The Perfect Fall Colors Weekend Getaway: Traverse City
Even though I am a lifelong resident of the Midwest, I’m still stunned by the gorgeous fall color extravaganza that nature puts on. Each year, we plan several getaways to fully explore the fall colors in Michigan. The reflections of the oranges and reds on the calm, still lakes in Michigan are unsurpassed for the essence of fall beauty.
I’ll share several fall colors getaways this month; the first is one of my favorites, up in the Traverse City area. Traverse City is located in the northwest corner of the lower peninsula of mitten-shaped Michigan.
We love Traverse City for a variety of reasons, and head there in all seasons. There’s excellent food (Blue Tractor, House of Doggs, Red Ginger, Trattoria Stella, and more), plenty of cultural activities, friendly people, and stunning scenery – Sleeping Bear Dunes was named the most beautiful place in America, and rightly so. But the area is more than Sleeping Bear Dunes – there is beauty everywhere.
I asked Mike Norton, of the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau, to chime in:
Why is Traverse City one of the best places in Michigan to see fall colors?
Most people think of Traverse City primarily as a summer "beach town," but the best season here is fall. Autumn only sharpens the beauty of this area, adding color to the forests and spice to the air — perfect weather for a stroll on the beach, a shopping adventure, a round of championship golf, or a tour of the beautiful wine country on the nearby Old Mission and Leelanau peninsulas. The region’s landscape of rolling ridges, lush forests and wide expanses of open blue water is the perfect canvas for fall color tours, too.
Mike also directs visitors to several Fall Color Tours that people can drive themselves. These encompass the entire Traverse City area – from touring the Leelanau Peninsula to the Old Mission Peninsula; and visiting many different local lakes, where you can see and experience the incredible colors, often reflected in the very lakes you’ll be visiting.
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