Michigan Travel · Leelanau
A Sunday on the Leelanau shore
Leelanau is the peninsula west of Traverse City, with Grand Traverse Bay on the east side and Lake Michigan on the west. M-22 is the shore road that ties the two together. In early October the point of the drive is the water and the villages, not a full loop before dark.
Empire and Glen Arbor sit under Sleeping Bear. Leland is the harbor on the point. Suttons Bay and Northport are the bay towns farther up. Lake Leelanau is the inland water, not the big lake. Pick one shore for the day. The dunes are a stop, not a second itinerary.
Sunday, October 4, is a fair day to be on one of those shores and a poor day to try to collect them. The light goes earlier than it did in August. A loop that looks reasonable on the map becomes a dusk drive on M-22, which is a slow road on purpose. Stop while you can still walk to the water you chose.
If the wind is up on the Lake Michigan side, the bay side is the quieter walk. Sleeping Bear Dunes are the public piece above the west shore. They are a climb and a view, and they will use the hour you meant to spend in a second village. Do them only if they are the stop, not the extra.
Nothing here names an open kitchen or a farm stand. Those change with the month and the owner. The public pieces are the road, the shore, and the lakeshore park. One shore, one village, and the drive back before dark.