Beer, Sports & Fun

Round up your best sport loving, beer loving friends for fun and adventure in the city that makes getting together time easy, convenient and affordable. Here are a few ideas for bonding over beers, sports and more!

1. Drink Up

• Find your craft beer heaven in Beer City USA.
• Visit 75+ craft breweries on the Beer City Ale Trail – and collect stamps at specially designated breweries to become a Beer City Brewsader.
• Savor locally produced artisan beverages at our distilleries and cideries.
• Get more bang for your booze buck at happy hours and bloody mary bars.
• Perk up your day with a locally roasted coffee in a neighborhood coffee shop.

2. Dig in to Hardy Food

• Start your day off right (with plenty of bacon) at top breakfast spots like Real Food Café, Sundance Grill and Wolfgang’s.
• Get a good ‘ol fashioned hot dog (or six) at Yesterdog.
• Try the Crack Fries at HopCat – they’re ranked in the Top 10 of all French Fries served in America.
• Treat yourself to a juicy slab of beef at three downtown steakhouses:

3. Attend a Sporting Event

• Cheer on our minor-league baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer teams.
• Get your motor running watching stock-car action at Berlin Raceway.
• Mark your calendar for the Meijer State Games of Michigan, an Olympic-style event held every February and June. This year the State Games of America will be held Aug 3-6
• See student athletes flex their skills at seven area colleges – including Grand Valley State University, home of the winningest team in college football history.

4. Get Outdoors

• Golf at two-dozen excellent courses as close as five minutes to downtown.
• Bike hundreds of miles of paved trails through all kinds of scenery.
• Treat yourself to some of the country’s best fishing, boating, hiking and hunting.
• Lace up for a never-ending series of running events – including the Fifth Third River Bank Run, America’s largest 25K road race, held every May.
• Take a Running Tour to burn calories while you learn about the city’s past and present.

5. Chase Thrills

• Tackle more than 60 miles of mountain bike trails in and around the city.
• Ski, snowboard and ride the zipline at Cannonsburg Ski Area.
• Climb aboard seven roller coasters at Michigan’s Adventure amusement park.
• Engage in pitched paintball battle at TC Paintball.

6. Enjoy the Nightlife

• Head to the downtown entertainment district for dozens of nightclubs, bars, brewpubs, a comedy club and more.
• Catch an indie act at The Intersection and Pyramid Scheme nightclubs.
• Check the Grand Rapids Music Trail for 100 additional live-music venues including the brand.
• See touring superstars in concert at:

7. Do Something Grand

Delve deeper into Grand Rapids culture with awesome tours and experiences highlighting beer, food, history, art, music and more.