GRAND TRAVERSE BAY 

Grand Traverse Bay is divided by Old Mission Peninsula, a delightful 20+ mile long jut of land that divides this bay into a west arm and east arm. Downtown Traverse City sits on the southern end of the West Grand Traverse Bay. Separating the downtown from the bay are the beautiful public beaches and green space of West End Beach, Open Space Park, and Clinch Marina, Park and Beach. Take a walk along the path that winds along the shoreline, go for a swim, rent a kayak or paddleboard, play a game at the beach volleyball courts, enjoy the splash pad, or relax on the beach!

 

LEELANAU PENINSULA WINE TRAIL 

The Midwest’s #1 wine region, the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail includes over 20 award winning wineries. From the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes to the West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay, you will experience the amazing beauty that the Leelanau Peninsula has to offer. You will find quaint towns, crystal clear lakes and streams, abundant wildlife and rolling terrain that includes vineyards, farms and forests.

 

OLD MISSION PENINSULA WINE TRAIL 

With 19 miles of rolling hills and amazing bay views at every turn, Old Mission is the perfect to place for a daylong wine tasting tour with friends or an extended weekend retreat. The accessible nature of the Old Mission Peninsula Wine Trail gives visitors the chance to visit one or all ten incomparable wineries in a short period of time.

 

SLEEPING BEAR DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE

Take a drive out to beautiful Leelanau County and explore the beautiful Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Take the kids to the famous Dune Climb, enjoy a variety of hiking trails to scenic lookouts, take a drive along Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, enjoy the quaint towns of Empire and Glen Arbor, or splash in Lake Michigan and look for Petoskey stones along the gorgeous beaches along the lakeshore.

 

TART TRAILS 

The TART Trails network consists of several multi-use trails in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties and a cross-town bike route.
https://traversetrails.org/

 

MISSION POINT LIGHTHOUSE

Mission Point Lighthouse has been a Traverse City and Old Mission Peninsula icon for decades. Located at the north end of a picturesque drive along M-37 through cherry orchards and vineyards, Mission Point Lighthouse stands as a classic piece of Michigan history. While it no longer guides mariners through West Grand Traverse Bay as it did from September 10, 1870, until it was decommissioned in 1933, Mission Point Lighthouse now offers visitors a peek into what life was like around the turn of the century for lighthouse keepers and for others who lived and worked in the area at the time. The lighthouse museum is open daily for self-guided tours, May-October and weekends in November.

 

DENNOS MUSEUM CENTER

Located on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College, the Dennos Museum Center offers an ongoing array of changing exhibits in the arts and sciences. The museum holds and exhibits one of the largest and most historically complete collections of stone sculptures, prints, and drawings by the Inuit artists of the Canadian Arctic, in the United States. Its hands-on Discover Gallery features interactive engagement with the arts and sciences. The museum produces a concert series of blues, jazz world music, and other entertainment forms each year from September to May in the center’s 367-seat Milliken Auditorium and hosts performances by other community groups throughout the year.