Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad

Aren’t we spoiled for choice when it comes to restored and preserved historical buildings? We can clamber up into Edison’s labs or sit under an 18^th century windmill at Greenfield Village. Raining? Oh, let’s just traipse through 300 years in the Streets of Detroit at the historical museum.
Then there’s Crossroads Village, which gives a glimpse to city and rural life outside the Tri-​County area. An hour north in an attractive parklike setting around Flint, Crossroads Village all but steps out of time in a forested setting around a lake. My first visit, I could hardly believe how close to the city we were. Park rangers and police direct traffic into the ample parking lots that fill up shockingly quick during any special event throughout the year. Visit on «Thomas the Tank Engine» Day or the spooky Hallowe’en train rides days to see how many people know about this lovely gem.
Tickets in advance are essential for your peace of mind and guaranteed admission. The 1990s-​era website processes tickets reasonably well and overcrowding is rarely a problem, but selling out on a beautiful autumn day frequently is. Leave plenty of time for parking and walking; as noted above, you might be in a long hike to the ticket booths and a line even for prepurchased tickets.
Is it worth the trouble? Definitely. The Huckleberry Railroad is a scenic trip in an 1890s steam engine around the periphery of the park, offering great views in tiny seats comfortable only to our children. I hate to think how tiny my 19^th-​century counterpart had to be to wedge herself in there, let alone worry about her bustle. Nothing makes you want to diet faster than being squashed into a tiny seat with a wiggly toddler. The views and narration are fantastic, and the speed slow enough for little ones to really get excited about the next rattling bend on the rails. Strollers aren’t permitted on the train. Conductors and staff help load everyone on and off quite efficiently, and a broad sweep of stroller parking helps everyone find their ride at the end.
The village itself hosts several different buildings from 1800 to the 20^th century, ranging from a functioning printing press that might distribute cards at given times of the year to a lovely theatre and a working blacksmith. Definitely wander out to the cider mill in apple season to purchase beverages made while you watch, and destroy any tween’s perception that everything in the village can be found at the grocery store. The flour mill does a fine job reminding them how lucky we are for mechanized factories, too, and you can pick up flour ground on site for a neat souvenir.
Farm animals are usually found in the paddock and placid cows accept friendly nose rubs and pats from overly enthusiastic little hands — when supervised — most of the year. A trip up the steep slope (keep the buggy at the bottom) into the barn reveals some really impressive old-​fashioned cars, sleighs, and a «fire truck» that makes me grateful for any sort of modern trappings and conveniences. Imagine hauling that thing out at 3 AM in a Michigan winter. No thank you!
A somewhat overpriced café hawks cocoa (usually hot) and coffee; sandwiches; and the occasional burger or ice cream if you didn’t think to bring your own meals. Try to avoid purchasing anything here or in the white pavilion unless you are prepared for the high cost, given it’s a captive market. Food quality is meh at the best of times.
The back end of the village features a paddlewheeler that wanders around the lake, a ferris wheel suitable for bigger kids, and a vintage merry-​go-​round. The merry-​go-​round is gorgeous and sumptuously decorated, and operates at absolutely breakneck speeds that left my little one clinging to Daddy and a horse in terror, my husband clutching a horse for dear life, and my adult cousin practically thrown off her steed because her feet didn’t reach to the stirrups. (She’s 5’6″.) Years of equestrian practice did not prepare me for those jaunty horses zooming around at 20 mph or whatever craziness ensued. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Would my kiddo? Not on your life. (Not until he’s 5’7″ at least, probably.)

Christmas time at Huckleberry Railroad and Crossroads Village is something that everyone should try at least once in their lifetime. The beauty of the light displays, the atmosphere of people in the holiday spirit, and the joy walking in the Michigan outdoors in winter (better in years when there is snow). Tips: buy tickets ahead of time at their website so you can make sure a train ride time is available. Be sure to visit Santa, the Carousel, the Church, and the Schoolhouse to name just a few neat things to see. The coaches on the train when full tend to have fogged Windows during cold weather and busy nights so be aware of this.
Check online or by calling ahead to see what attractions will be available for your visit. That’s the best recommendation I can give.

The train ride was nice but the rest left more to be desired. We drove 70 miles to find out the boat ride was closed. It was not posted on website and has been down all summer

We went to the Halloween special they had. Everyone was all dressed up and their were 20 spots where you could get candy and treats. Their gift shop was nice. The train ride was okay. There was a lot of decorations to see.

Fun place for a day trip. My bf is a big train fan and this weekend was the «railfans» weekend, so we went up there today to ride the train and so he could take pictures.
It reminded me of a smaller version of Greenfield Village. We didn’t get to ride the boat but that looked fun. Admission was very reasonable, $ 13 each with train ticket (I think $ 10 each without train ticket). Train was slow but I enjoyed riding it.
I’d come back here again if ever in the area, there’s not a lot of signage for it but you can use your GPS or whatnot and it should be easy to find.

What a lovely way to start the holiday season! We took a ride on Huckleberry Railroad to see the Christmas lights and then toured the village. My niece and a few other little ones on board the train were completely enchanted to see Santa waving to them from his workshop.
Seriously? They make a dude in a Santa suit stand out in the cold in Michigan winters just to wave at a train that goes by every 10 minutes or so.
Yes. Yes, they do.
And it’s pretty great.
If you aren’t a local, you’ll want to take a GPS with you to find the Village, but it is well worth the trip.
You guys.
YOU GUYS…
I had my picture taken with a reindeer.

