Two wine peninsulas, and a dune that falls into Lake Michigan
Traverse City, Michigan · 3 nights · June–September · up to 8
Traverse City sits at the bottom of a bay with a wine peninsula on each side of it, both on the forty-fifth parallel, which the riesling people will tell you about. Old Mission is the narrow one and the drive up it is twenty minutes of orchards with water on both sides. Sleeping Bear is forty minutes west: a dune four hundred and fifty feet straight up out of Lake Michigan. Summer only — the scenic drive out to the overlook is shut to cars for half the year.
The ending
A sand bluff four hundred and fifty feet straight above Lake Michigan, the water going through three shades of blue in bands out to the Manitou Islands, and nothing between you and the edge.
That is Lake Michigan Overlook, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. See how private it is and when it’s open.
Do
- Old Mission / Leelanau wine tour
- Sleeping Bear Dunes day trip
- Grand Traverse Bay paddle + beach day
- Nauti-Cat sunset champagne sail
Eat
- Firefly
- The Towne Plaza
Stay
- Delamar Traverse City
- Old Mission Peninsula rental
When is the scenic drive open?
Late May to late October, roughly. Outside that the overlook is still reachable but on foot around a seven-mile loop road, which is a different afternoon entirely.
Old Mission or Leelanau?
Old Mission for a half day and better riesling. Leelanau for a full one, more wineries, and Sleeping Bear at the end of it.
The planner doesn’t build Traverse City, Michigan yet — we can name the places here but not yet enough of them around it to fill 3 nights without repeating. Read this one, then build your own somewhere we can.