The Leelanau Peninsula is a gorgeous area of Northern Michigan filled with small towns to explore and surrounded by the gorgeous Lake Michigan!
Leelanau Tips:
Visit between May-October unless you are a winter fanatic! Businesses also have limited hours outside of the summer season as a forewarning
We used Sutton’s Bay as a home base and enjoyed the ability to explore the whole peninsula from here. Sutton’s had the best “downtown” on the peninsula in my opinion as well, with several restaurant options and shops to wander
The beach at Sutton’s Bay is not overly impressive though, as a heads up
Be sure to get into Traverse City while you are in the area! Check out my guide to TC here! Heading a little further south? Check out my Frankfort recommendations here!
Adventures & Ales Top Recommendations:
Hop Lot Brewing: A cool ‘outdoorsy’ brewery in Sutton’s Bay. They have a plethora of games, a fire pit where you can make s’mores, and frequent live music.
Mitten Brewing: The ‘Up North’ outpost of the popular Grand Rapids brewery. Snag a flight on a cute Michigan shaped board! They’ve got a small snack menu (the pretzel is MASSIVE as a heads up!) as well as an onsite food truck. Located in downtown Northport.
Peterson Park: A great spot to hunt for Petoskey stones on the rocky beach or to catch a Lake Michigan sunset!
Tandem Ciders: An adorable cidery in a converted house. They offer a large variety of delicious ciders on draft and in bottles, as well as a small snack menu.
Sutton’s Bay Ciders: Soak up amazing views of Lake Michigan from this cidery. They’ve got a meat and cheese board if you’re hungry to accompany your ciders!
Peterson Park
The Classic Tourist Spots Actually Worth Visiting:
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park: A gorgeous park to explore! The entrance fee is $25 if you don’t have a National Park Pass, which gets you access to both entrances (below) for a week.
Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive: A 7.5 mile loop drive with scene viewpoints and trails
Dune Climb: A must! If you want to go beyond the initial dune you see be prepared that it can be hot and intense! If you want to get down to Lake Michigan over the dunes plan 3-4 hours. It took approximately 45 minutes round trip to get to the top of the fourth dune where you have nice views of Lake Michigan.
Glen Haven is a historic little village with a beach that is part of the National Shoreline as well
Fishtown in Leland: Another historic little village with touristy shops, and you guessed it, fish!
Village Cheese Shanty: A cute little rustic sandwich hut
Explore the Wine Trail! Northern Michigan is full of wineries! Be prepared that Ubers/Lyfts can be hard to get in this area so if you are planning to get “irresponsible” explore the various winery tour options
Mawby Vineyards: My favorite winery in the area! They have all sparkling wines which were delicious. Sex (yes that’s actually the name) is their best seller, but everything was fantastic!
Big Little Wines is next door on the property and has still wines if that is more your vibe than sparkling
45 North Winery: Solid wines, a pretty view of the vineyard
Shady Lane Cellars: A nice outdoor area with glasses, flights, or tastings. This spot is one of the only wineries I’ve seen where you can do a tasting outdoors versus having to stand at the bar inside
Hop Lot Brewing
Other ideas:
Leelanau State Park: I was not super impressed, but the water levels were very high when we visited so there was no “beach” to wander so that could change the experience. The lighthouse is very average as well. If you don’t have a state park pass I would definitely not spend money to enter
Knot Just A Bar: A bar/restaurant overlooking Lake Michigan in the tiny town of Omena
Leelanau Cellars is next door and has FREE wine tastings! They have limited hours though so be sure to plan ahead!
Lake Ann Brewing: Located in Lake Ann at the bottom of the peninsula, this brewery has lots of outdoor space, frequent live music, beers, ciders, meads, wines, snacks, cabin-y vibes, and lots of board games
