Trails, docks, farms, markets.

563 acres on the lake's eastern shore, split into three campground loops — Terrace, Spruce, and Oak — around a sand beach regional readers have voted the best in the area. Six and a half miles of trail wind through cedar swamp and rolling terrain behind the campsites. Loops sit close together, so a full weekend books out fast; reserve well ahead of July. Showers and a playground make it work for a family week, not just a tent site.

The hub of the Boyne City waterfront, sharing its lawn with the F. Grant Moore Municipal Marina and the farmers market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. West-facing shoreline, so this is the spot for a sunset rather than a sunrise. Boyne Thunder and the Fourth of July festival both stage here, which means a packed lot on those specific weekends. Dogs are welcome on leash except during events — check the calendar before bringing one to a festival day.

A 240-acre county park in Eveline Township, between Boyne City and Ironton, with campsites strung along a half-mile of Lake Charlevoix beach rather than set back in the woods. Four-plus miles of trail stay groomed for cross-country skiing once the campground closes for the season. Quieter than Young State Park on the same summer weekend, mostly because fewer visitors know it's here. The log cabin rents out for a private group of up to sixty.

Climb the 462 wooden steps on Boyne City's southern edge and the platform at the top gives a straight look down at the city, nearly all of Lake Charlevoix, and on a clear day a sliver of Lake Michigan. Three hundred acres of maple and beech behind the stairway hold two-track trails for mountain biking, disc golf, and snowshoeing once the leaves are down. Fall draws the crowds; go on a weekday morning for the summit to yourself.

Thirty-three acres three miles off Horton Bay, growing more than thirty lavender varieties around a labyrinth and a century-old barn that doubles as an event space. A golf-cart tour covers the fields for anyone who'd rather not walk the whole property; the farmhouse shop sells the essential oils and dried bundles that come out of it. Friday Lavender Fest evenings run through peak bloom in July. Closed July 4th specifically — check before driving out that week.

A working centennial farm about fifteen minutes north of Boyne City, homesteaded under President Grant in 1874 and still run by the same family. The market sells its own organic produce alongside Amish-made outdoor furniture and seasonal decor, with views that lean more toward Walloon Lake's valley than Charlevoix's. Worth the short drive north for the pumpkin patch in fall or the spring flower flats. Open April through October, seven days a week.

Set up right on the Veterans Park lawns on Lake Charlevoix, which makes it one of the few farmers markets in the region where you can shop with a view of the marina instead of a parking lot. Award-winning by regional standards, with produce, artisan cheese, and pasture-raised meat from growers within an hour's drive. Wednesdays and Saturdays through mid-October, then it moves indoors to the Pavilion on winter Saturdays. Arrive before ten for the bread.

Forty-two slips split between transient and seasonal boaters, right at Veterans Park, with a fuel dock, pump-out, and a launch ramp built for anything over twenty feet. Free Wi-Fi runs the length of the docks along with a fish-cleaning station and bike rentals for anyone who tied up and wants to see the town without a car. Reserve a slip through the state reservation line rather than showing up hoping for a walk-up spot in July.

Seventy-seven slips in the small, deep harbor that connects Lake Charlevoix to open Lake Michigan through the Pine River Channel — the most contested dockage on the lake, with summer reservations opening six months out and filling within minutes. Ward Brothers' Boats next door handles fuel, pump-out, and repairs. No reservations are taken during the last four days of Venetian Festival, when the harbor turns into the middle of a parade route instead of a marina.

A concrete four-place ramp just north of the Ironton Ferry crossing, the easiest way onto the South Arm without a marina slip. Two loading docks, a vault toilet, and enough trailer parking that this stays a local favorite rather than a bottleneck. No amenities beyond that — bring your own everything. Time a launch around the ferry schedule if you're planning to cross rather than just put in and fish the narrows.

Docks and a fishing pier inside Memorial Park at the head of the South Arm, with a band shell running live music Thursday and Friday nights through summer and a farmers market on Thursdays. Quieter than either Boyne City or Charlevoix's harbors, and the furthest south you can tie up on the lake. Locals treat the park as the town's living room as much as a marina. Check the concert schedule before booking a slip.

A four-car cable ferry that's crossed the 610-foot South Arm narrows since 1876, cutting a thirty-minute drive around the water down to about ten minutes. Five dollars a carload, a dollar for a bicycle, pedestrians ride free — cash or a punch card, no online booking. It's still how a lot of Boyne City-to-East Jordan traffic actually moves in summer, not just a novelty crossing for visitors. Runs mid-April through mid-November; closed the rest of the year.

Twenty-six houses and four commercial buildings, built from glacial boulders and fieldstone across Earl Young's fifty-year career as a self-taught architect. Pick up the self-guided map at the visitor center on Mason Street before wandering Clinton Street and Boulder Park — most are walkable from downtown, a few need a car. Every house is privately owned; look from the sidewalk, not the driveway. Paid walking and GEM-car tours add the history if that matters more than the photos.

A 1918 French Renaissance stone complex two miles south of Round Lake harbor, home to Michigan's largest outdoor model railroad — more than seventy trains running over 2,500 feet of track, May through October. Self-guided tours run year-round; guided tours with a professional storyteller run daily June through mid-September for twenty-five dollars. The formal gardens double as one of the region's busiest wedding venues, so a Saturday visit sometimes means working around a ceremony.