Big Bear Adventures Indian River | Oakland County Moms

Big Bear Adventures Indian River review, hours, pics, and info. Big Bear Adventures in Indian River offers Up North Michigan family fun with mini golf, tubing, kayaking, canoeing, bumper boats, and more!

I’ve been vacationing at or near Indian River for decades and Big Bear Adventures has always a favorite stop. As a mini golf nut, Big Bear Adventures putt putt is one of my favorite courses in Michigan! Big Bear mini golf is a sprawling, woodsy 18-hole course that is extremely challenging! A river runs through the middle of the course and seemingly every hole has a water trap or challenging slope to deal with. While not as scenic or well-maintained as Pirate’s Cove (in Traverse City & Petoskey), Big Bear Adventures mini golf is beautifully rustic and has held up well in all of the years it has been open.

Big Bear Adventures Indian River Pics

Big Bear has expanded greatly since I first began going there in the late 80s… They’ve added a pool for bumper boats and a high-ropes course over the years. They even have a mini golf/bumper boats/ropes course package for kids for one discounted price. While the mini golf is top-notch, the bumper boats pool is pretty small and the ropes course, according to my kids, is nothing to write home about.

OAKLAND COUNTY MOMS UP NORTH MICHIGAN TRAVEL REVIEWS

Big Bear Adventures Indian River is perhaps best known for its tubing/kayaking/canoeing trips. A van departs every 1/2 hour to take you on a tour of the Sturgeon River. I can’t speak for the canoeing or kayaking, but I’ve done the tube trips and they were very well-done. The tube ride was a brisk but LONG ride (almost 2 hours and 45 minutes when I did it). Tubing on the Sturgeon River is nice but not the best tubing trip I’ve ever gone on – that honor goes to Wisconsin’s Apple River! Still, I would reccommend Big Bear Adventures for their kayaking, tubing and canoeing trips. They’re equipment is very clean and well-maintained and their staff is very friendly.

Big Bear has a very large, gimmicky general store. It’s a typical up-north souvenir shop but it does have some neat knick-knacks that can make an up north trip more memorable. The general store also has a Subway restaurant chain built inside of it so get ready for the tempting aroma of fresh-baked bread!

Big Bear Adventures is located just across from Burt Lake State Park and other popular Indian River destinations like Cross in the Woods, and Jonathon Rand’s Chillermania.