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Crystal Mountain is your northern Michigan home base for a summer ‘staycation’

Imagine 1,500 acres of fresh air where you can bike and hike, swim, golf or ride a chairlift to the top of a mountain. Are you thinking of some place out West? Down south? Along the coast?

There are amazing travel destinations all over the country, but you don’t have to drive 1,000 miles or catch a flight to have a great vacation. One of the best places to visit is Crystal Mountain, right here in Michigan.

While the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many people to change vacation plans, surveys show that Americans are still taking trips. It’s just that they’re going shorter distances and traveling by car to places with relatively few cases of the coronavirus.

In fact, 84% of people feel “extremely or moderately comfortable” about traveling by car right now, according to a VacationRenter survey, and they typically are going no more than 385 miles from home.

Crystal Mountain is an ideal destination within a four-hour drive of pretty much everywhere in Michigan.

“Even if you’re from a neighboring community, it’s good to be able to get away,” said Sammie Lukaskiewicz, public relations director for Crystal Mountain.

“This is a good time to get back to nature, uncrowded spaces and fresh air. With all of the different outdoor activities that we offer here, it’s perfect for people to reconnect with themselves and their families in a meaningful, fun way.”

Golfers know Crystal Mountain as a summertime destination with two championship golf courses, and skiers know Crystal Mountain as a wintertime hot spot with nearly 60 downhill ski runs, three terrain parks for snowboarding and the No. 1 cross-country trail network in Michigan.

But Crystal Mountain is a true four-season resort with outdoor activities for the whole family including an outdoor pool, disc golf, tennis and pickleball courts, outdoor laser tag, archery range, climbing wall, zipline and adventure course. Plus, Crystal Mountain is home to Michigan’s only Alpine slide where you can cruise down a 1,700-foot curved track in a specially designed sled.

Chairlift rides to the top of Crystal Mountain are a visual treat any time of year with panoramic views of northern Michigan, and the Michigan Legacy Art Park invites you to hike past 50 sculptures in a wooded, 30-acre preserve right on the Crystal Mountain property.

And, of course, the renowned Crystal Spa takes reservations any time of year for massages, facials, manicures, pedicures and more.

Crystal Mountain is the perfect home base for a Michigan staycation yet this summer, this fall or this upcoming winter.

“We’re just down the road from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, from Iron Fish Distillery, and we’re just a short drive from the 45^th parallel which has fantastic wineries,” Lukaskiewicz said. “We’ll help you schedule a trip down the Platte River or the Betsie River to tube or kayak, and the salmon are getting ready to run so there’s great opportunities for salmon fishing, too.”

 Crystal Mountain has a wide variety of lodging accommodations for individuals, families and larger groups, from hotel rooms to cottages, condos and homes that can sleep up to 18 people and in most cases are pet friendly.

Resort capacity is being limited during the pandemic to ensure safe social distancing and additional cleaning and housekeeping precautions are being taken. For example, there’s now a 24-hour window between stays for extra cleaning and disinfection of hotel rooms, including the use of electrostatic foggers to sanitize hard-to-reach areas after checkout.

“We were already a clean resort, but we’ve stepped up all of our sanitation and disinfection measures through our Crystal Clean initiative,” Lukaskiewicz said. “You can rest assured that your room is clean.”