At Mt. McSauba, Charlevoix Sets the Price in April and Lets the Cold Pick Opening Day

The City of Charlevoix's 2026-27 fee schedule already sets the price of a winter at Mt. McSauba. A resident pays $21 for a weeknight lift ticket, $23 on a weekend and $210 for a season pass. The rink costs $3 a day. The schedule took effect April 1 and was revised April 20.

What the city can't set is opening day. Every winter at the hill starts when it's cold enough to make snow, and Charlevoix has seen that wait run past Christmas. The hill's free Friday-night candlelight hike needs no tow rope, no stored snow and no particular date. That makes it the most dependable fixture of a Charlevoix winter.

The Christmas the hill stayed closed

As of January 5, 2024, Mt. McSauba still hadn't opened because it hadn't been cold enough to make snow. Recreation Director Kent Knorr called the delay "unprecedented." He told the Petoskey News-Review that Bo Boss, who had run the hill since 1976, couldn't recall another Christmas break when it wasn't open.

The city did try. Crews made snow on New Year's Eve and stockpiled it, but that wasn't enough of a base to open. Knorr explained that the city couldn't afford to run the snow machines when the water wasn't freezing into snow. Ski lessons planned for January 4 were pushed back. The same warm start kept the ice rink closed too. The Boss family kept working on snowmaking the whole time. Bo's son, Beau Boss, was managing the hill at the time.

The next fall, the hill got more snowmaking capacity. The Harbor Light reported in November 2024 that Nub's Nob had given Mt. McSauba two more snow guns, and that its crew had helped with support and construction know-how. More guns mean the hill can build a base faster once it's cold enough. They don't change when that happens.

That's the right way to read any opening date that goes around this winter. Last season, GRKids' statewide ski roundup listed Mt. McSauba's opening as December 20, 2025, and said those dates were weather-dependent projections, not confirmed openings. We couldn't find a confirmed opening date for 2026-27. The city's Mt. McSauba page is the place to check once temperatures drop.

What a season costs, and who pays the resident rate

The fee schedule is specific about who counts as a resident. Charlevoix Township residents get the same rates as City residents at every Mt. McSauba activity. You qualify if you meet one of three conditions:

1. You pay taxes on business or residential property in the City of Charlevoix or Charlevoix Township.
2. You rent in the City or the Township and are registered to vote there.
3. You're under 18 and an adult resident claims you as a dependent on their income taxes.

The first condition is based on paying property tax, not on where you live most of the year. The 2026-27 prices:

Here's the math the table doesn't do for you. A resident season pass costs about as much as nine weekend tickets or ten weeknight tickets, so it pays for itself on the tenth weekend visit. A non-resident pass at $300 doesn't break even until the eleventh weekend visit. And that count has to fit inside a season whose start depends on the cold. If the hill opens late, as it did in 2023-24, those visits get packed into fewer weeks.

The rink is priced to keep things simple. Residents and non-residents pay the same, and a $30 season pass covers ten skates. The outdoor rink has skate rentals, pickup hockey and a warming shed. Visit Charlevoix says it depends on the weather.

On days the hill runs, Visit Charlevoix lists four tow ropes, a lighted sledding hill, the rink and a warming cabin. Bring your own sled or tube, because the sledding hill doesn't rent them. The Nordic network has three loops covering five miles, including a lighted, groomed 2-kilometer trail. A January 2026 visitor guide described last winter's schedule. The ski hill ran Monday, Thursday and Friday evenings plus Saturday and Sunday during the day. The rink was open those weekday evenings and on weekend afternoons. Check the city before treating that as this season's schedule.

The Friday night that doesn't need a snow base

Visit Charlevoix calls the candlelight hike one of the town's "best-kept secrets":

"Every Friday night during the winter, you can enjoy a candlelight hike at Mt. McSauba where you can set your own pace. This weekly event is free to the public (donations are appreciated)."

The bureau says you can rent snowshoes at the ski hill but usually won't need them, since snow boots work on the trails most of the time. A campfire waits at the end of the route. In recent winters the hike has run Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m. on a route about a mile long, free of charge, according to Northern Express's December 2025 winter-break roundup. The City's own listing from February 2024 described self-guided hiking, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing on candlelit trails, with a bonfire and cocoa. That listing also asked for volunteers.

The hike draws a crowd. In early January 2024, while warm weather kept the hill closed, Knorr counted more than 700 hikers on a single Friday. That year the series was set to run every Friday through February 23. That's the clearest case for the hike as the anchor of the season. The biggest crowd on record we found came during a winter when the tow ropes weren't running.

Other groups use the same trails and firepit. The Charlevoix Public Library has teamed up with Charlevoix Recreation on a free, all-ages Mt. McSauba Candlelit Story Walk with hot cocoa, free books and s'mores at the firepit by the sledding hill. Last winter's walk was moved to February 13, a reminder that weather can shift events beyond the ski hill too. The Dogman Challenge Fat Bike Race was held at Mt. McSauba on January 17, 2026. No 2027 dates had been posted for either event as of early October.

The weeks before there's snow to make

Between Apple Fest and the first cold snap, the winter calendar is built on events that are already confirmed. Here's what's on the books for November and December 2026:

1. November 2 to 30: Jessica Leidall's paintings at the Charlevoix Public Library.
2. November 16 to 19: The Deer Widow's quilting retreat at Castle Farms, $200 per person.
3. November 21: Switchback's Celtic holiday concert at Castle Farms. Doors open at 4 p.m. and the show runs 5 to 7 p.m.
4. November 27: Charlevoix's Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting, free, with the downtown Holiday Merchant Open House. The listing gives the date as November 27 but calls it a Saturday. November 27 is a Friday, so confirm the day before you go.
5. November 27 and 28: Castle Farms' free Deck the Halls holiday market, Friday 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
6. December 1 to 31: The Photography Club's Winter Show & Sale at the library.

Castle Farms has also listed its Frost & Fabric quilting retreat for January 18 to 20, 2027, at $75 a day or $150 for all three days.

One regular winter spot has limited access this fall. Culvert replacement on the main park road has closed Fisherman's Island State Park's rustic campground for the season and closed the day-use areas to vehicles. The trails and shoreline are still open on foot. The DNR says the park will reopen once the concrete cures, and it hasn't posted a date. On the north end of town, North Point Nature Preserve has about 1.5 miles of trail that skiers and snowshoers use when there's enough snow.

For dinner after a Friday hike, Margaritas Mexican Restaurant at 115 Bridge St. opened softly just before Christmas 2025 and plans to stay open year-round. Manager Oziel Carreon told Northern Express that last winter's diners included locals, snowmobilers, skiers and families. On the Pine River Channel, The Weathervane at 106 Pine River Lane finished its renovation this summer. The work included new interiors, bar improvements and a redesigned patio and deck. Its website lists hours of 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The Landing has closed for the season and books private events between Labor Day and Memorial Day.

The fee schedule's resident rule covers anyone who pays property taxes in the City of Charlevoix or Charlevoix Township, and that line matters when you're comparing properties on either side of the township boundary. If you're weighing a place within reach of Mt. McSauba and want to know where it falls, Davis Labelle can walk you through it parcel by parcel. Schedule a free consultation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.