Little Traverse Bay, located in Northern Michigan, is home to three beautiful towns worth exploring any time of year, for their attractions, recreational opportunities, food and lodging, and scenery.
During my early years, I spent many family summer vacations in northern Michigan. We would visit relatives, ride bikes around Mackinac Island, sit in rocking chairs on the world’s longest porch at the Grand Hotel, drive over the five mile long Mackinac Bridge, eat fudge and Cornish pasties (a type of meat pie), and visit the numerous quaint towns located along Lake Michigan. On several occasions, we even stayed at a Dude Ranch (no longer operating) on the Upper Peninsula where we rode horses along Lake Michigan beaches and within Hiawatha National Forest. Years later, as an adult, our family rented a lake house for a family vacation, and revisited many of these places of my youth.
My mother’s side of the family has a history with this part of the country. She grew up vacationing in Michigan’s pristine Upper Peninsula, away from the urban areas of Ohio. Years later, both her grandfather and father would retire in the small hamlet of Alanson located on the Crooked River in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. During our vacations, we would pack the station wagon and drive over 500 miles north up Interstate 75. Once past the urbanized areas of Detroit, Flint, Saginaw and Bay City, the landscape changes. You become surrounded by beautiful white colored birch trees, forests and lakes, and the air becomes fresh and crisp.
We often visited three beautifully manicured towns, Charlevoix, Petoskey, and Harbor Springs, all located along the shore of Little Traverse Bay on Lake Michigan. If comparing the Lower Peninsula of Michigan to a hand or mitten, Little Traverse Bay can be found near the tip of your left ring finger. Each of these unique towns have great downtowns, waterfront activities, events, beautiful architecture, interesting attractions and great places to eat and stay.
Charlevoix
The beautifully named town of Charlevoix (pronounced Shar-la-voy) is located on the far southwestern edge of Little Traverse Bay. The town is situated in a scenic location, on an isthmus separating Lake Michigan from Lake Charlevoix. It is named after a French explorer who traveled the Great Lakes, and was an early Strangite Mormon settlement. The town became a resort area in the late 19th century after rail was extended from Traverse City. It was especially attractive to visitors from Chicago, and during Prohibition, Charlevoix became a popular place for Chicago gang members.
The quaint downtown area lines Bridge Street, and offers multiple restaurants, gift shops, clothing stores, and cafes. It faces East Park and marina located on Round Lake which leads to Lake Charlevoix. Every July, Charlevoix holds the free Venetian Festival in East Park. The festival includes eight days of music, entertainment, games, food, parades and fireworks, as well as a lighted boat parade.
The Charlevoix Historical Society operates a museum at Harsha House located on the north end of downtown. It also operates the historic train depot located north of Round Lake, adjacent Lake Charlevoix.
Charlevoix is unique with its many Mushroom houses. These homes were designed and built by Charlevoix native Earl Young. Each house is constructed of stones and boulders and the unique roofline gives the impression of the house looking like a mushroom. Each home was built to fit within the specific site and landscape. A tour of the homes can be done by Mushroom House Tours.
A kitschy attraction in Charlevoix is the World’s largest Cherry Pie Tin. Located on Highway 31 south of town, the pie tin was constructed in 1976 as part of the town’s annual cherry festival. A giant pan and oven was built, and local farmers supplied the ingredients. The result was a world record cherry pie weighing 17,240 pounds.
Petoskey
Petoskey, with a population of about 6,000 people, is located in a beautiful setting on the southeast shore of Little Traverse Bay. The town’s name is derived from the indigenous Odawa people meaning “where the light shines through the clouds” or “rays of the sun.”
Petoskey has numerous attractive parks and recreational areas. Bay Front Park hugs the shore of the bay, north of the downtown. Within the park is the Petoskey Clock Tower, the city marina and pier, and the Little Traverse Historical Museum. Pennsylvania Park is located nearby, and includes a gazebo and statue of Ernest Hemmingway. Hemmingway spent many of his boyhood summers in the Petoskey area, primarily at nearby Walloon Lake, where he learned to hunt and fish.
