HARBOR SPRINGS, MI - Owners of a beloved little coffee shop that sits along Northern Michigan’s iconic Tunnel of Trees said they are being forced to shut their doors “for the foreseeable future” after an historic series of road washouts this spring and summer have turned the corridor into a patchwork of detours.
Trillium Woods Coffee announced their closure “with heavy hearts” this past weekend. The owners said the rounds of severe storms a week ago sparked flooding that caused road washouts along M-119 to both the north and the south of their coffee shop, making it inaccessible to customers.
“On Monday, June 29th, our little corner of Northern Michigan experienced a massive thunderstorm. Nearly 7 inches of rain fell in a very short period of time, causing historic flash flooding throughout Good Hart and Middle Village,” they wrote on social media.
“This season was off to an amazing start and we’re so grateful for the time we did have to make you coffee and share this lovely space.”
Trillium Woods has created a GoFundMe, with the proceeds going to support their employees during the closure.
This map from MDOT shows the locations of washouts on M-119/Tunnel of Trees after intense rainfall June 29, 2026. Detours are in effect.
Michigan Department of Transportation officials said they’ve never dealt with so many washed-out areas along the M-119 corridor as they have this year. Earlier this spring, historic flooding across the top of northern Lower Peninsula triggered two washouts on the Tunnel of Trees.
Detours for those two stretches were quickly put into place. And the team at Trillium Woods Coffee helped themselves and neighboring businesses by making a map shared on social media that showed Tunnel of Trees travelers how to navigate the detours and still find the local businesses that depend on tourist traffic to stay open.
But last week’s storms that dumped 5 to 7 inches of rain across the area in a short amount of time caused another four washouts. Road closures are in place, but so far there’s no timeline for re-construction. MDOT engineers continue to assess the damage.
“The rain events we experienced in this area were extreme,” MDOT North Region Associate Region Engineer Bill Wahl said. “These were not conditions the roads were designed for when they were built decades ago.”
So, what’s ahead for repairs and reconstruction? M-119 is a bit of a wild card because of the how the curving road was built high above the Lake Michigan shoreline, MDOT said in its recent press release.
“M-119 repairs pose the biggest questions. In some areas, the level of damage is beyond anything typically seen in the northern Lower Peninsula.
“M-119 traverses a range of bluffs, with some of the higher locations now having massive washouts extending for hundreds of feet. Repairs to some severely damaged spots may be lengthy and expensive, requiring unique engineering and repair techniques.”
The downpours last week also caused landslides and extensive damage to some homes in the area.
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