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All the United States Michigan Cedar Sugar Loaf Ski Lodge
Sugar Loaf Ski Lodge is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

AO Edited

Sugar Loaf Ski Lodge

A crumbling mountain resort that looks like it was abandoned in an instant.

Cedar, Michigan

Added By
Emma Kumer
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You’ll find these sort of artifacts sprinkled all over the site.   Emma Kumer / Atlas Obscura User
You’ll find these sort of artifacts sprinkled all over the site.   Emma Kumer / Atlas Obscura User
The pool behind the hotel.   Emma Kumer / Atlas Obscura User
The lodge main floor.   Emma Kumer / Atlas Obscura User
Inviting entrance   Bett27 / Atlas Obscura User
Derelict banquet hall   Bett27 / Atlas Obscura User
The office entryway.   Emma Kumer / Atlas Obscura User
Sign out front, partially hidden by trees.   Emma Kumer / Atlas Obscura User
One of the many empty lifts.   Emma Kumer / Atlas Obscura User
The trail map, all runs perpetually “open” since 2000.   Emma Kumer / Atlas Obscura User
Another view from golf course   soxnd / Atlas Obscura User
View from the summit, facing west toward Little Traverse Lake  
Front view from golf course   soxnd / Atlas Obscura User
The lodge in 2021, before demolition  
Zach’s shenanigans (not from me)   Bett27 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The preserved remains of this ski resort near Traverse City, Michigan create a quiet nostalgia you won’t find in most abandoned sites. After the mountain closed in 2000 due to heightened competition on nearby slopes and poor management, the resort was left vacant. But oddly enough, it isn’t empty.

This shuttered ski lodge, still filled with hastily scribbled paperwork, snow-stained lift tickets, slightly faded race bibs, and sun-washed vintage posters brings to mind the memories of a real, living, breathing business in the way that a crumbling, graffiti-covered factory cannot. This place was abandoned, it feels like, instantaneously, leaving an ever-present snapshot of that moment in history. Finds like these are a gem in urban exploration, rarely existing and even rarer to find.

The site is comprised of a main ski lodge, a hotel with an outdoor pool, and a ski hill with deserted lifts hanging at eternal standstill. The entire place has the eerie feeling that it was simply paused instead of ended. The route map at the base of the hill proclaims that most of the runs are “open” and plowed, despite being closed and empty for years.

Peek through the windows and you’ll see that the hotel bedrooms are still neat and made-up, sheets tucked in, and trash cans emptied as if they will be accepting residents tomorrow. The lodge’s dining hall holds empty carousels meant for soft pretzels and slushie machines that sit unplugged on surfaces covered in a layer of dust that can’t conceal the neon logos beneath. The resort’s office space contains more scattered paperwork than they use for the “school's out” scene of a high school movie.

Peeking in the windows is the best option to view the interior, as most windows are shattered. In addition, some ground-level doors are open to see into the rooms. The interior has the eerie feeling of a Stephen King movie. It is probably a safe assumption that the place is covered with asbestos as insulation, and other materials are all over the floors and coming out of the ceiling. 

Catching a glimpse of the interior of Sugar Loaf is cool enough to be its own adventure, but don't leave before climbing to the top of the mountain itself. You're going to have to make the hike up a black diamond slope without the help of automated lifts (although five of them sit, vacant, to mock you), but the view at the top is worth it, with great views of Little Traverse Lake and Good Harbor Bay to the North and Lime Lake to the Southwest. 

The resort was purchased in 2016, and its new owner has said there are plans to one day reopen it. 

Update as of August 2021: The lodge is slated for demolition. 

Related Tags

Ski Abandoned Sports

Know Before You Go

Be sure to view the resort from the outside, as attempting to enter is trespassing.

Community Contributors

Added By

Emma Kumer

Edited By

erjeffery, Bedda, MrCarl, jeffdoroh...

  • erjeffery
  • Bedda
  • MrCarl
  • jeffdoroh
  • soxnd
  • Bett27
  • cmaxson

Published

June 11, 2018

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Sources
  • https://www.powder.com/videos/powder-tv/the-sudden-and-strange-demise-of-sugar-loaf-michigan/
  • https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/11/02/sugar-loaf-resort/107258088/
  • https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2016/10/29/sugar-loaf-ski-resort-michigan/92772504/
  • https://mynorth.com/2016/11/sugarloaf-resort-finds-new-lifeline/
  • https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/02/22/sugar-loaf-abandoned-ownership-unclear/80785878/
  • https://www.google.com/maps/place/44%C2%B054'44.4%22N+85%C2%B048'59.2%22W/@44.9123319,-85.8170015,197m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m17!1m10!2m9!1sSugar+Loaf+Ski+Lodge+!3m6!1sSugar+Loaf+Ski+Lodge+!2sE+Mountain+Rd,+Cleveland+Township,+MI+49621!3s0x881e27122b3ff73b:0xbf28f5f7c993c076!4m2!1d-85.820805!2d44.900232!6e1!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d44.9123305!4d-85.8164532
Sugar Loaf Ski Lodge
4729 S Sugar Loaf Mountain Rd
Cedar, Michigan, 49621
United States
44.912307, -85.816014
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Holy Rosary Catholic Church

Cedar, Michigan

miles away

The Rising Sun Shipwreck

Maple City, Michigan

miles away

Leland's Historic Fishtown

Leland, Michigan

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cedar

Cedar

Michigan

Places 2

Nearby Places

Holy Rosary Catholic Church

Cedar, Michigan

miles away

The Rising Sun Shipwreck

Maple City, Michigan

miles away

Leland's Historic Fishtown

Leland, Michigan

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cedar

Cedar

Michigan

Places 2

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