Oxford is a township located in Oakland County.
It was previously occupied by the Nepessing Tribe of the Chippewa Indians who hunted in the area between present-day St. Clair and Lapeer.
Modern settlements did not arrive in the township until 1823 when Elbridge Deming first bought a parcel of land.
Deming later built a log cabin on his property in 1832, but it wasn’t until 1837 that Oxford was officially established as a township.
The area’s population grew in the 1830s after its reorganization, and the construction of three railroad lines brought further development to the once-small village.
Today, Oxford is a quiet neighborhood with charming streets lined with local eats and family-owned businesses.
Here are the best things to do in Oxford, Michigan:
Located on South Washington Street, Victoria’s Bistro & Cocktail Bar is a French bistro serving casual eats and handcrafted cocktails.
Opened by Victoria Connolly in 1997, the restaurant prides itself on offering dishes made of local and sustainably grown ingredients.
One of the crowd favorites is the savory crepes that are served with green beans.
Choose from Crêpes De Mer, Chicken & Asparagus, Steak & Wild Mushrooms, or Croque Monsieur Crêpes.
If you’re having a hard time choosing, you can order Crêpe Trio, which is one of each of the first three flavors.
Victoria’s Bistro & Cocktail Bar also serves specialty cocktails as well as a wide selection of wines and other spirits.
If you don’t want to miss out on your weekend golf sessions while on vacation, you can hit some balls at Boulder Pointe Golf Club.
Located on Champions Circle, the golf club has three 9-hole courses that you can combine for the full 18-hole experience.
Set in a beautifully maintained greenery, golfers of all skill levels will find the course challenging, with bluffs, peaks, and dunes.
Boulder Pointe Golf Club has gold tees measuring over 7,000 yards in length, which requires deep concentration, a good gauge of the course, and a powerful swing.
Less experienced or casual golfers can use the closest tees, which have a combined length of just over 5,000 yards.
Located on South Washington Street, The Oxford Tap Irish Pub is a bar and grill offering craft beers, wines, and other spirits.
Known for its wide selection of beers, the pub also offers bottled beers, wine by the glass or bottle, and a long list of Irish & Scotch Whiskeys.
The Oxford Tap Irish Pub’s Tap Room has a rotating menu of alcohol and spirits, but food staples include wings, burgers, and sandwiches.
Order either the jumbo wings or the boneless wings available in five flavors: buffalo, ghost pepper, BBQ, tap style, and honey BBQ.
You also can’t go wrong with the mac and cheese topped with a generous scoop of pulled pork.
Sandwich bestsellers include The Conley, which is made with lean corned beef and the Pulled Pork Po Boy filled with slow-smoked, hand-pulled pork.
24th Street Sports Tavern is a sports bar and grill located on South Washington Street.
The tavern has a full bar serving handcrafted cocktails and a restaurant offering char-grilled hamburgers.
Inside the restaurant, there are several TVs hanging on the wall and tuned in to different sporting events, so even if you’re away, you won’t miss your favorite team’s games.
While you’re at it, order the Spinach and Artichoke Dip served with tortilla chips to munch on during the game.
Thick-cut onion rings, jumbo buffalo wings, and the 24th Street Appetizer Combo are also great beer matches.
If you’re looking for something more substantial, 24th Street Sports Tavern’s half-pounder burgers are the way to go.
Located on North Lapeer Road inside The Giving Tree Collective at The Legacy Center is the Soothe Your Soul spa.
Hannah Cornell-Schroeder and Rachel Hahnefeld founded the healing center in 2019 as a wellness center where people can have holistic healing.
Soothe Your Soul offers energy work and healing bodywork services, including massage therapy, reflexology, and life coaching.
Avail of the Reiki energy work service, a palm healing technique that aims to balance the energies in your body, whether it be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual.
You can also have a 90-minute hot stone massage after a long day exploring the town.
Therapists use heated Himalayan salt stones to release the tension and tightness from your muscles.
Located on South Washington Street STE 2 is the metaphysical supplies store The Blue Crystal.
The shop sells meditation tools and crystals and offers healing services to those who want to relax and relieve stress from everyday life.
There’s a wide selection of crystals in-store, from Crystal Quartz, Amethyst, Opal, and other semi-precious stones used in practicing alternative medicine.
You can also have your crystal cleansed using singing bowls, a tuning fork, or a bell.
Blue Crystal has helpful staff that will gladly answer your questions about the different benefits of each stone.
You may also get some lessons and useful tips on how to maintain and charge the crystal you purchased.
Italia Gardens Restaurant & Catering is an Italian restaurant located on South Lapeer Road.
Originally established in 1931 by Albert and Josephine Barone in the city of Flint, a second location was opened in 1994 in Davison by Don Haley.
Restaurateurs Ed and Monica Klimek established he South Lapeer location in 2008.
The family-owned-and-operated restaurant is known for its pizzas and other Italian favorites, which include Mussels Bianco / Marinara, Chicken Parmigiano, and Chicken Alfredo.
A crowd favorite is the Lasagna Classico, which is generously layered with meat and ricotta.
Italia Gardens Restaurant & Catering also has award-winning St. Louis-style Ribs served with your choice of side.
To cap off the night, have a piece of cannoli or a slice of tiramisu.
