams and lakes. Or pay for an event, plentiful in spring, which include wildlflower tours, mushroom hikes, foraging trips, migratory bird expeditions, scavenger hunts, and artist-led sketching treks.
WILDWOOD FARMS
This nearby event venue's outdoor concert series, Between the Silos, kicks off early/mid May. It will have you kicking up your heels to the tunes of Michigan based country, bluegrass, or folk groups as you sip on summer inspired drink specials and sample the menus from local food trucks like famed Saladino Smoke.
BOULDER RIDGE ZOO
Locals eagerly await this intimate and interactive wild animal park's reopening each spring. That's usually May, but gates have opened in April already, for spring breaks and weekends. Aim to visit on a relatively warm day, with some sun, for the most sightings and feedings, or during an event, like Baby Animals in May, pictured, when you can pet all kinds of little critters.
SPRING HIKING
Spring is a great time to hit the trails. Everything is lush and fragrant and blue skies abound. For 1-2 mile trails, try Bertha Brock Park in Ionia, pictured. Following the shore and traversing creeks, Sessions Lake Trail at Ionia State Rec Area is just over 3 miles. Lake-O's own Jordan Lake Trail is one mile, paved, with several ponds, where you'll be serenaded by red wing blackbirds and frogs.
FARMSTANDS
Late April / early May, our beloved Denny Farms (pictured), Heidi's Farmstand, and Cotant's Farm Market reopen. Stop in for some baked-from-scratch goodies, Michigan made syrup and honey, or fresh produce, including early/mid June local strawberries. Weekends at Heidi's, you're likely to catch food truck Farm & Flame, which serves up wood fired personal pizzas.
FARMER'S MARKETS
Hastings opens its market early May, and Lake Odessa, mid-May. Saranac and Ionia start up the first week of June. All are held Saturdays, and feature way more than just local produce. Lake O's is so close, but Saranac's riverfront spot (pictured), with Gobblin food truck on site, dishing up pig mac (mac and cheese with bacon and pulled pork), might just tempt you out of town.
STRAWBERRY PICKING
Michigan strawberries come into swing late spring, around June 10. You'll find ready-to-grab quarts at any local market, but only Cotant's in Hastings (pictured) and Hanulcik's in Ionia have U-pick fields. Call ahead or check FB first, as it's weather and supply dependent, and leave Fido behind. Grab some fresh homemade biscuits from their bakeries, and you're all set for shortcake!
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