Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau also Provides Resources for Self-Guided Spring Activities, Including Fishing, Golf, Mushroom Hunting, and Exploring Trails & Rivers 

 While April typically brings showers in Michigan, the Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau (CAVB) is embracing the “muddy season” to welcome visitors for spring events and activities – from ORVing and Jeep touring, to mushroom hunting and golfing. And it’s created a series of themed guides to help visitors enjoy their spring stay.

 

“Spring in Michigan is often an unpredictable time for getting outdoors – but in Cadillac, we lean into this season with events and activities that naturally lend themselves to the potentially wet and muddy weather,” said Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau Executive Director Kathy Morin. “Grab your fishing poles and golf bags, bring your off-road vehicle (or rent one up here), and head to Cadillac for a spring season full of fun.”

 

ORV/OHV-Related Events & Activities

With ORV season starting April 1, this month kicks off a series of related events and activities in the Cadillac area, including a new Spring Jeep Tour. 

  • NEW - Caddy Bear’s Spring Jeep Tour, April 2 - May 23. Take a scenic ride exploring 12 businesses and three events in the Cadillac area this spring, grabbing a passport from any participating location and collecting stickers at each stop for a chance to win a $500 grand prize and swag. Find passport details and participating stops with promotion rules at cadillacmichigan.com/jeeptour, and real-time updates on Facebook.

 

  • Mesick Jeep Blessing, May 3, starts at 8 a.m., intersection of M-115 and M-37, Mesick. This 24th annual event attracting thousands of participants begins with a blessing at 11 a.m., followed by five Jeep courses and a mud pit open to riders, in addition to vendors, live music and other activities, including a kids’ area. JeepBlessing.com

 

  • NEW TO CADILLAC - Barricade Go Topless Day® - Cadillac Event, May 17, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., Wexford County Airport. This 18th annual celebration features Jeep-related events spanning the globe, with Cadillac as an official participant for the first time in 2025. This inaugural Cadillac event features vendors, music, food trucks, 50/50 raffle and more, and participants can get their Caddy Bear Spring Jeep Tour passport stamped here as the last tour stop. Proceeds benefit youth scholarships to the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Hosted by the Wexford County Airport and Swisher Jeeps. Facebook event page

 

  • Cadillac ORV Scenic Ride, Ongoing. Building off the successful 2024 launch of the ORV Scenic Ride that provided mapping, signing and marketing of 100-plus miles into a “scenic ride” on open county and U.S. Forest Service roads covering a dozen points of interest (see ORV Scenic Ride guide here), the Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau launches Phase 2 this spring, including printing and distributing more maps statewide and beyond, installing additional confidence markers and speed limit signs, and digital mapping the ORV Scenic Ride through the onX OffRoad navigation app so riders can program the route in ORV GPS systems for real-time navigation (by June).  RideCadillac.com

 

Other Spring Events 

  • Cadillac Earth Day Celebration, April 27, 1 - 3 p.m., Cadillac Commons (South Lake Street in front of the Performing Arts Pavilion). This long-standing annual event was established to celebrate Earth as dozens of vendors share activities and information on how to protect the environment. Free reusable tote bags and tree seedlings (while supplies last), live music and kids’ activities are planned. CadillacEarthDay.org

 

  • Mesick Mushroom Festival, May 9-11, downtown Mesick. As the mushroom capital of the United States, Mesick will have activities for all ages such as concerts, kids’ events, craft vendors, an annual parade and more. A Mushroom Pickers Kit can be purchased for $6 at the festival office.

 

Spring Guides

The Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau also has curated a series of five themed spring guides to help visitors plan their own getaway. Available at the visitors bureau office at 201 N. Mitchell St #102 during weekdays and other locations throughout the area, guides include:

  • NEW – Lakes & Rivers Fishing – This guide provides everything an angler needs to fish its lakes (Cadillac, Mitchell, Missaukee) and rivers (Big Manistee, Pine) in the region - fishing season by species; lake information including depths, boat launch and access site locations and recommended shore fishing areas; river information including float times and distances, access areas and liveries; and fishing license purchase locations and ancillary services (restaurants, lodging, shopping).

 

  • Golf – Home to nine courses within 20 minutes of downtown, Cadillac is a perfect golf destination, as this guide shows. And three of its courses were just named on Golfpass’s list of Top 25 Public Golf Courses in Michigan: Eldorado (#1), Missaukee (#9) and Lakewood (#16).

 

  • Morel Mushrooms – With Mesick as the mushroom capital of the United States, Wexford County is an ideal place to go spring mushroom hunting (and a warm, moist spring is best!). Morels may be the best-known wild mushrooms in the Midwest, and the fruiting period is from late April until mid-June. This guide helps identify a true and false morel plus gives tips on where to hunt.

 

  • Historic Old Indian Trail – For several centuries, Odawa People have been on the shores and in the woods and hills of this region. The Old Indian Trail from Cadillac to Traverse City was established in the 1200s – and today, it is a walk through history. This guide of the region is made possible by Frank Ettawageshik and the Wexford County Historical Society.

 

  • Trails & Rivers – This guide provides comprehensive maps of Cadillac’s hundreds of miles of four-season, multi-use, multi-season recreational trails – including the 92-mile Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park, 22-mile Manistee River Trail/North Country Trail loop, 11.3-mile Cadillac Pathway for mountain biking and cross-country skiing, 10-mile MacKenzie Trail for cross-country skiing and mountain biking, and 2.5-mile Mitchell State Park Heritage Nature Trail. The guide also shows trail intersections, distances and appropriate usage, plus links to ancillary services (restaurants, lodging, shopping).