Northern Michigan
Welcome to Traverse City.
Cherry capital of the world. Gateway to Sleeping Bear Dunes. One of America's most celebrated food and wine destinations. The lake is the reason you came. Everything else is why you'll come back.
This Week's Spotlight Dispensary
Featured Pick of the Week
Lume Cannabis Co.
SpotlightMichigan's largest homegrown cannabis company — and Traverse City's premium experience from seed to shelf.
Lume is vertically integrated, which is a fancy way of saying they grow, process, and sell their own cannabis — and it shows in the consistency. Their Traverse City downtown location on West Front Street is 5.0 stars across 390+ reviews. The Munson Avenue location, close to Cherry Capital Airport, makes it easy for visitors to stop before heading north. Their Gold Label Live Rosin line is among the best solventless you'll find anywhere in the state, and their proprietary Jenny Kush strain regularly tests above 30% THC. The upscale, educational atmosphere fits Traverse City perfectly.
Traverse City Cannabis
Featured Dispensaries
Traverse City draws every kind of cannabis buyer — the downtown boutique shopper, the flower-forward traditionalist, the deal-hunting weekender. These three dispensaries serve those customers well. Pick the one that fits your trip.
Olswell Cannabis Co.
FeaturedOlswell is downtown TC's luxury cannabis boutique — a short walk from the Delamar and Hotel Indigo, steps from Grand Traverse Bay and the Boardman River. They specialize in connoisseur-grade products like RKIVE Reserve, The Limit, and PLAY. As they put it themselves: they don't sell mids. Hand-selected for the TC palate. Award-winning daily deals include $20 ounces and $20 rosin/5G.
Boss Leaf Cannabis Co.
FeaturedBoss Leaf runs a deli-style menu concept — the customer is treated as the boss of their own cannabis experience. Exclusive, flavor-forward flower marketed as the 'Purest Flower' on the market. Open at 8am, which means they catch the Traverse City early-riser crowd before the wine trail opens. A strong flower-forward complement to the concentrate-heavy Olswell.
Puff Cannabis Company
FeaturedPuff is Michigan's value-forward dispensary chain with 9 locations statewide — and their Traverse City spot has earned 4.9 stars across 788 reviews. Price-match guarantee, daily deals, first-time customer perks, and the original home of Platinum Vape. For the customer who wants quality without paying premium pricing — which is a lot of TC visitors.
Traverse City has many more dispensaries across the region. See the full Traverse City dispensary directory →
Not sure which dispensary is right for what you need today?
Are you a dispensary that wants to be featured? Learn how it works →
Ask Photi
This Week's Brands
Featured Makers
Traverse City attracts Michigan's most curious cannabis buyer — the weekender who wants to try something they can't get in Chicago or Indianapolis. These four Michigan makers deserve a place on your list this trip. A vertical operator, a national benchmark, a craft cultivator, and a rising vape specialist.
Lume
FeaturedVertically integrated. Lume grows their own Michigan cannabis, extracts their own concentrates, bottles their own vapes, and sells them all exclusively through Lume dispensaries. Their Gold Label Live Rosin line is the brand's crown jewel and deserves the shelf space it gets. Jenny Kush is their flagship proprietary strain. A Michigan cannabis story told vertically.
Look For
Solventless, fresh-frozen, small-batch. The top of the Lume house — their own concentrate at its peak.
Proprietary Lume strain regularly testing 30%+ THC. Sativa-dominant with citrus and diesel notes. A TC favorite.
Live rosin pod system in Lume's proprietary hardware. Solventless concentrate in convenient pod form.
Premium flower infused with their own bubble hash. Clean-burning, high-potency, hand-crafted.
710 Labs
FeaturedThe national benchmark for solventless concentrate. Their Persy Water Hash and Persy Rosin are what serious connoisseurs measure everything else against. In Traverse City, where the visitor often has tried the best of Colorado and California, 710 Labs is the brand that says Michigan isn't playing catch-up.
Look For
90-micron trichome heads, ice-and-water only. Old-world hash perfection.
Single-origin, single-pressing, cold-cured. The top of the rosin pyramid.
