traverse city

My wife and I have lived in the Traverse City Area for the last 25 years. We are avid RVrs' and have camped (and lived) all over the east and south.

I would have to say that our area is one of the most beautiful in the country. Though it gets busy in the summer; it's well worth the drive as there is so much to see and do and the people are really friendly. There is an awesome campground called Turtle Lake Campground in Beulah Michigan 14 miles west of Traverse. (You can find on Google) Has all of the amenities and will take any size rig- located on a beautiful lake tucked back in the countryside. Make your reservations now for summer 2015. It is convenient to Frankfort, Empire, and Sleeping Bear Dunes. Come see us!!

We live in Frankfort, about 30 miles from Traverse City. We stay as far away from Traverse in the summer during Cherry Festival because of the huge crowds.

Traverse City has a TON of stuff to offer as far as tourism, nice beaches, shops, and restaurants. (for that matter, so does Empire, Glen Arbor, Sleeping Bear Dunes National lakeshore, Frankfort, etc)

Some places to camp:
Interlochen State Park
Cherry Bend RV resort in Lake Leelanau (quiet, fair amount of rules)
Airstreamers campgroumd near Chum's Corners on the outskirts of town is OK.
I have not camped at the TC State Park
There is a KOA, we've not camped at either.
Platte River books VERY quickly, is super popular.
Sleeping Bear Dunes does have camping, too....

Hope that helps, you're welcome to PM me if you need anything else.

We like
Lake Leelanau RV Park
A bit north of Travis but right on the lake and a wonderful park

We stayed at Holiday Park last July during the Cherry Festival. Decent park and I would visit again. It was about 45min to Sleeping Bear Dunes which was absolutely amazing. We did some Cherry picking at Rennie Orchards which was awesome..... Bring a jacket. It was in the low 60s the second week of July and I had to buy a Sweatshirt!!

Here's the web site for Platte River campground at Sleeping Bear Dunes Nat'l Lakeshore regarding re-paving:

Platte River Campground

We stayed at Timber Ridge Resort. We also are bikers and take advantage of the trails in the area. For those interested the trail from TC to Suttons Bay is paved all the way.
One `must' restaurant is the Apache Trout Grill. Get there early or be prepared to wait and maybe have to park across the street.
There is also a nice restaurant in Suttons Bay where one can eat inside or out. I believe it is called the Village Inn. It is on the south end of town, on the left side of the highway, and it is the first restaurant you come to when entering town from Traverse Bay.

I saw where the Platte Campgound will not take reservations until 1 Jul this year. They are repaving roads por camp site or something. There will be some sites available on some loops but it will be a first come deal.

Been to Traverse City and area several times, in the 50's and 60's, and again twice in the 21st century now that it has become a favorite resort area for the downstate wealthy middle class. In the summer there's always something going on, something to do, with regular performances out at Interlochen, sailing on the bay, the large inland lakes, and on out to Lake Michigan (though Frankfurt and Petosky have better Great Lakes access).

If camping or RVing, we preferred to use the campgrounds at Interlochen state park, could walk over to the Arts and Music camp. Downtown TC is more about shopping and being seen, for that we found it more convenient to stay in a hotel. There is a SP at the south end of the bay, some campsites on the lakeside, others across the highway, both usually tightly packed with RVs too big for the sites on summer weekends. A few commercial RV parks in the region better manage space, but Interlochen is my favorite because it has more of a park atmosphere without as much crowding.

2gypsies wrote:
Try to get a campsite at Sleeping Bear Dunes Nat'l Lakeshore, Platte River campground and you'll certainly enjoy it... but reserve as soon as you can...it's very popular. The beaches are awesome and there's so many neat little towns to explore, including busy Traverse City.

Absolutely X2 on the Platte River campround in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. One of our all time favorite campgrounds, but as mentioned above, reserve as soon as possible as it is very, very popular. Sites are generally large and private, with electric only (30Amp) in all but one loop.

We stayed at Traverse Bay RV Resort last summer. We were looking for a calm relaxing spot over Labor Day weekend. It was a good location for us, as we took day trips from there to Sleeping Bear Dunes, up the peninsulas to see lighthouses, cherry orchards and vineyards, and west to eat at the Antlers Inn.