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Leelanau/Mackinac Explorer |
Dates: (7 days, 6 nights; Sun-Sat) |
Assembly Point: Traverse City, MI |
Tour Cost: $2,195 (includes all lodging, breakfasts and dinners, support van, transfers, ferry tolls, leaders, tour maps & narratives) |
The beautiful rolling hills and windswept dunes of Leelanau, the expansive wooded shoreline of Torch Lake, miles and miles of magnificent beaches along Lake Michigan's eastern shore, charming Charlevoix and historic Mackinac Island and utter brilliance of autumn in northern Michigan — this is a hint of the excitement of our Leelanau/Mackinac Explorer.
Set in the northwestern corner of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, we'll focus initially on the Leelanau Peninsula, acclaimed as the "cherry capital of the world." We'll assemble in Traverse City and ride the quiet country roads on the Peninsula to the shore of Lake Michigan. Mid-day of Day 1, we'll enter Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and ride the wild, challenging Pierce Stocking Scenic Road up, over and around the dunes. We're headed for Leland and a night in the Leland Lodge.
We'll ride to land's end at the northern tip of the peninsula early morning of Day 2 and visit the historic Grand Traverse Lighthouse in Leelanau State Park. We'll continue along Grand Traverse Bay, through Northport and Suttons Bay, as we return to Traverse City and an evening at the historic Park Place Hotel. Count on ingesting a few calories before leaving Northport, however, because our route just happens to roll past the front door of what we believe to be one of the world's great bakeries. We'll trace the eastern shore of Torch Lake on our way to Charlevoix on Day 3, and spend this evening at the Weathervane Inn, with views of both Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix.
Day 4 is a delight! We'll ride from Charlevoix to Petoskey and then trace the Lake Michigan coast through Harbor Springs to tiny Cross Village on what has been labeled as "Michigan's most scenic road." Along the way, plan on another of those deadly visits to a "killer" bakery in Good Hart and lunch at Leggs in Cross Village. A short ferry ride will carry us across the Straits of Mackinac to Mackinac Island, where we'll spend two evenings at the Inn at Mackinac and a layover day to tour the island's many historic and natural features.
We'll return to the mainland on Day 6 and ride through the heart of Boyne Country to Boyne City on the eastern tip of Lake Charlevoix for a final evening prior to our return to Traverse City.
Total Mileage — 372
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