Many visitors use the words “Traverse City” as a kind of shorthand for the entire region of peninsulas, islands, and forested highlands surrounding Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay.
But that tends to gloss over the many vibrant communities strung across the region in a glittering constellation, each with its own history, personality, and charm. And no trip to the Traverse City area can be complete until you’ve made a visit to one or two of them, to wander their streets, explore their shops and meet the people who call these places home.
Just north of Traverse City, for instance, lies the narrow Old Mission Peninsula, home to the hilltop community of Mapleton with its cluster of restaurants, the Mapleton Market and the peninsula’s only gas pump, and the historic village of Old Mission -- the first permanent settlement in the region -- with its picturesque church,
general store, and historic
Old Mission Inn.
To the northwest is the broader Leelanau Peninsula, home to a half-dozen lakeshore towns and inland villages. Just a half-hour away, on its own lovely inlet of West Grand Traverse Bay, is
Suttons Bay, an artsy community with a vibrant downtown that includes a classic small-town department store, a historic movie house called
The Bay Theater, and several fine restaurants.
Just a few miles beyond is Peshawbestown (headquarters of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and home to the
Turtle Creek Casino) and the small village of Omena. Finally, near the very tip of the peninsula, is the village of
Northport, an important yachting port with its own bustling downtown and some great restaurants. (A bit farther up the road are the scenic Leelanau State Park and the historic
Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum.
On the west shore of the peninsula facing the open waters of Lake Michigan, are three more port villages:
Leland, with its marina and celebrated
Fishtown shopping district; the resort community of Glen Arbor, home to the original
Cherry Republic store; and the laid-back beach town of Empire with its beautiful beach at the base of the
Sleeping Bear Dunes. But there’s more to the Leelanau peninsula than its shoreline.
Southwest of Traverse City you’ll find the lively village of Interlochen, the site of the world-famous
Interlochen Center for the Arts and Interlochen State Park (Michigan’s first state park!) Just beyond, are the traditional lakeshore resort communities of Beulah (on Crystal Lake) and Frankfort (on Lake Michigan), home to
Stormcloud Brewing Company.
A trip to the southeast, on the other hand, will take you through deep forests up the scenic Boardman Valley to the woodsy village of Mayfield and its big sister, Kingsley, a former lumber town that’s undergoing a community renaissance of sorts, with new streetscaping and economic activity. Farther east, and deeper in the woods, are the rustic villages of Fife Lake (located along the North Country Trail) and Kalkaska, at the upper reaches of the Boardman River, home of the National Trout Festival and a popular jumping-off spot for hunters, anglers, and
snowmobilers.
