Traverse City State Park

About Traverse City State Park

Traverse City State Park offers a variety of trails and paths, as well as scenic views of the Traverse River and the Great Lakes of Michigan. The park is located in northern Michigan, north of Grand Rapids and south of Detroit.

The campsites are open all year round and have heated toilets, fireplace, showers, picnic tables and other amenities. The park was founded in 1924 as Traverse City State Park, the first state park in Michigan.

The original inhabitants of this land were Ottawa, an offshoot of the Algonquin Indians, and the land was added to increase the park area to its present size.

Food concessions and boat rentals are available in the day-use area, and there are fishing charter facilities in Grand Traverse Bay. Fishermen can expect to catch their share of salmon, trout and panfish, as well as fish for fish. Motor boating and sailing are popular water sports in Travers Bay, but there is no fishing or charter option in Grand Travers Bay State Park.

The daily usage area consists of a strip of land bordered by a sugar sand beach, and for day visitors there is a swimming area, picnic tables and barbecues.

Beach fires are not allowed and the parking lot can accommodate up to 150 vehicles, with a maximum parking capacity of 1,000 vehicles per day.

The Traverse City State Park is home to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Recreation Area and the TART Trail, the state's only bike path. There is an asphalt cycle path that runs through the park, parallel to it from east to west. It offers a 2.5 km loop from the hiking trail to a parking lot on the north side of the lake.

The National Cherry Festival is a popular annual event in Traverse City, as is the self-guided fall color show in the park. Wineries and casinos are popular in and around Travers City State Park, as are a number of other attractions.

Miwifi offers wireless Internet access to all campsites in the area of the park, and access points are located at contact points. Access points radiate 150 feet in each direction from any location and connect to the Internet via a contact station.