Mountain Run at Boyne or Shenandoah Crossing?

[Aruba2009 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Aruba2009]

My wife and I are looking to set up a vacation for May 2011. We haven't been to either Mountain Run at Boyne, MI or Shenandoah Crossing, VA. Both are reachable by car and (from what we've read) have great things to do outdoors. If folks have been to either / both of the resorts, let me know your positive / negative thoughts.

Thanks for your help!
Chris

[roach Member Find all posts View Profile Close roach]

Shenandoah Stables

I haven't been to Mountain Run in May, but I have been to Shenandoah Crossing at that time. I think both resorts offer pretty good golf courses on site and nearby. Both have multiple pools, at least one at each will be open (indoor at SC and heated outdoor at Boyne Mountain). Boyne may offer mountain biking down the ski runs in the spring, but I am not definite about this. Shenandoah has horseback riding, but their stables were only open one day during our 11 night stay. Very unfortunate for us as this was the main reason we chose to stay there. Shenandoah has mini golf, tennis, a playground, RC cars, ping pong, pool, and arcade games. Mountain Run has ???? I went there to ski with the kids in the winter.

Both places are off the beaten path and require 20 minute drives to get to other touristy, sightseeing places. Shenandoah has caverns, historic sites, wineries, and is 2 hours from DC. Mountain Run seems to have more touristy areas nearby, but most were closed the winter we were there.

The units at Mountain Run are all pretty nice. The units at Shenandoah vary greatly. The yurts are worth taking a trip just to try them out, but the old cabins and townhouses need lots of work.

Hope this helps,
Mark

[sdwrdt Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sdwrdt]

been to both, Mountain Run for accommodations are newer

Never been to either in May, so can't speak to that.

Ironically, just my older dd and I went to both of these. Just returned mid-July from Mountain Run and was in Shenandoah Crossings summer 2006.

Location of our Shenandoah cabin was nice, felt like we were in the wilderness rather than a hotel. But, it was old. The best part - one cabin per group, so didn't have people connected to our building.

Where we stayed at in Mountain Run, there were 3 other units attached, but could only tell when the 1 br in our "pod" had a screaming baby and the people downstairs were slamming doors. The worst part about these: You had 5 doors to enter/exit your room. Made moving in/out a big chore. We ended up leaving parts of our luggage blocking every door, but the one to our actual unit, since there was a door stop in the closet (didn't find this out until after we'd moved in)

Found something great to do at each place. Spent more time onsite at Mountain Run than Shenandoah Crossings, but took advantage of their horseback riding a couple times. (all we could get scheduled because we didn't plan our days far enough in advance)

Hope this helps!

[mrspigdoc Member Find all posts View Profile Close mrspigdoc]

Shen Crossing

I love the older cabins at SC because they do feel remote. They are showing their age, but they are well kept and clean. I used to love going there for the horseback riding, but now it is $20 for BG members rather than free, so it is somewhat less desirable for me. SC is a great place to relax and unwind. They don't charge fees for everything either, so mini golf and paddle boats are free.
Teresa

[nicklinneh Member Find all posts View Profile Close nicklinneh]

not talking about the site, but instead surroundings. SC has 3 presidential homes within 50 miles. battlefields are a little further. you'll be driving on secondary roads a good bit but not much traffic. I think if you're historical people or horse people you'll have a good time (unless it rains a lot).
-ken

[abckidsmom Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close abckidsmom]

I live near SC, and love it there. We visit all the time to go to the pools (fantastic) and the putt putt (mediocre, but free). My little kids love visiting the barn often, but we've never ridden the horses.

I agree about the older cabins, they are cramped and not so nice, but the new cabins and the yurts are fantastic. The villas are nice, too.

May is a terrific time for touring VA, not too hot, yet fully summer.

If you choose SC, be prepared for at least a 30 minute ride to any destination. Even town is 20 minutes away.

[Aruba2009 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Aruba2009]

Boyne Mountain

Thanks for the info everyone! Sounds like folks have lots of experience with SC but not a lot of experience with Boyne Mountain, MI. We are from Indiana, so Boyne Mountain would be a bit closer. We love to hike so we'd really like to know if there are quality hiking trails in northern Michigan around BM. I know SC is close to the Shenandoah National Park and has great hiking trails. We look forward to visiting SC, but would like to stay a little closer to home.

Any Boyne Mountain info would be much appreciated!

Thanks again!

[swirg53 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close swirg53]

Mountain Run

I live 20 minutes from Mountain Run in Petoskey MI! I have posted many times on the Bluegreen Yahoo Group of activities in the area, so you may want to join that discussion board and look for my postings about local activities. It is still quite cool in May but it is warming up. You do have the giant 40 person outdoor hot tub open year round and the outdoor heated pool open year round.

May is morel mushroom season but if you ask any mushroom hunter where to find mushrooms, they will tell you, "in the woods." That being said, yes there are lots of hiking trails. Boyne City about 10 minutes from Mountain Run, mid May, has the mushroom festival, in fact. You have to get off the hiking trails to find mushrooms however.

Right now it is wild blackberry/wild raspberry/huckleberry (blueberries for those of you who buy the tame ones) season in the woods. Same answer to finding those!

What is neat about May is everything is getting green up here. It is beautiful to see everything coming into bud. Lots of things are already totally green but not everything. And the spring flowers are coming out and it is a beautiful time of the year. Actually, I used to think we had two seasons: winter and July. But truly, I can see now where we have four beautiful seasons up here, though the winter does get long--however, the actual winter sports season isn't as long as the winter is.

