Events – Outdoor Recreation

Petoskey Area is home to a wide variety of outdoor recreation with its abundance of trails, bodies of water, ski hills, and nature preserves to explore. Whether you’re looking for running events, a bicycle bash, swimming events, boating, and fishing events, there are tons of fun events to participate in and to spectate!

There are so many great annual events that occur in the area like the Fat & Flurrious Fat Tire Bike Race in the winter, Zoo-de-Mack Bike Bash in the spring, the famous Ugotta Regatta Sailboat Race in the summer, and so many other great traditions… discover more in our annual events listed below and in detail on our event calendar for those coming up soon.

Looking for even more fun? Check out the events section of the Petoskey Area Facebook page.

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OUTDOOR RECREATION ANNUAL EVENTS

Fat & Flurrious

This winter Fat Tire bike race takes place in Boyne City each January at Avalanche Mountain Preserve. The Fat & Flurrious Fat Tire Bike Race event is also a fundraiser event for the Top of Michigan Mountain Bike Association.

Zoo-De-Mack Bike Bash

Zoo-de-Mack is a fun group bike ride that is named after its route which takes you from the Zoo Bar at The Highlands to Mackinac Island. This 51-mile bike bash takes place over the course of 3 days in May. The weekend is filled with parties with great bands, one of the most scenic bike rides, sunshine and views of the Mackinac Bridge.

Fresh Coast Classic

This youth soccer competition takes place in the first weekend of June at the Click Road Soccer Complex in Petoskey! For more information check out Petoskey Youth Soccer Association’s website.

Top O’ Michigan Festival Of Races

This annual foot race is held in Petoskey along the Little Traverse Wheelway starting and ending in Petoskey. There are 5k, 10k, and Half Marathon courses for this running event for participants to choose from.

Dirty Dog Dash

Boyne Mountain Resort holds its annual Dirty Dog Dash 5k mud run at the end of May/beginning of June each year. The race rout is 5km across the ski slopes of Boyne Mountain Resort and has numerous obstacles along the way to climb, crawl, wade through, and more.

Sand Dig Volleyball Tournament

This annual volleyball tournament takes place each June at Petoskey State Park beach volleyball courts. There are three different divisions of this longest-running Beach Volleyball Tournament in northern Michigan.

Boyne Thunder

Each July, Boyne Thunder is an annual charity boating event that occurs in Boyne City! This event brings together powerboat enthusiasts from all across the country for a fun-filled weekend on the shores of Lake Charlevoix in Boyne City and Lake Michigan in Petoskey and Harbor Springs. The poker run, the highlight of the event, is a boat cruise parade where participants collect playing cards from various checkpoints along the 150-mile route. The participant boat with the best winning poker hand at the end wins a grand prize. Alongside the poker run, the weekend is filled with social events, parties, and a live auction. These events raise funds for Camp Quality and Challenge Mountain, two charities that support children with cancer and people with disabilities.

Ltyc’s Ugotta Regatta

Each year, for over 60 years, the Little Traverse Yacht Club holds the Ugotta Regatta sailboat race in Harbor Springs at the end of July. Sailboats from across the United States head to Harbor Springs each summer to attend one of the nation’s best-known sailing traditions. This race is open to all boats 22 feet and above on a first-come first-served basis for registrants. Great spots to spectate this event are via boat, at Petoskey State Park, or Petoskey’s Sunset Park.

Coastal Crawl

This open-water swimming race takes place in Lake Michigan’s Little Traverse Bay around Harbor Point in Harbor Springs at the beginning of each August. There are four length options in this open water swim race: ½ mile, 1 mile, 2 mile or 3 mile.

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