Full-spectrum live rosin from fresh-frozen flower. Entry point to the 710 experience.
True solventless rosin in a cart. The discreet version of the dab.
Pro Gro
FeaturedFounded in Lansing by Sam Usman Jr., Pro Gro is one of Michigan's most established craft cultivators — 15+ years in the game, now growing over 10,000 plants in their Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard facility. Multiple High Times Cannabis Cup wins. Consistently ranked 4th-5th in Michigan flower statewide. The Michigan flower story at the top of the pyramid.
Look For
Pro Gro's most widely-carried strain — found in 16+ Michigan dispensaries. Sweet candy-forward terpenes, balanced effects.
High Times Cannabis Cup winner. Pungent, heavy-indica-leaning, savory aroma. A cult favorite.
Award-winning sativa from Archive Seed Bank genetics. Lemon-forward, uplifting, celebratory.
A Michigan bestseller. Creamy, sweet, sedating. The strain for the end of a long TC day.
Legit Labs
FeaturedMichigan-native concentrate processor crafting cartridges entirely from cannabis-derived terpenes — zero botanicals, zero additives. The Caramel Apple Gelato Cured Resin cart was the #1 selling vape in Michigan in January 2026. A rising Michigan brand for the TC buyer who wants purity without the premium price of 710 Labs.
Look For
Michigan's #1 selling vape pen product in January 2026. Sweet, dessert-forward, balanced.
Full-spectrum live resin from fresh-frozen flower. Bold terpene profile, true-to-plant flavor.
Post-less, no-maintenance disposable for the connoisseur. Loud flavor, balanced effects.
Crystalline structure with heavy terpene content. For the dabber who wants aroma as much as effect.
Old Mission & Leelanau Peninsulas
The Wine Trail
The Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail is one of America's most unexpected wine destinations — a 40-mile stretch of micro-climates on Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas producing world-class Rieslings, Pinot Noirs, and sparkling wines. Most people outside Michigan have never heard of it. The ones who find it come back every year.
Chateau Grand Traverse
Old Mission Peninsula
The winery that put Michigan on the wine map. Riesling grown on Old Mission Peninsula with views of East and West Grand Traverse Bay from both sides. The tasting room overlooks the vineyard. A must-visit for anyone serious about understanding what Northern Michigan grows.
Visit →Black Star Farms
Leelanau Peninsula
A full agritourism destination — winery, distillery, inn, and working farm on the Leelanau Peninsula. Family-friendly, live music on weekends, animals on the property. The sparkling wines are exceptional. Budget a full afternoon and plan to stay for dinner.
Visit →Chateau Chantal
Old Mission Peninsula
Perched on the ridge of Old Mission Peninsula with 360-degree water views of both Grand Traverse bays. The Pinot Noir is worth knowing. The bed and breakfast upstairs means you can spend the night in the vineyard. One of the most beautiful properties in Michigan.
Visit →Left Foot Charley
Downtown Traverse City
The only winery and cidery located in downtown TC — inside the historic asylum building at Grand Traverse Commons. The ciders are celebrated nationally. Cinnamon Girl and the dry farmhouse ciders are the ones people talk about. No reservation needed, walk right in.
Visit →
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is 71,000 acres of towering sand dunes, ancient forests, crystal-clear inland lakes, and 65 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline. It was voted the most beautiful place in America by Good Morning America viewers — and it earns that. A National Park pass is required. Dogs are not allowed on most dune trails.
The Three Hikes — Choose Your Version
Empire Bluff Trail
EasyThe best introduction to Sleeping Bear. A well-marked dirt trail through maple forest that opens suddenly onto a bluff with one of the most iconic views in Michigan's Lower Peninsula — Sleeping Bear Dune and Lake Michigan stretching to the horizon. The perfect sunset hike.
Arrive at the trailhead at least one hour before sunset. There's plenty of space on the bluff to sit and watch it set directly over the lake. You will not regret it.
