Things to do in Traverse City & Northern Michigan

Towering perched sand dunes climb straight up from the Lake Michigan shoreline.

A 7.4-mile paved loop through Sleeping Bear Dunes with overlooks 450 feet above the lake.

One of the founding wineries of the Old Mission Peninsula wine trail, on a narrow strip between two bays.

A Leelanau Peninsula winery and farm estate with tastings, a creamery, and an inn.

A storybook harbor town of mushroom-shaped cottages and a working drawbridge.

A Lake Michigan beach where visitors comb the shoreline for Michigan's official state stone.

Wagon tours through cherry orchards with u-pick fruit and fresh cherry treats.

An 1852 lighthouse at the tip of Leelanau Peninsula, now a maritime museum with a climbable tower.

A former 19th-century asylum campus reborn as shops, restaurants, and gardens.

A renowned arts academy and summer festival campus hosting concerts under the pines.

A collection of antique automated music machines, from player organs to a theater pipe organ.

A downtown Traverse City beach and marina where West Grand Traverse Bay meets Front Street.

A cluster of weathered fishing shanties on the Leland River, still home to working charter boats.

The original location of a Michigan pie shop built on the region's tart cherry crop.

A shaded, family-friendly campground and beach on West Grand Traverse Bay.

A Northern Michigan alpine-themed town serving as a gateway to skiing, snowmobiling, and elk country.

Northern Michigan's Cherry Capital, wrapped around Grand Traverse Bay with wineries and sandy beaches.