We are from California and were in Michigan visiting family for the holidays. We wanted to do something fun with our 3 year old daughter and Grandma for Christmas. I found the Crossroads Village Christmas train online and thought it sounded fun. We had a blast! We took the 5:00 train and my daughter thought it was the best thing ever. It had just snowed and the lights and snow where magical! Such an amazing deal too! We loved seeing Santa in his house and the real life reindeer. Pic for free! We also enjoyed the little Christmas play they put on every hour at the Opera house. All the employees were dressing in period clothing and very friendly. We also bought the Christmas buffet dinner and it was ok. Some things were better than others. Very good deal though. They sold fresh kettle corn on the sidewalk and roasted almonds in one of the buildings. My only problem was how cold it was! Bring your snow clothes! Walking around at night between the beautiful buildings admiring the lights in the snow is hard when you are freezing. :) Wish we lived closer so I could go every year. I can’t recommend this experience enough for the little ones. My daughter was on cloud nine!

This is a hidden gem in Flint. Great place to take the kids and learn some fun history. During Christmas the place in incredibly decorated.

This place is so fun! I recently went with my nephews and niece who are all under the age of 5 and they loved it! My one nephew is obsessed with trains, so the fact he could go on cute scenic train ride was just awesome to him. The train ride itself is good. The workers there are all dressed in character and are so nice. The ride was approximately 35 minutes long which was perfect for the little ones. They played music and had tons of pretty Christmas decorations and lights along the route.
The village itself was also very cute. Lots of old style shops and train stores, general stores, and a carousel. They had kettle corn a brewing, and a pretty house with Santa taking pictures, a real live reindeer, and carolers! The kids, and even the adults loved it. What a great experience for the youngins, and just something different and fun to do on a weekend night.

We had a great time here recently for the Halloween at Crossroads. It was just stunning to see the amount of Halloween specific hand made decorations all over the village and the train route. Just amazing. The people went out of their way to be friendly and we just had a really good day there, even with our two dogs that were allowed in the village (but not on the train or boat or inside buildings).
During the paddle boat cruise on the Genesee Belle we were invited inside the heated cabin with the captain. He showed us the controls of the boat and allowed the young member of our group to sit up on the chair and «steer» the boat. Very friendly and accommodating. You can tell the people here love their jobs and believe in the park.
The carousel ride was great, $ 1.25 to ride the authentic 1912 attraction, playing «Ghost Busters» on the old time band organ.
The magic show was pretty good (for kids) in the old theater. I was more impressed with the theater itself. And even more impressed with the made on-​site kettle corn (purchased on the main street).
We were very happy with the value received on the entry price. $ 16 for entry to the village, a ride on the beautiful Huckleberry Railroad and a boat tour on the Genesee Belle, and a bag full of candy from the 20 or so trick or treating stops in the village. This is a great place to bring kids for Halloween, most we saw were dressed in costume (and this was on ¹⁰⁄₃₀)
All in all I highly recommend Crossroads as a great way to spend a day/​night before Halloween. This is going to become our annual family tradition.
Bring Cash!

We traveled an hour from Detroit to visit the railroad only to discover they were filming a movie and were closed to the public! I had spent weeks prior planning our trip to Detroit from Orlando. I visited Huckleberry Railroad’s website numerous times and NO WHERE did it mention they would be closed. When we asked the gate attendant she said it was on the Genessee County website. Well, great, why wouldn’t they have it on THEIR website!!! It especially sucked because we drove all that way with our two year old and a car full of relatives. My son LOVES trains and we had even dressed him in his Halloween costume (he is going to be a train conductor). We were so sad and disappointed in Huckleberry Railroad and Genesse County. Two BIG thumbs down.

When I was younger, I used to dread coming here. It was a touristy thing my family would do together whenever we wanted to show a visiting relative things to do around the Flint area. I may get a talking-​to for saying this, but as a kid, I found this place to be incredibly dull.
Take this quote from their website and it should sum it up for you: «In this peaceful setting, they have been preserved, furnished and put back into use, so you can experience first-​hand what life was like in a small village in Michigan in the late 1800.»
This is where we would go on school field trips, as well. It was probably very informative, and I probably was taught a lot about Michigan history, but nothing sank in, I was bored out of my mind, and I’m sure I would have much rather been shown around some real gritty places. I feel like it would have made a more lasting impression on me if I talked to actual people who worked in the factories or were in picket lines, or experienced the riots in Detroit. That kind of stuff.
This is a great place to visit if you are an anachronist or history buff, because they have people dressed up in full costume pretending they are from the 1800s and early 1900s. You can go up to them and ask them questions while they are in character. You can probably actually have a lot of fun with that if you ask the right questions, come to think of it.
Huckleberery Junction isn’t that great either, because it is the slowest train EVER. According to the site, it is called «huckleberry» because it goes so slow that you can jump off the train, pick some berries, and jump back on again. Whoopee.
The only thing I would be remotely interested in now would be riding on their boat because I love the water.