This Family Turned Their Backyard Into an Enchanted Fairy Forest

Grass Lake — Building fairy houses was easily one of my favorite activities growing up.

My mom taught me and my sister how when we were little, and from there, it basically became an obsession. We'd build fairy houses at school, in our backyard, on family vacations and pretty much anywhere else you can find some sticks, rocks and leaves.

So this week, when I visited what is essentially just a fairy garden in some family's backyard next to a car wash, all of that magical nostalgia came rushing back.

But this place is much more than any old fairy garden. It's called the Fairy Forest, and it's in Grass Lake, just 20 minutes outside of downtown Jackson.

The forest itself can be a little tricky to find. Once you arrive, you'll likely only see a Mobil gas station and the Grass Lake Car Wash, but don't worry, you're in the right place! Look for a small opening in the trees across the street from the car wash, and once you walk through, you'll be transported into a whole new magical world.

This place is basically heaven for anyone who loved fairy houses growing up. Fairy lights are strung all throughout the forest, and the little houses hang together from the trees in a way that makes it feel more like tiny fairy village. There are secret doors and hideouts perfect for kids, gnomes and other garden creatures that proudly watch over the forest, and plenty of whimsical benches where you can sit, relax and take it all in.

And this entire thing is just set up in one family's backyard.

Kelly and Tony Loe first got the idea for the Fairy Forest back in 2016, after moving to Grass Lake from Ann Arbor. Their grandkids all loved fairy houses, and one of their favorite things to do together was go searching for the famous fairy doors in downtown Ann Arbor. So after moving away, Kelly and Tony decided to bring some of that magic with them to their new home.

With the help of their granddaughter Kaylee, the Loes started building a magical forest of their own. Tony built many of the fairy houses himself and even named several of them after their children and grandchildren.

Since then, the forest has changed a lot. Year after year, they've added new pieces, changed displays and tweaked designs. What started as a little family project has turned into an entire enchanted forest, and today, walking through that opening in the trees is like stepping into Narnia.

I would also definitely recommend planning your visit around sunset because, as if this place couldn't get any more magical, at night the entire forest lights up with different shades of magenta. Hundreds of fairy lights glow and blink above your head, wrapping around tree trunks and stretching from branch to branch, illuminating all of the fairy houses and decor hidden throughout the forest.

This is normally something I'd say you have to squeeze in before these last few weeks of summer come to an end, but to my surprise, the Fairy Forest is actually open year-round!

Things change with each season, and the family decorates for every holiday, so there's almost always something new to see. When I visited, the forest was still decked out for the Fourth of July, but apparently Christmas is the time to come. That's by far their biggest transformation of the year, and the family usually spends all of Thanksgiving weekend turning the forest into a Christmas wonderland.

It's also completely free to visit and open every single day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.—except, according to the Loes, it never really closes.

So if you and your family love hunting for fairy houses, this place is pretty much like hitting the jackpot, and there's no bad day to come.

Your kids will love it, and I bet you will too.