Leelanau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 22,301. Since 2008, the county seat has been located within Suttons Bay Township, one mile east of the unincorporated village of Lake Leelanau. Before 2008, Leelanau County's seat was Leland. Leelanau County is included in the Traverse City Micropolitan Statistical Area of Northern Michigan. The largest settlement in Leelanau County by population is Greilickville, itself a suburb of Traverse City.
Grand Traverse County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,238, making it the largest county in Northern Michigan. Its county seat is Traverse City. The county is part of the Traverse City micropolitan area, which also includes neighboring Benzie, Kalkaska, and Leelanau counties.
Garfield Township, officially the Charter Township of Garfield, is a charter township of Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township had a total population of 19,499. This makes it the most populous municipality in Northern Lower Michigan.
Kalkaska is a village in the U.S. state of Michigan. Kalkaska is the county seat and only incorporated community of Kalkaska County, and is considered part of Northern Michigan. The population was 2,132 at the 2020 census, an increase from 2,020 at the 2010 census.
Elmwood Township is a charter township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,892 at the 2020 census, making it the largest township in Leelanau County by population. The southeasternmost township of Leelanau County, Elmwood Township is suburbanized, as it is immediately adjacent Traverse City, the largest city in Northern Michigan.
Leelanau Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the northern tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, Leelanau Township is part of Northern Michigan, and is home to the village of Northport. Leelanau Township also includes the Fox Islands, as well as mainland shorelines on both Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay. The township population was 1,552 at the 2020 census.
Suttons Bay is a village in Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 613 at the 2020 census. Located within Suttons Bay Township, the community lies upon the shore of the eponymous Suttons Bay, a smaller inlet of Grand Traverse Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan.
Traverse City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was 15,678 at the 2020 census, with 153,448 in the four-county Traverse City micropolitan area.
The Leelanau Peninsula is a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan that extends about 30 miles (50 km) from the western side of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan into Lake Michigan. Leelanau County encompasses the entire peninsula. It is often referred to as the "little finger" of the mitten-shaped lower peninsula.
Grand Traverse Bay is a deep bay of Lake Michigan formed by the Leelanau Peninsula in the northwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The bay is 32 miles (51 km) long, 10 mi (16 km) wide, and up to 620 feet (190 m) deep in spots. It is further divided into two east and west arms by the Old Mission Peninsula. The entire bay is conterminous with the Grand Traverse Bay Bottomland Preserve. It should not be confused with Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Superior, located on the Keweenaw Peninsula.
The Boardman River, also known as the Ottaway River or the Boardman–Ottaway River, is a 28.2-mile-long (45.4 km) river in the northwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It rises in western Kalkaska County, and flows west and north through Grand Traverse County to end in downtown Traverse City at the Grand Traverse Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan. The river's watershed drains an area of 295 square miles (760 km2) through a combined 130 miles (210 km) of river and tributaries. Additionally, the Boardman River is considered one of the top ten trout streams in Michigan.
M-72 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan, running from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan across the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. The highway connects M-22 in Empire with US Highway 23 (US 23) in Harrisville. It is one of only three Michigan state trunklines that cross the Lower Peninsula, shore to shore. In between, M-72 runs across Northern Michigan woodland, agricultural areas of the Leelanau Peninsula near Traverse City, and the Au Sable River watershed. The trunkline also provides access to Camp Grayling, a National Guard training facility near the city of the same name. Traffic levels along the highway vary from approximately 800 vehicles a day on the east end to over 32,000 vehicles near Traverse City.
Omena is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Leelanau Township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 267. Overlooking Omena Bay, on the western side of Grand Traverse Bay, Omena is home to wineries and farms including a thriving organic farming movement that includes cherries and hops. The area has several wineries featuring some of the region's cherry and grape crop, for which the Grand Traverse and Leelanau areas are known. The nearest substantial city is Traverse City, 23 miles (37 km) to the south.
The Pere Marquette State Forest encompasses lands in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula, on the western side of the state. Counties within the Pere Marquette are: Leelanau, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Mason, Lake, Osceola, Oceana, Newaygo and Mecosta.
The Leelanau Trail is part of U.S Bicycle Route 35, but also an all paved non-motorized recreational rail trail of 17-mile (27 km) in length that extends from the west side of Traverse City, Michigan to Suttons Bay, Michigan.
US Highway 31 (US 31) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Alabama to the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. In Michigan, it is a state trunkline highway that runs from the Indiana–Michigan state line at Bertrand Township north to its terminus at Interstate 75 (I-75) south of Mackinaw City. Along its route, US 31 follows the Michigan section of the St. Joseph Valley Parkway as well as other freeways and divided highways northward to Ludington. North of there, the trunkline is a rural undivided highway through the Northern Michigan tourist destinations of Traverse City and Petoskey before terminating south of Mackinaw City. Along its route, US 31 has been dedicated in memory of a few different organizations, and sections of it carry the Lake Michigan Circle Tour (LMCT) moniker. Four bridges used by the highway have been recognized for their historic character as well.
Bingham Township is a civil township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 2,577. The township is named for Kinsley S. Bingham, a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and Governor of Michigan.
The Boardman Lake Trail is a 4-mile (6.4 km) recreational trail in Traverse City, Michigan. Established in 2005 and completed in 2022, the trail encircles Boardman Lake, and features a number of bridges over the lake and Boardman River. The trail connects to and is part of the TART Trail system.
This trail will be part of a future loop around Grand Traverse County connecting with the VASA trail, Boardman Lake Trail and North County Trail. Currently the segment between Mayfield, MI and North Country Trail is one of the 24 mile trail segments done. However segment 2 which is Mayfield, MI to Bietner Rd. will take some time while preliminary work is beginning to identify property and trail routes. Section III from S. Airport Road to Beitner Rd is next to construct in 2015 followed by Section II between Beitner Road to Mayfield.
Grandview Parkway is a 1.9-mile-long (3.1 km) parkway in Traverse City, Michigan, serving as a bypass of downtown Traverse City. The roadway runs from just north of the Leelanau County line to an intersection at Front Street just east of downtown. It consists of US Highway 31, M-22, M-37, and M-72. Also, the entirety of the highway is concurrent with the Lake Michigan Circle Tour. The highway is just north of the Boardman River and south of West Bay, meaning that many recreational sites are on either side of the parkway. It is known to be one of the main sites of the National Cherry Festival, which takes place every July.
