Places to Eat/Drink

Toonies
Family restaurant, Friday night fish fry (Closed Saturday and Sunday)

Short’s
Craft Brewery, but also great sandwiches. Live entertainment on weekends.

Papa K’s Pizza
Pizza, subs, and pasta – take-out and delivery

Dockside
On Torch Lake and Clam River – Great burgers, Thirsty Thursdays, boat-in and eat on the deck

Pelican’s Nest
at The Chief golf course ($6 baskets on Wednesdays.) Live entertainment on weekends

Lakeview at Shanty Creek
Fine dining, great Sunday brunch

Blue Pelican Inn
Central Lake – good balance of fine dining/family restaurant

Torch Lake Cafe
Eastport

Bellaire Bar
its a bar, haha. They have good burgers and also Friday fish fry

Morning Grind
On the curve on M-88 – Coffee, pastries, and quiche

Corner Bistro
At the traffic light in Bellaire – lunch and dinner hours

Lunch Box
Good deli sandwiches – downtown

Terrain
Upscale, lots of locally sourced foods

Outdoor Adventures

Glacial Hills Trails
31.5 miles of trails for mountain biking, hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, or fat-tire biking. From the house, walk down the mowed path off the end of the driveway, toward the Northwest, then follow the foot path for about 300’ to find one of the trails; or by car, head North up Orchard Hill Rd for about 1/2 mile for one of the trailheads. There’s another trailhead up Vandermark Rd from Bellaire Highway. The Trailforks app will show you all the trails and map your adventure.

Grass River Natural Area
hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing.

Antrim Creek Natural Area

Jordan Valley Pathway

Warner Creek Pathway

Pinney Bridge

Boat Ramps

Lake Bellaire 

• Fisherman’s Paradise – This ramp requires a sticker/permit, but it’s the only decent ramp on lake Bellaire.
• There’s a public ramp on the North End of the lake on Grass Lake Rd, but it’s not as deep or as nice of a ramp

Intermediate River

• Lower Intermediate River: downtown Bellaire, across from Stone Waters Inn – This river will take you South into Bellaire Lake. The very scenic route, especially great with Kayaks
• Upper-Intermediate River: Take Forest Home Ave. Straight across M-88, and when the road curves to the left, turn right onto River St.

Torch Lake

• Butch’s Tackle and Marine – right near Dockside – also have gas, as long as you don’t mind paying an arm and a leg.
• DeWitt Marine also has a ramp, just down Crystal Springs road a couple of hundred yards from East Torch Lake Dr. **I think I saw a sign there that it was closed**
• Downtown Alden – Nice ramp and free, but busy.
• Eastport Landing – same place as the beach – North end of Torch.
• You can also put in on Clam Lake, off Clam Lake Rd. (Hoy Dewey Rd) and make it to Torch Lake pretty quickly.
• At the South end, in Torch River, off Crystal Beach Rd.

Intermediate Lake

• Thurston Park in Central Lake. There are other ramps along M-88 on the way to Central Lake, but they are very shallow.

Grass River

• There’s no boat ramp on the river, but it’s a blast to cruise up/down Grass River between Bellaire Lake and Clam Lake. If you’re observant, you will likely see an Eagle or two, and even their nest.

Marinas

Riverside
not big, but you can get fishing licenses, bait, and a few marine things.

Captain’s Choice Marine Service
This is inland in Bellaire. They are a marine service, not a Marina.

DeWitt Marina
on Clam Lake is a full-service Marina and SeaRay dealer. They also rent slips for your boat.

Luhr’s Landing
They are an Avalon dealer, and also, full-service. They are off the beaten path on Torch River.

Other fun things to do

Bellaire Theatre
(231) 533-8725
Show times are 7:00pm and 9:00pm

Bellaire Lanes and Games
(231) 350-7373
bowling, arcade, laser tag, pizza
Open 3:00pm-11:00pm

Avalanche Bay at Boyne Mountain
in Boyne Falls
40 minutes North, up 131
Water park and arcade

Wildwood Rush Zip Line and Canopy tour
Boyne City

Boyne Mountain zip line

Dinger’s Rock Shop
Petoskey Stones East Torch Lake Drive, near Butch’s Tackle and DeWitt Marine

Grocery Stores

Family Fare
Bellaire about 5 minutes

Village Markets
Central Lake (10 minutes to the North) and Rapid City (20 minutes to the South)

Meijer
Acme, on M72, on the way to Traverse City— about 35 minutes

Bigger Towns NEar Here

Traverse City
has pretty much everything. It is 45 minutes to the South and West. You’ll find everything from fast food to fine dining. Bubba’s is a great spot for a hearty breakfast or a gut-busting lunch. For entertainment with your dinner, try Fuji – a hibachi grill plus sushi. There are also several beaches in T.C., and pretty much all the stores.

Charlevoix
Beautiful tourist town with a channel out to Lake Michigan. There’s a cool draw bridge and a peer to walk on. There’s also a really nice sandy beach! It is 35 minutes to the North of Bellaire

Petoskey
is about an hour North, straight up 131. It’s a little bigger than Charlevoix and has a nice park and marina and a cool downtown area.

Gaylord
(Walmart, etc) – 35 minutes due to East

Boyne City
(45 minutes) is also a nice town to visit. There’s a great beach at Young State Park on Lake Charlevoix.

Mackinaw Island!!
Trip Advisor recently named Mackinac Island as the #1 hottest U.S. destination for summer. It’s only an hour and 35 minutes to Mackinaw City where you can catch a ferry to the Island. There are no cars on the Island, just horse-drawn carriages. If you haven’t experienced this before, you will want to add it to your plans.