geotsy.com logo

What to See in Traverse City - Top Sights and Attractions

Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Traverse City (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Turtle Creek Stadium, Bijou by the Bay, and State Theatre. Also, be sure to include City Opera House in your itinerary.

Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Traverse City (Michigan).

Turtle Creek Stadium

Sports facility in Grand Traverse County, Michigan
wikipedia / Writer20 / CC BY-SA 3.0

Sports facility in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Turtle Creek Stadium is a 4,660-seat multi-use entertainment facility in Blair Township, Michigan, in the United States that hosted its first regular season baseball game on May 24, 2006, as the tenants of the facility, the Traverse City Beach Bums, took on the Kalamazoo Kings. It was built as a new home of the Beach Bums baseball team, the first in Traverse City in 93 years. In 2018, the Wuerfel's retired and the park sold. In 2019, Wuerfel Park became home to Traverse City's new baseball team, the Traverse City Pit Spitters of the summer collegiate Northwoods League.[1]

Address: 333 Stadium Dr, 49685-9749 Traverse City

Open in:

Bijou by the Bay

Movie theater in Traverse City, Michigan
wikipedia / Kendallkotcher / CC BY-SA 4.0

Movie theater in Traverse City, Michigan. The Bijou by the Bay is a 150-seat nonprofit movie theater in a city park on Grand Traverse Bay in Michigan, next to the multi-use TART Trail. It is one of the venues for the Traverse City Film Festival.[2]

Address: 181 E Grandview Pkwy, 49684-2566 Traverse City

Open in:

State Theatre

Theater in Traverse City, Michigan
wikipedia / supercraigtalbert / CC BY 2.0

Theater in Traverse City, Michigan. The State Theatre in Traverse City, Michigan, United States was donated to the Traverse City Film Festival in May 2007 as a gift by Rotary Charities of Traverse City. The theater underwent restoration and was reopened on November 17, 2007. The Motion Picture Association of America listed the State Theatre as the #1 movie theater in the world.

The State Theatre is located on East Front Street in downtown Traverse City and was founded and built by Julius H. Steinberg in 1916 and named the Lyric Theater. It was rebuilt in 1923 after a fire. It showed the first talking movie seen in Northern Michigan in 1929 when it was known as the Lyric Theatre. It was destroyed by fire again in 1948 and was rebuilt in 1949 in an art deco style and renamed the State Theatre. In 1978, the theater was twinned. It closed down in 1996, when the cinemas at the Grand Traverse Mall opened, and mall cinema owners GKC wanted business at those new theaters. GKC (now AMC) placed a deed restriction on subsequent owners of the State to prevent them from showing certain major Hollywood films. The theatre was revitalized before being used during the Traverse City Film Festival which began in July 2005. On November 17, 2007, the community celebrated the grand opening of the theater as a year-round art house.[3]

Address: 223 E Front St, 49684-2525 Traverse City

Open in:

City Opera House

Opera house in Traverse City, Michigan
wikipedia / Andrew Jameson / CC BY-SA 3.0

Opera house in Traverse City, Michigan. The City Opera House is located at 106-112 Front Street in Traverse City, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.[4]

Address: 106 E Front St, 49684-2509 Traverse City

Open in:

American Legion Memorial Bridge

Bridge in Traverse City, Michigan
wikipedia / Andrew Jameson / CC BY-SA 3.0

Bridge in Traverse City, Michigan. The American Legion Memorial Bridge is a reinforced concrete arch bridge carrying South Cass Street over the Boardman River in Traverse City, Michigan. It was completed in 1930 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.[5]

Open in:

Dennos Museum Center

Museum in Traverse City, Michigan
wikipedia / Cedar777 / CC BY-SA 4.0

Museum in Traverse City, Michigan. The Dennos Museum Center is a fine art museum and cultural center located in Traverse City, Michigan on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College. Most notable for its permanent collection of Inuit art, the Dennos Museum opened in 1991 and features rotating exhibitions of Modern and Contemporary art.

The museum consists of three changing exhibit galleries, a sculpture court, an Interactive Discovery Gallery for children and adults, and semi-permanent galleries for Inuit art and the museum's permanent collections. The museum has a permanent collection of 3,100 works, of which nearly 2,000 are Inuit art prints and sculptures. The museum is home to three temporary exhibition galleries that cover 8,000 square feet (740 m2) combined with an additional 12,000 square feet of semi-permanent exhibition space for the museum's permanent collection.

As a cultural center, the Dennos Museum Center also provides exhibitions and programs in the sciences and performing arts. It includes the Milliken Auditorium, a 367-seat concert hall that hosts an annual concert series emphasizing world, jazz and blues music along with NMC and community events. The museum also oversees a collection of 14 outdoor sculptures by international and Michigan artists on the grounds of the college campus. In 2000, the museum was recognized by ArtServe Michigan with the Governor's Award for Arts and Culture.[6]

Address: 1701 E Front St, 49686 Traverse City

Open in:

Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf

Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf
facebook / PiratesCoveAdventureParkTraverseCity / CC BY-SA 3.0

Park, Golf, Relax in park, Outdoor activities

Address: 1710 N US Highway 31 N, 49686-3744 Traverse City

Open in:

Great Lakes Children's Museum

Great Lakes Children's Museum
facebook / GreatLakesChildrensMuseum / CC BY-SA 3.0

Museum, Specialty museum

Address: 13240 S West Bay Shore Dr, 49684-5570 Traverse City

Open in:

Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel

Casino in Grand Traverse County, Michigan
wikipedia / Coveyou / CC BY-SA 4.0

Casino in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. The Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel is located in Williamsburg, Michigan. The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians own the casino and resort.[7]

Address: Traverse City, 7741 M-72 East, Williamsburg, Michigan

Open in:

Perry Hannah House

Home in Traverse City, Michigan
wikipedia / Andrew Jameson / CC BY-SA 3.0

Home in Traverse City, Michigan. The Perry Hannah House, also known as the Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home, is a private house located at 305 6th Street in Traverse City, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.[8]

Open in:

Tall Ship Manitou

Tall Ship Manitou
facebook / facebook

Ship

Address: 13258 S West Bay Shore Dr, Traverse City

Open in:

More Ideas on Where To Go and What To See

Citations and References