The Bear Valley Recreation Area, located south of downtown, follows Bear Creek, and offers whitewater kayaking, trails, viewpoints, and areas for cross-country skiing. During winter, check out the Petoskey Winter Sports Park that has skating, ski, sledding and ice hockey facilities. Less than twenty miles south of Petoskey is the Boyne Mountain Resort which offers year round activities, including a zipline, horseback riding, lake activities, paintball, tennis, and trails. Winter activities include 60 downhill ski runs, seven terrain parks, sled and tubing areas, snowshoe and cross country ski trails, and an ice skating rink.
Between Bay Front Park and Pennsylvania Park sits the attractive downtown area, centered along two parallel Streets, East Mitchell Street and East Lake Street. Downtown Petoskey is filled with good restaurants, clothing stores, gift shops, art galleries, boutiques, coffee shops, breweries and bars. At NorthGoods you can purchase numerous local gifts and art, including polished Petoskey stones. Petoskey stones are coral that has been fossilized into rock form. The stone’s appearance is of coral tentacles radiating outward, resembling the rays of the sun, hence the name. These stones can be found along the shore of Lake Michigan.
Just to the north of Petoskey off of Highway 31 is the beautiful Bay View community. This historic community was founded by Methodists in 1875 as a camp meeting and summer resort. It included hundreds of Victorian style cottages, community buildings and religious facilities, and two hotels within a wooded hillside area overlooking Lake Michigan. Today, the Bay View Association manages the cottage rentals, recreational facilities, worship activities, performing arts events, and educational activities. There are two hotels, including the Terrace Inn, and the Bay View Inn.
A few miles west of Petoskey is the mammoth Bay Harbor resort area that includes rental cottages and homes, a luxury hotel, marina and yacht club, golf course, shopping and entertainment area, and the Great Lakes Center for the Arts, where concerts and other entertainment events are held. The beautiful Inn at Bay Harbor, is a luxury hotel and spa directly on the shore of Little Traverse Bay, built in the style of a 19th century grand hotel. It includes numerous restaurants, a beach, pool area and spa. The resort is the perfect place to sit in an Adirondack chair, drink in hand, watching the sun set over Lake Michigan.
Wineries are well represented in the Petoskey area. The Petoskey wine region has 14 wineries covering over 2,700 square miles, and extending from Charlevoix to Harbor Springs.
Harbor Springs
Harbor Springs sits on the north shore of Little Traverse Bay, accessed via Highway 119. Prior to European settlement, the area had a large Native American population. The small village started as a mission for the local Odawa Indians by French Catholic Jesuits. Later, the area was settled by French traders. In the 19th century, the community became a summer resort destination. Many of the early resort patrons arrived by steamship. The town sits on a harbor formed by Harbor Point, where the Little Traverse lighthouse sits.
The quaint downtown area of Harbor Springs is located along East Bay Street opposite the harbor, and along East Main Street. Downtown Harbor Springs has a number of restaurants, cafes, galleries, and shops to cater to visitors. The Harbor Springs History Museum is housed within an old court house, and includes permanent historic exhibits as well as changing exhibits. The Historical Society also operates the nearby Shay House, a hexagon shaped home cladded in steel stamped panels built in 1892.
A spectacular site to see during any season, but especially the fall, is the Tunnel of Trees, located north of Harbor Springs along Highway 119. The roadway traverses for miles along Lake Michigan, beneath a canopy of northern hardwoods, creating the feeling of traveling through a tunnel. Continuing twenty miles north to Cross Village, you’ll find the Legs Inn restaurant (only open June thru October). This historic stone and timber built restaurant on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan specializes in Polish food, with tasty traditional dishes such as kielbasa, pierogies, and Hunter’s Stew. Lakeside cottages are also available to rent.
Winter is a great time to visit Northern Michigan. Five miles north of Harbor Springs are two ski resorts including Nubs Nob with 53 ski runs and two lodges. The Highlands at Harbor Springs resort includes 53 ski runs, a large lodge, townhouses and cottages, and golf course.