Read my posts to see all there is to do. One of the posts previous spoke of many activities and shops being closed in the winter; that will be true in May also, but there are still lots of activities to do as well as shops open. We have lots of natural sites as opposed to historical sites, though we do have those as well--not nearly of as much national importance however. And we have lots of WATER! We are surrounded by lakes........water, everywhere!

Shenandoah Crossings has some awesome scenic beauty very closeby also in the Shenandoah Valley National Park. Totally awesome hiking trails there with incredible views.

[bfdretired Member Find all posts View Profile Close bfdretired]

moutain run

my son and his wife just celebrated their anniversary at boyne.....they said its fine they visited macinak island ...didnt have time for pictured rocks...hot tub and ammenities were used daily..........they didnt use the water park but said it was busy......

we have been there during peak color season and it is beautiful!

[dolly1504 Member Find all posts View Profile Close dolly1504]

Thanks for the info about Boyne in May. We are going there Sept. 3rd for a week. Will you tell me what I can expect at that time ? Are most activities still in operation ?

Joyce

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

We are from Indiana, so Boyne Mountain would be a bit closer. We love to hike so we'd really like to know if there are quality hiking trails in northern Michigan around BM.

Define quality.

Avalanche Mountain at the city park has some great views but I wouldn't call it a "hike". It's about a half mile up and down, I think, and there are stairs (it was used as a ski slope in the '50s). Petoskey State Park is close and has a couple of short trails, including one up "Old Baldy," with great views of the bay at the top. Expect lots of stairs anytime you're climbing a dune (protects the environment). Young State Park, near Charlevoix, has at least three trails, the longest is maybe 3.5 miles. I think it's a beautiful area but haven't hiked any of the trails. I have heard that if you go south from the resort on 131, there are signs for a place called "Dead Man's Hill" - an overlook with nature trails that's rarely crowded.

Mackinac Island has some nice trails, I don't remember any in particular from my youth but I have Arch Rock on my Want To Do list.

If you're up for a drive, you can get to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in less than 2 hours (maybe an hour and a half, hour and 45 minutes), which has lots of hiking.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - Hiking Trails (U.S. National Park Service)

If you like hiking, walking through Charlevoix to see the Earl Young mushroom (aka Hobbit) houses might be nice. I think they're kind of neat looking, and they're in pretty neighborhoods. I like this collection of Earl Young house pics (must be kinda old, though, going on how some of the landscaping has changed):

Mushroom Houses of Charlevoix - Roadside Art Online

Map of Earl Young houses in Charlevoix:

http://robber.fekete.us/City/Charlev...Charlevoix.pdf

There's a tiny little museum in Charlevoix, Harsha House, that isn't worth a trip out for itself but might be worth going to if you're there anyhow. The guy who was there when we visited was quite chatty and knew a lot about the area.

In Petoskey, we particularly liked the McLean & Eakin bookstore, not least because it had those molded 3-D elevation maps I so love. If you ask there, and there's anyone who enjoys hiking, I'm betting they'd be happy to advise you. If no one there is into hiking, they'll still be glad to get you all the information they can, if our experience is anything to go on. McLean and Eakin has various activities, presentations and children's reading programs and whatnot, there's usually a calender at their website.:

Mclean and Eakin Bookstore Petoskey

[Aruba2009 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Aruba2009]

Hobbitess,

This is a lot of good information! Thank you!

Aruba2009

[bigsmith Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bigsmith]

We have been to Boyne a couple of times now, admittedly both times were late July time frame, but our whole family loves it up there. There is a local lake (Deer lake) about a 5 min drive away where they have a nice beach, free cannoes/kayaks. As mentioned above, Charlevoix is worth visiting, sleeping bear dunes were amazing! All around a decent place to go. As for the room, it was ok, about the same as anywhere else we have stayed. Pool was a little smaller than I would hope for, but the kids still loved it. I have not seen or found the huge hottub..

[oreillk Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close oreillk]

Boyne . . .our favorite place to be

If you live in Michigan and ski. . . you know Boyne Mountain. The fact that Bluegreen has a place at Boyne sealed the deal on our purchase of Bluegreen. I just spent a week in August and was surprised by how beautiful it was in the summer. I was worried we wouldn't have enough to do but was excited to explore the towns that seem too far in the snow season. I was also very surprised that there was so much to do on the grounds. You can hike up the ski hills, run and bike on the hills and cc ski trails, horseback ride, take a scenic chair lift ride, golf, enjoy the small beach. We love the outdoors so this is our little piece of heaven in Michigan close to many of our favorite places in northern Michigan. Boyne Mountain Resort has evening activities as well so as a guest you can enjoy some of those activities. The pool at BG is only open in the summer but the heated clock-tower pool and hot tub (at the main older resort not BG) is available to BG resort guests too. The main lodge pool is avail too but for a fee. One little warning, the ski hills are very crowded during Christmas vacation and if you are not into partying do not go for their mardi-gras like crazy days in March. It is not a family-friendly place to be during that time and the clock tower pool is out of the question if you have kids. We go for the last good weekend of ski season but curse ourselves every time we have to explain to the kids the the behavior we see. That is really the only horrible weekend to go with a family but crazy crazy if you are the party type. If BG is ever sold or if they sell off Boyne. . . well . . .let's not even think that way. . .love my mountain run at boyne. Oh and ask for a hillside condo. ..

[marshalldillon Member Find all posts View Profile Close marshalldillon]

We have a few nights booked in a 3 bedroom unit at /morn run the week prior to Jan 1. We may or may not end up using the nights,but if we are able to go, how crowded can we expect it to be and will the skiing be worth it at this time. We went to CMV 2years ago the same week and had a great time. It was our kids first ski trip and I know the slopes don't compare, but the crowds were very manageable. Just curious about boyne at this time. Thanks in advance!!!