Reach for the Sky Canopy Walk

For those who have ever wished to walk among the treetops, Reach for the Sky Canopy Walk grants that opportunity. Part of Hidden Lake Gardens, a 755-acre botanical garden and arboretum in Tipton, Michigan, the canopy-walk attraction opened in 2023 and allows visitors to traverse a walkway 65 feet above a glacial kettle hole as they feel soft breezes ripple through the leaves just inches away.

The canopy walk consists of two consecutive bridges that stretch 374 feet, and the walking surface allows adventurers to feel every movement, from vibrations to gentle swings, along the suspended wooden bridges that are secured with steel cables. 

Open year-round, the canopy walk offers a unique view each season, but fall is an ideal time for visitors to explore. Snap photos from different perspectives and enjoy the crisp smell of the leaves as they envelop you from all sides. In winter enjoy special lighted night walks that follow a luminary-lined path to the skywalk, which is aglow in dazzling holiday lights. 

Reaching the canopy walk takes some time, so plan on a 15- to 20-minute hike on a wide path with paved and crushed gravel sections or take an accessible path with slight inclines that weave through forests. At the end of the canopy-walk bridge, visitors have three choices: turn right to hike a 3-mile trail, turn left to go back on the accessible trail or take a dirt-path shortcut to traverse the bridge again.

Reach for the Sky Canopy Walk is included in the price of admission to the gardens, where visitors can also enjoy a walk through the arboretum and around Hidden Lake. The indoor plant conservatory is a great place to warm up from cool autumn weather and explore foliage in the tropical, arid and temperate biomes. 6214 W. Monroe Rd., Tipton, Michigan 49287, 517/431-2060, ipf.msu.edu/hidden-lake-gardens