This interesting small ski hill is right on the campus of Gogebic Community College and is the home of the college's Ski Area Management Program, so you can guess that it is well run!! Many of the students from the college ski here and the students also operate and manage the ski area. It's free for them to ski Mount Zion all they desire, so it makes a lively fun atmosphere on the slopes and a great place to meet people.
Mount Zion is also very affordable and has tons of ski lessons and racing programs for kids to join and compete in, so it also qualifies as an excellent family ski destination. It has a vertical drop of 300 feet with 2 lifts taking skiers to 10 trails spread out over 20 skiable acres. Half of the trails are intermediate, with some beginner and advanced. (Anyone 62 years old and older gets to ski and snowboard free!) Plus, there is night skiing, free cross country skiing over 3 miles of groomed trails, a snow tubing park, a freestyle terrain park, skating, and ski and snowboard rentals. It even has a snack bar! Small though it is, Mount Zion offers all the bells and whistles for a fun ski holiday.
A family can travel to the area and have its beginners dip their toes into the world of skiing at gentle Mount Zion while the more advanced members of the family can take off for skiing Big Powderhorn or Indianhead. The skiing options being so varied within a small distance makes the area a great destination for skiing in Michigan.
Located in Ironwood, Michigan, which is just a few miles south of Lake Superior in the northwestern part of Michigan, Mount Zion ski area is in good company as there are other bigger ski resorts in the area. Blackjack, Indianhead, Whitecap and Big Powderhorn are nearby. Ironwood itself is a fun little city known for having the “tallest Indian in the world” ---a 52 foot high replica of the famous Indian Hiawatha. Ironwood is the business and mining epicenter of the region, so it is interesting to drive around and look at it through tourist eyes to say hello not only to Hiawatha, but to see the lovely little Arts and Crafts cottages and colonial houses, the historical museum housed 1892 depot, and to take a walk around the very 1920's downtown. You will pass the stately 1928 Ironwood Theater, an architectural gem with its classic bronze marquee. If you go east from where the town's churches are clustered you can view the magnificent antique Queen Anne mansions from the time when the city was a wealthy mining town.
If you would like to use Ironwood as your base for lodging, take a look at American Ironwood, a simple clean motel with free continental breakfast and co-ed sauna, which is a nice detail after a day skiing. For dinner, try Mike's Restaurant. While it may look simple, it serves up huge personality and good homemade food.
