Local Area Attractions Near Traverse City KOA

Make us your base camp for the many wonderful adventures in Northern Michigan.  After your long day exploring, you can relax in our beautiful campground.

Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes

Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes

Sleeping Bear took its name from an Ojibway legend about its formation. According to the story, a mother bear and her two cubs were driven by forest fires from what is now Wisconsin and forced to swim across Lake Michigan. When the mother bear reached the Michigan shore, she turned to discover that her cubs had vanished. The Great Spirit was so touched by her plight that he had her fall off to sleep there, creating Sleeping Bear Dune, and marked the place where her cubs disappeared by creating the Manitou Islands.

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Great Lakes Children's Museum

Great Lakes Children's Museum

The mission of the Great Lakes Children's Museum is to surround children and the adults in their lives with a hands-on, interactive and informal educational environment that will invite curiosity, allow exploration, encourage participation and celebrate the child-like wonder in all of us.

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Cherry Bowl Drive-In Theater

Cherry Bowl Drive-In Theater

Turn back the clock at a 50's style drive-in movie theater. They are always playing a double-feature, always with a rating of PG-13 or less. It's fun for the whole family! You are sure to appreciate the massive food selection at the concession building too! With the closing of so many of the drive-ins throughout the county, it could be an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

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Dennos Museum Center

Dennos Museum Center

The Michael and Barbara Dennos Museum Center features both the visual and performing arts. Changing exhibitions focus on a variety of media and subjects from historical art to contemporary work by artists of state, national and international stature. The museum's permanent display of sculpture, prints and drawings by the Inuit artists of the Canadian arctic is one of the largest and most historically complete collections anywhere. A hands-on Discovery Gallery is especially popular with children. The Milliken Auditorium showcases the performing arts, including theater, dance and music.

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Grand Traverse Lighthouse

Grand Traverse Lighthouse

One of the oldest lighthouses on the lakes, the Grand Traverse Lighthouse, at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, has guided ships through the northern entrance to the Manitou Passage for 150 years. Located nine miles north of Northport, in the Leelanau State Park, the lighthouse was home to generations of keepers and their families. Extensive exhibits chronicle their lives and the experiences of those who sailed the lakes.

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Turtle Creek Casino

Turtle Creek Casino

Owned and operated by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, both casinos offer Black Jack, Caribbean Stud Poker, Craps, Roulette, and over 200 slots including progressives. Enjoy nationally recognized entertainment in the state-of-the-art Sands Showroom.

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City Opera House

City Opera House

Traverse City's handsome second-story City Opera House has been a source of community pride since its construction in 1891. The first building in Traverse City to install electric lights, the Opera House hosted plays, lectures, meetings, balls, concerts and vaudeville acts before closing in 1920. It is being restored to its former splendor, and is now used for a variety of community meetings, dances and other events.

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Historic Perry Hannah House

Historic Perry Hannah House

A massive Victorian Mansion once home to one of the founders of Traverse City.

Candle Factory

Candle Factory

This is one of America's largest candle retailers. Come and enjoy demonstrations that can be arranged in advance for groups. The historical and artistic ambiance has been developed to entertain visitors of all ages.

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Leelanau Sands Casino

Leelanau Sands Casino

Owned and operated by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, both casinos offer Black Jack, Caribbean Stud Poker, Craps, Roulette, and over 200 slots including progressives. Enjoy nationally recognized entertainment in the state-of-the-art Sands Showroom.

Website