Trail info →The Dune Climb
ClassicThe iconic Sleeping Bear experience. A steep climb to the top of the dunes followed by a rugged traverse down to Lake Michigan's shore. No shade anywhere on the trail. Sand makes every step harder than it looks. One of the 25 best day hikes in America — and it earns that status completely.
Bring twice the water you think you need. Start early — by midday in summer the sand surface temperature can exceed 130°F. No dogs allowed on this trail.
Trail info →Pyramid Point Loop
EpicThe least crowded of the three and the most rewarding for serious hikers. Over 500 feet of elevation change through maple and beech forest to 270-degree views of Lake Michigan and the North and South Manitou Islands. The kind of view that reframes your sense of what Michigan is.
Hike the loop clockwise — the 0.6-mile climb to the overlook is steeper going up than coming back. The islands appear suddenly as you crest. Stop and let that moment land.
Trail info →Photi's Take
Do the Empire Bluff Trail at sunset your first time. Do the Dune Climb on your second visit when you know what you're getting into. Bring Pyramid Point to a hiker who thinks they've already seen everything Michigan has to offer. That view of the Manitou Islands from the point changes people.
Newsweek's Best Small City for Foodies
Eat Traverse City
Trattoria Stella
30 Cottageview Dr (Grand Traverse Commons) · Dinner Wed–Mon
The best restaurant in Northern Michigan by almost every measure. Housemade pastas, whole-animal butchery, daily changing menus built entirely from Northern Michigan farms and artisans. Five-time James Beard Award semi-finalist kitchen. Reservations essential — book before you leave home.
Amical
229 E Front St (Downtown) · Dinner daily
On Front Street since 1994. French-inspired bistro that evolved into something genuinely Mediterranean. Local mushrooms foraged daily from the forest. The menu changes with what's growing. The patio on Front Street on a summer evening is one of the great TC experiences.
The Cook's House
Traverse City · Dinner Wed–Sun
Tiny restaurant, enormous reputation. The most locally-sourced menu in TC — relationships with specific farms, specific fishermen, specific foragers. The menu is handwritten and changes completely every few days. If you can get a reservation, take it without reading the menu first.
Apache Trout Grill
West Bay waterfront · Lunch and dinner daily
Fresh Great Lakes seafood on the West Bay waterfront. The whitefish is caught locally and it shows. A long patio directly over the water. The kind of place where you order a second drink because you don't want to leave the view. Perfect for a long lunch after the wine trail.
Where to Stay
TC Worth Staying For
Inn at Black Star Farms
Leelanau Peninsula
Sleep in the vineyard. The inn sits in the middle of the Black Star Farms estate — wake up, walk to the winery, taste before breakfast. Genuinely one of the most beautiful places to stay in Michigan. Book months ahead in summer.
Learn more →Chateau Chantal Bed & Breakfast
Old Mission Peninsula
Eight rooms perched on the ridge of Old Mission Peninsula with water views from both sides. Fall asleep to vineyard silence. Wake up to fog over Grand Traverse Bay. If you're celebrating something, this is where you do it.
Learn more →Park Place Hotel
Downtown Traverse City
The historic anchor of downtown TC since 1930. Fourteen stories, rooftop bar with bay views, walking distance to Front Street, the commons, and everything downtown. The reliable choice for a TC weekend that keeps you close to the action.
Learn more →West Bay Beach
West Grand Traverse Bay
A full resort directly on West Bay Beach — private beach access, kayaks and paddleboards on site, pool, fire pits at the water's edge. The most complete resort experience in TC. The kind of place you check into on Friday and don't leave until Sunday reluctantly.
Learn more →
What's On
Events in Traverse City
The National Cherry Festival in July fills the city — book lodging months ahead. The Traverse City Film Festival, the TC Food & Wine Festival in August, the Sleepingbear Dunes Music Festival, and the Leelanau Peninsula Wine & Food Experience round out a calendar that runs year-round. Fall color season is October and dramatically underrated.
See TC Events Calendar →
Plan your Northern Michigan trip with Photi.
The right product for hiking Sleeping Bear. The right vibe for a long afternoon on the wine trail. The right dispensary before a sunset dinner on the bay. One quick conversation covers all of it.
Talk to Photi