Idlewild - Michigan Day Trip
A Michigan day trip to Idlewild is a journey back in time. In it’s heyday, the Idlewild Resort area was the place to perform for musicians and other entertainers who had already "arrived" and for those that were hoping to get noticed. The Idlewild Music Fest celebrates these musical roots. Coordinated and supported by business leaders, the nonprofit community and faith community of Lake County, the Idlewild Music Fest brings an unmistakable beat back to echo across Idlewild Lake and Williams Island, if just for awhile.
Although the Paradise Club and other nightclubs are now gone,
Idlewild holds many fond memories for those who once visited there.
Idlewild surrounds the lake it was named for. The headwaters of the
Pere Marquette River run through here, with a couple of public
access points adjacent to Broadway Road, where it crosses. About
half of the township is contained in the Manistee National Forest.
Idlewild is a vacation and retirement community in Yates Township
located in a small rural northwestern part of the U.S. state of
Michigan near the southeastern border of Lake County. It was one of
only a few resorts in the country where African-Americans were
allowed to vacation and purchase property before this discrimination
became illegal in 1964.
Idlewild is an historic destination on the back roads of Michigan.