Snow Snake: a ski hill and a golf course on the same Harrison ground

Most of Michigan’s downhill skiing is up north or out west, so a working ski hill this far into the middle of the Lower Peninsula is a pleasant surprise. Snow Snake Ski & Golf sits just outside Harrison, and it has the friendly, family-run feel of a place that has been teaching people to ski for generations rather than a big destination resort.

The hill drops 210 feet, which won’t intimidate anyone who has skied out West, and that’s rather the point. Snow Snake leans into the beginner — it’s known for one of the gentler learning hills in the state, with a bunny slope served by a magic carpet, a dozen trails, and a couple of terrain parks for the snowboarders who want to get airborne. There’s a separate tubing run too, with its own lifts, for the part of the family that would rather sit in a tube and scream than carve a turn.

The same rolling, wooded land does double duty. When the snow melts, Snow Snake becomes an 18-hole golf course threaded through the trees — an “up north course, close by,” is how the tourism folks pitch it, and that’s a fair read on the whole operation. The terrain that makes the skiing fun is exactly what makes the golf interesting.

It’s the kind of spot worth knowing about if you live in mid-Michigan and don’t feel like a three-hour drive to ski for an afternoon. Hardwood hills, a lodge with food, and a lift ticket that won’t sting — sometimes the modest hill close to home beats the famous one far away.