Seasons pass over Northern Michigan like a vacationer's slideshow. Surrounded by Great Lakes Michigan and Huron, Michigan's Lower Peninsula boasts more than 1,000 miles of shoreline that rim the mitt-shaped peninsula - affording unequaled recreational activities for locals and visitors alike. Once north of Flint and Saginaw the noise and traffic of the cities drop away and the landscape is painted with forests, lakes and small towns.

In summer, there are beaches to be explored, streams to be fished. Take to the Great Lakes or one of thousands of inland lakes to boat, fish, canoe, swim, jet ski, kayak, sail. And then there's the golf.

The area's scenic beauty and mild climate (remarkably pollen free) have drawn vacationers to the resort towns of Charlevoix, Petoskey, Mackinac Island and Traverse City for more than a hundred years.

From the turn-of-the-century charm of the Bay Field Village area of Petoskey and Traverse City's Old Town, to the spectacular natural scenery found among the shifting sand dunes along Lake Michigan, there's plenty to see. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and dozens of state parks form a necklace of emerald forests, golden dunes and white sand beaches that drape the northwestern Lower Peninsula.

The Great Lakes shape the character of the cities, from hardworking fishing villages to postcard-pretty resort towns, all found along the miles of shoreline. Thousand-foot freighters can be seen chugging along the horizon and, closer in, fishermen, pleasure boats and sailboats share the clear blue waters that lap at sandy beaches.

Commercial fishing no longer flourishes as it once did on the Great Lakes, but sport fishers get plenty of thrills from hooking into recently introduced Coho and Chinook salmon. The Pacific coast natives, adapted to freshwater, can reach 30 to 40 pounds, and have revitalized the sport fishing industry. Charter fishing boats are available in most of the more than 50 coastal communities that provide harbors along Lakes Michigan and Huron.

Traverse City, the "Queen City of the North," is sheltered at the bottom of Grand Traverse Bay. This is the unofficial capital of one of the vacation areas. Over a half-million visitors come to enjoy the fruits of the National Cherry Festival, one of the oldest heartland festivals, held early in July. Orchards flourish in the lake-tempered climate. You can enjoy a sail on an old-time clipper ship that takes visitors on tours of the bay, shore villages and nearby islands. It's one of the busiest marinas on the Great Lakes.

Michigan's Lower Peninsula has become a golfing mecca over the last couple of decades. Greats such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Weiskopf and Gary Koch, along with well known golf course architects like Robert Trent Jones, Sr., his son Reis Jones, Tom Doaks, Pete Dye and Arthur Hill have built courses in this temperate climate. In fact, more golf courses have been built here over the last 15 years than any other state in the nation.

The boom began in northern Michigan at Boyne USA Resort near Petoskey, when the late Everett Kircher hired Robert Trent Jones to build a golf course at Boyne Highlands over 30 years ago. Courses now snake through northwoods stands of pine, birch and spruce, and you will certainly share the links with white-tailed deer, wild turkeys and waterfowl.

Michigan's thousands of acres of state and national parks beckon to adventurers and outdoors lovers. Hike in vast forests teeming with wildlife or cast your line in sparkling trout streams or paddle along a wilderness river. Deserted beaches stretch for miles, and secluded bike trails take you where no roads lead. Hikers can explore one of the Midwest's few remaining stands of virgin white pines at Hartwick Pines State Park, the Lower Peninsula's largest state park. With trunks as wide as cars, and tops rising higher than 10-story buildings, these behemoths offer a glimpse of Michigan before the 19th century logging boom.

Northbound motorists can either follow U.S. 27 and I-75 up the middle of the Lower Peninsula, take U.S. 23 north from Saginaw Bay along Lake Huron, or U.S. 31 on the western, Lake Michigan side. Both of the latter are more leisurely eye-filling byways that often hug the shoreline for miles on end. You also can fly into Detroit Metro Airport, rent a car and motor north. It's about a four-hour drive to Gaylord, which is the heart of the LP. Traverse City's Cherry Capital Airport is an easy access to the rest of the northern half of the peninsula.