Traverse City, Michigan #2

Beach bumming, treasure hunting & castle building. This is the stuff memories are made of. Perhaps the most stunning features of the Traverse City area are its sandy shoreline and crystal clear lakes.

The Traverse City region has a total of 180.8 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 149' deep, aqua-colored lakes that are 10 acres or larger in size. In this section, you will learn where some of the area’s best beaches and parks are located and the amenities that they offer.

If you are searching for solitude, choose a remote beach - even during the height of the summer season, it is possible to be alone on a long Lake Michigan beach. Or choose one of the many beaches right in Traverse City for companionship, volleyball and a friendly family atmosphere.

Nowhere in the Midwest is there a more alluring winter playground than the Grand Traverse Bay region, where all the snowy pleasures present themselves in abundance and variety. There's something for winter enthusiasts of every stripe. No matter how you take your snowy pleasures, you'll find easy downhill slopes, daunting steeps, terrain parks for trick-riding snowboarders and miles of cross-country and snowshoe trails.

In addition to skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling, the Traverse City region also hosts several outdoor skating rinks, four year-round indoor hockey rinks and other winter diversions including sleigh rides. Follow the links below for details on the major outdoor sports.

Set against a backdrop of woods, water and hills throughout picturesque Leelanau, Grand Traverse, and Antrim counties, Traverse City golf is, in a word, incomparable. Matchless designs, stunning beauty, impeccable conditioning and a warm welcome await golfers teeing up in Traverse City. It's Michigan's Golf Coast, a region selected by Golf Magazine as one of the top six golf destinations in the country. Traverse City golf includes designs by Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Doak, and Weiskopf.

Located on the 45th parallel, Traverse City is home to vintners who grow grapes and bottle wines on the scenic Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas. The wines are fast becoming among the finest offered nationally and internationally. The ideal climate, with vineyards protected by winter snows and conditions moderated by proximity to Lake Michigan, has given rise to a wine industry that has been recognized for its quality and variety since the first winery opened here in 1974. Notable for Rieslings, methode champenoise sparkling wines, Chardonnays and fruit wines, Traverse City area vintners are now also receiving high praise from critics and consumers alike for their red wines, Pinot Noirs, ice wines and other varieties.

Visitors can enjoy days of touring and tastings at beautiful wineries located on some of the most breathtaking sites in the area. Our wineries are located on two beautiful peninsulas extending north from Traverse City - the Leelanau Peninsula and the Old Mission Peninsula.

Traverse City and the surrounding region are filled with dozens of galleries, each offering a range of works from local, regional and national artists. Choose from paintings, sculpture, glassware, photography, folk art and more! While Traverse City itself is home to many galleries, you will also find fascinating galleries in nearby towns such as Leland, Elk Rapids, Glen Arbor, Suttons Bay and Northport.