If you or your family like going on winter vacations up north, try Boyne Mountain Resort; you won’t be disappointed. It is located near Boyne Falls. Under three hours away from here, you will find this beautiful resort at the bottom of snow-covered mountains.

Once my friends and I got there, we stopped at The Trophy Room restaurant to pick up a pizza since it was late, and we had been in the car for a while. Their pizza is one of my favorite pizzas in Michigan, and when you sit down in the restaurant, there is a self-serve popcorn machine that you can grab popcorn from while you wait.

After we got the pizza and were back in the car, we drove over to the cottage my friend was staying in; there is a main hotel to stay in, but they also have a variety of cottages and cabins to stay in at Boyne Mountain. My friend’s cottage is in Disciples Village, which has access to the hill called a “ski in ski out” place. The places are nice and homey whether you are in the hotel or a cottage. We settled into our rooms and went to bed, so we could get a good night of sleep to go out on the slopes the next morning.

I personally hadn’t gone snowboarding in over three years, so I was pretty nervous, but Boyne has nice chairlifts and lots of different runs ranging in difficulty. Since it is the start of the season, ski passes were only $49 for the whole day, but throughout the year, the passes increase in price because of how busy they get. The snow was surprisingly not bad, even though a majority of it was man-made. There were a few icy spots on the hills, but that is common. You can see a difference in the color on the ground, so you can avoid them; if you don’t (like me), you might take a tumble.

Getting on and off the chairlift can cause anxiety for a lot of people, but their lifts are smooth and almost come to a complete stop at the top for you to get off. Even though one of the lifts went a little faster, we asked the guy working at the top to slow it down, and he happily did for me and one of the other girls since we were still fresh.

I whipped out a lot, but I still had so much fun with my friends, and it was a nice quick getaway. I was pretty sore after we stopped skiing so, to relax, we hit up the spa before we headed out. We had the day passes, so all we did was use the tranquility pool and the two saunas, but if you have more time, you can get massages, facials, nails, body treatment, and fitness classes.

Other things you can do while there are The Avalanche Bay indoor waterpark, ziplining, mountain biking, golfing, snowshoeing, segway, and many other activities based on the season. I have been there during the winter and summer, and there was plenty to do both times for all different ages. I have been going there for years, but my most recent trip was great, and I hope to go back up soon. I highly recommend going there if you have time to fit it in because you will have a blast and make some great memories.