Walk a Quarter-Mile Through the Treetops — 40 Feet Up

Imagine strolling along a gently swaying bridge four stories above the forest floor, with a glass-floored overlook that lets you peer straight down through the branches. You don’t have to imagine it — it’s in Midland.

The Canopy Walk at Whiting Forest of Dow Gardens is the longest canopy walk in the United States, stretching 1,400 feet — about a quarter-mile — and rising as high as 40 feet above the ground. It opened in October 2018 as part of a major project and has three “arms,” each ending at a different view: one over a pond, one with a giant cargo net suspended in a grove of spruce trees, and one with a glass-floored platform looking out over an apple orchard.

The gardens themselves are a Michigan story. Dow Gardens was started in the late 1800s by Herbert H. Dow — the chemist who founded Dow Chemical Company right there in Midland. Dow believed beautiful surroundings made life better for the whole community, and he poured that belief into the grounds around his home. The Whiting Forest land was first acquired by Dow and his wife Grace back in 1905, later passed to family, and eventually opened to the public.

Best part for families: the walkway is barrier-free and accessed by gentle ramps, so strollers and wheelchairs can roll right up into the trees.