Sullivan’s Public House is an Irish pub located on North Washington Street.
Jamie and Jerry Cremin, who both have extensive experience in the restaurant business, opened the family-owned-and-operated Irish bar and restaurant.
Sullivan’s Public House has been voted as the top Irish restaurant in Michigan by different publications, thanks to its authentic Irish roots and hospitality.
Order the Shepherd’s Pie, which is right from Jamie’s’ mother’s recipe book.
It’s made of ground Angus beef, carrots, turnips, peas, whipped mashed, and herbs and baked to perfection.
For a truly Irish experience, try the Full Irish Breakfast, with rasher, black and white pudding, sausage, fried egg, baked beans, grilled tomato, and soda bread.
Sky Adventures is a balloon ride tour agency located on Locust Valley Lane.
The company operates nine colorful hot air balloons that fly over the scenic northern Oakland and Southern Lapeer counties.
Each hot air balloon ride lasts around 45 to 60 minutes and is conducted by a team of highly experienced and commercially rated pilots.
The tour’s starting point is on North Washington Street behind Red Knapp’s restaurant.
Ballooning is only conducted shortly after sunrise and a couple of hours before sunset.
Do note that only four balloons can fly at a time, so allot around three-and-a-half hours for this adventure.
If you’re adventurous enough, you can even apply for Sky Adventures’ pilot training during the spring and summer months.
Upland Hills Farm is an educational farm located on Lake George Road.
Knight and Dorothy Webster opened the 400-acre property in 1960 with the help of 20 families from the Oakland County area.
It was transformed into a summer camp and a horseback riding stable for visiting families and students.
At one point, it even rented out horses and stables to Oakland University students studying horseback riding.
Today, Upland Hills Farm offers educational tours and workshops to school-age kids during summertime.
You can enroll your kids in a Horse Camp, which will teach them the basics of horsemanship, including leading, grooming, tacking, and horse diet.
There’s also the Farm Explorers workshop where children can learn animal chores including feeding and farm-related crafts.
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Located on South Lapeer Road in Orion Township is the Bald Mountain State Recreation Area.
Just nine minutes away from Oxford, the 4,637-acre state park boasts a rugged terrain that adventure seekers will love.
The park has two recreational units with buildings designed by renowned architect Gunnar Birkerts.
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The Lower Trout Lake Bathhouse Complex has men’s and women’s bathhouses with Birkerts’s unique design elements—circular and made of cast-in-place reinforced concrete.
Bald Mountain State Recreation Area also has trail systems for thrill-seekers, including a 15-mile marked hiking and biking trail and an eight-mile groomed cross-country skiing trail.
There are paddleboards available for rent on-site if you want to explore the waters of Trout Creek.
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Eighteen minutes away from Oxford is the SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium on Baldwin Road, Auburn Hills.
It’s the largest aquarium in the state with over 250 species and more than 2,000 marine animals.
The exhibit includes animals found in freshwater lakes and coral reefs, as well as a staged shipwreck.
There’s also a 180-degree tunnel with sharks, sea turtles, and seahorses gliding freely over you.
The jellyfish aquarium lets you observe up close how these creatures behave in the wild.
SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium supports several conservation efforts around the state, including a Seahorse breeding program to increase the population of potbelly seahorses in the wild.
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LEGOLAND Discovery Center Michigan is a LEGO-themed playground located on Baldwin Road, Auburn Hills.
This family-friendly attraction has rides, build and play zones, and a 4D cinema that kids and kids at heart will surely love.
Hop on the Kingdom Quest Laser Ride, which will take you on a mission to save the captured princess by shooting trolls and skeletons with laser guns.
Visit iconic Detroit landmarks at LEGOLAND Discovery Center Michigan’s Miniland, where miniature LEGO® replicas were built using over a million LEGO bricks.
Around the playground are life-sized LEGO characters that your kids can meet up close and snap photos with.
Located on South Ortonville Road in the City of the Village of Clarkston lies 15th Street Tavern.
Just a 15-minute drive from Oxford, the bar and grill offers classic pub dishes and handcrafted cocktails.
It has beautiful patio seating that’s perfect for casual dinners or a round of Happy Hour drinks.
There’s also live music on select nights to entertain you while you sip your margarita.
A crowd favorite in the bar is the Chicken Fajita Wrap filled with grilled chicken, sautéed onions, green peppers, rice, and cheddar cheese and served with corn chips and house-made salsa.
You should also try the hand-tossed and freshly baked flatbreads generously topped with your choice of toppings.
For drinks, you can never go wrong with the classic margarita and mimosa.
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Just five minutes away from Oxford is the public boat launch of Lake Orion located on Indianwood Road.
The 470-acre lake is the eighth largest in the county based on land area.
It was formed by smaller lakes that merged over time through the construction of the Paint Creek dam and the dredging of surrounding canals.
On the northern side of the lake is a public boat launch where you can launch your motorboat to explore the lake’s waters.
There are several islands in Lake Orion that are only accessible to smaller, non-motorized boats.
Oxford has come a long way from its beginnings as hunting grounds.
Though it has retained its rich natural resources, the township has evolved into a self-sufficient modern neighborhood with family-owned businesses and well-loved restaurants.
It may not be a top destination for travelers, but you might just fall in love with it by trying these best things to do in Oxford, Michigan.
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