Lake City: Michigan's Christmas Tree Capital

The first settlers called the wide, clear water on the town’s eastern edge Muskrat Lake. It’s Lake Missaukee now. Lake City got its start as a lumber camp on that shore in the late 1800s. When the big pine was gone, the town reinvented itself twice over. First it became a summer resort town. Then it became the center of one of Michigan’s signature crops: Christmas trees.

Lake City bills itself as Michigan’s Christmas Tree Capital, and it has earned the name. The well-drained, sandy hills the loggers left behind turned out to be ideal for growing evergreens. After World War II, the county filled up with Christmas-tree farms. Michigan now trails only Oregon and North Carolina in Christmas trees grown. Missaukee County is one of the state’s biggest producers. The town celebrates that heritage every fall at the Festival of the Pines. It also throws one of the region’s best Fourth of July parties — the “Greatest Fourth in the North” — when the summer crowds are at their peak.

Between the lake, the surrounding state forest, and the tree farms, this is a green, four-season corner of Michigan. Summer brings boating and fishing. Fall brings color tours. Once the snow flies, it’s snowmobiling and ice fishing.