Winter Adventures at Houghton Lake and Higgins Lake

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Houghton Lake in the winter? Ice fishing? That is what came to our mind so we knew we had to make that part of our visit to the area. We were also told that there is amazing cross country skiing in the area. After some planning we made it to the area to start our adventure at South Higgins Lake State Park. 

We decided to hike the trail at Marl Lake. This is a great hiking trail with a few different options depending on how far you want to go. One thing that we really like about a trail like this is that it offers a loop around the entire lake as one of the routes. We always like to find great hiking and snowshoeing areas and it is an easy way to get outside to enjoy a nice winter day. 

Next up on our winter adventure was cross country skiing. This is something that we have done, but not a lot, so we actually do not have our own gear. We were told that we have to check out Cross Country Ski Headquarters. This place is great! Not only do they sell skis and gear, they have amazing trails that are groomed daily, offer rentals and has a café with indoor and outdoor fires going! We got geared up and hit the trails. We were having such a good time with perfect conditions that we decided to go even further than we expected. One of our favorite parts of the trails was a spot called Trappers Cabin. This is a great stopping point to hang out and sit by a fire that they often have going. After we were done with our skiing we hung out on the patio next to the fires for some relaxation. 

The next morning was an early one for us. If you have followed along you know we witness more sunsets than sunrises but this morning was special. We were up and ready to go ice fishing on Houghton Lake. Since we are not extremely experienced ice fisherman, we went out with a crew from Lyman's on the Lake. Lyman's offers rental ice shacks for the day and even shacks that you can stay in overnight! Beyond the shack rentals, they also know a ton about fishing on Houghton Lake and they got us to the right spot! We caught our first perch within the first few minutes. 

When you lose track of how many perch you have caught, it's been a good day, but to go along with the perch we were also hoping to get a pike. While we were having fun bringing in the perch, a tip-up flag went up and we had a pike on the line! Bringing a pike through the ice is a so much fun!

Overall our three activities were all great to go along with the perfect winter weather. To learn more about cross country skiing at Cross Country Ski Headquarters, you can check out there site here. For ice fishing with Lyman's on the Lake, check them out here.

You can watch our full video here!