Northern Michigan Attractions
Cold water, pine air, cherry stands — and one of the most distinctive stretches of coast in America. We ride along and tell you what really happened; a few things are ours.
Landmarks
Arch Rock
Look up. That's Arch Rock — a natural limestone arch, curving out of the cliff a hundred and forty-six feet above the water, with nothing but blue lake and blue sky framed inside it.
Devil's Elbow
Slow down. The road is about to double back on itself in one of the sharpest curves on the whole route, a real white-knuckle hairpin, and there's a name for this spot that the highway crews and the locals have used for well over a century.
Devil's Kitchen
You're on the west shore now, and there are two things to look at. Close up, right off the road, there's a small dark cave scooped into the rock — that's Devil's Kitchen.
Harbor Point and Wequetonsing
As you leave Harbor Springs along the bay, you're passing two of the oldest and most exclusive summer colonies in the Midwest — Wequetonsing and, out on the peninsula, Harbor Point.
Harbor Springs — Andrew Blackbird and Ephraim Shay
You're on Main Street in Harbor Springs — flower baskets, boat masts down at the marina, a genteel little resort town that's also, and this is the part that matters, the historic capital of the Odawa people in this region.
Main Street & the Harbor
You've closed the loop. You're back on Main Street, back at the harbor, eight miles all the way around the island and you're standing right where you started.
Michigan Beach
You've come down Grant Street to the beach, right on Lake Michigan, and you should feel the shift — the sand, the open water, the wind coming in off a lake so big it has a horizon like an ocean. Take a breath. This is the reward stop.
The Bridge Street Drawbridge
You're standing on Bridge Street, at the drawbridge over the channel — the narrow strip of water connecting the big lake, Lake Michigan, to the round harbor full of sailboats behind you.
The Good Hart General Store
Pull over at Good Hart, because you've reached the coziest spot on the whole road and it has one of the best name stories in Michigan.
The Grand Hotel
You climbed the bluff again, and there it is: the Grand Hotel. That impossibly long white front with the row of columns and the flags snapping along the top — that porch running the entire length of the building is six hundred and sixty…
The Half House
This one's going to make you tilt your head. Look at the Half House. It looks like someone took a completely normal Earl Young stone cottage, drew a line straight down the middle, and sliced the other half clean off.
The Hannah and Lay Mercantile Building
You're at the corner of Front and Union, looking at a big handsome brick building — arched windows, a heavy cornice up top. Locals used to call it the Big Store.
The Hippie Tree
You've walked out past the edge of the old hospital grounds, into the woods, and you're standing in front of a tree that does not look like the other trees. It's gnarled, low, sprawling — and every inch of it is covered in paint.
The Legs Inn, Cross Village
You've reached the end of the road. Cross Village. The tunnel of trees opens up, the big lake spreads out below the bluff, and standing right here at the finish line is the single strangest, most wonderful building on the entire route.
The Mushroom House
Okay. Look at this house. This is the Mushroom House, and it is the single most photographed home in Charlevoix, and the moment you see it you understand why.
The Open Space
You're standing at the Open Space, the big grassy stretch on the bay, and this is the ground zero of Traverse City's entire personality.
The Perry Hannah House
You're looking at the grandest house in Traverse City — round corner turrets, a wide veranda, the whole Queen Anne fairytale.
The South Pier Lighthouse
Last stop. You've walked out onto the south pier, and there it is at the end — the lighthouse, that steel tower painted against the water, marking the mouth of the channel where the harbor meets the open lake.
The State Theatre
You're in front of the State Theatre — the tall neon sign, the lit marquee hanging over Front Street. This corner has wanted to be a theater for well over a century.
The Thatch House
This is the Thatch House, and it's the story of the one time Earl Young got beaten by a roof. You've spent this whole tour looking at cedar-shake roofs — the wavy wooden ones.
The Union Street Dam and the Boardman River
You're standing over the Boardman River, right where it runs through the middle of downtown. Some folks up here also call it by its older Anishinaabek name, the Ottaway.
The Village at Grand Traverse Commons
Look up at the building in front of you. That enormous brick castle with the spires — nearly a quarter of a mile long, one continuous building — is the reason I told you to come here.
Historic Sites
British Landing
You've made it to British Landing — the far side of the island, right about the halfway mark of the loop, and a good place to catch your breath. There's a nature center here, and restrooms, and usually something cold to drink.
Fort Mackinac
You climbed the hill, and it was worth it. You're at Fort Mackinac — long white limestone walls, black cannon pointing out over the harbor, the whole town and the blue straits laid out underneath you. It is a genuinely commanding position.
Middle Village — St. Ignatius Church and the Cemetery
This stop is the quiet one. Pull off at Middle Village, and I want you to slow everything down, because you've arrived at the heart of this whole coast. The Odawa have a name for this shoreline — Waganakising.
Parks
Clinch Park and the Bay
You're at Clinch Park, right on the edge of West Grand Traverse Bay. That building behind you showing movies — the Bijou by the Bay — has one of the best origin stories in town, and it belongs to a man named Con Foster.
Hoffman Park and the Weathervane
You've reached the water at Hoffman Park, and now I want you to look across the channel at that building with the swooping roof — the one that curves up at the end like a bird's wing lifting.
Marquette Park & Main Street
You're on Main Street, at the foot of the hill, with the harbor on one side and a green park climbing toward that white fort up on the bluff. This is Mile Zero — the whole island loop starts and ends right about here.
Park Avenue Row
You're on Park Avenue now, and this whole stretch is Earl Young's neighborhood — in the most literal sense. He didn't just build one house here and leave.
Thorne Swift Nature Preserve
A few miles up, the canopy has really closed in over you now — that green tunnel the road is named for — and this is a good place to pull off, get out of the car, and put your feet on the ground. Thorne Swift Nature Preserve.
Hear the stories behind these places
Self-guided audio experiences that are actually entertaining. Press play and walk.