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All the United States Michigan Traverse City

The Atlas Obscura Guide To Traverse City

17 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Traverse City, Michigan

Updated May 9, 2025

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Unusual Attractions in Traverse City

The primary tunnel.

Traverse City, Michigan

Tunnels of Traverse City State Hospital

A subterranean world of tunnels links several buildings of this rare 19th-century asylum.
Hippie Tree

Traverse City, Michigan

The Hippie Tree

Though its branches are painted bright colors by generations of locals, the tree is said to be a haunted portal to hell.
Third example of a fairy house

Traverse City, Michigan

Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park Fairy Trail

This enchanting forest trail leads to ethereal abodes and a giant bird's nest.

Traverse City, Michigan

Traverse City State Hospital

Former self-sufficient mental institution now a planned community.
The Old Mission General Store on a sunny day.

Traverse City, Michigan

Old Mission General Store

Easily overlooked in favor of the wineries that dot the region, this blast from the past is equally worth the visit.
Looking into the tunnel from the gift shop.

Traverse City, Michigan

Botanical Garden Visitor's Center Gift Shop Tunnel

It leads to a former hospital’s old root cellar.

Traverse City, Michigan

World's Largest Cherry Pie Tin

An enormous roadside pan tells the story of a battle for pie glory.
View of the box of fudge when lit in the evening.

Traverse City, Michigan

Doug Murdick’s Rooftop Box of Fudge

For more than 50 years, an iconic sign has greeted visiting “fudgies” to the Traverse City area.
See All 17 Things To Do in Traverse City

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Traverse City

The Old Mission General Store on a sunny day.

Traverse City, Michigan

Old Mission General Store

Easily overlooked in favor of the wineries that dot the region, this blast from the past is equally worth the visit.

Traverse City, Michigan

World's Largest Cherry Pie Tin

An enormous roadside pan tells the story of a battle for pie glory.
View of the box of fudge when lit in the evening.

Traverse City, Michigan

Doug Murdick’s Rooftop Box of Fudge

For more than 50 years, an iconic sign has greeted visiting “fudgies” to the Traverse City area.
View of the weigh station

Traverse City, Michigan

Cherry Growers Weigh Station

This vacant station is a relic of harvest processing techniques of the mid-20th century.
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Atlas Obscura Itineraries

The Explorer’s Guide to Road Tripping Around the Great Lakes

While it might not be the first place that comes to mind when asked about bucket-list destinations, northern Michigan is no stranger to visitors. In-the-know “resorters”—as seasonal residents were called at the turn of the last century—have been flocking to this bucolic, rural region to escape the summertime heat of Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, and other Midwestern cities for generations. Part of the allure of any trip “Up North,” as the northern swath of Michigan’s lower peninsula is known, is to retreat to a bygone era long before cell phones and laptops—a time when the lakeside communities that sit near the 45th parallel halfway between the equator and the North Pole were mining for copper or iron, a time when those wealthy resorters arrived by steamship, train, or Model T. Just as those early travelers were escaping the heat, modern visitors deserve to escape hustle, and there is no better place to do so than certain iconic, nostalgia-steeped stops that remain suspended in time. That includes a fifth-generation fishing shanty where you can grab smoked whitefish to take home, the still-operating printing press of a beloved mid-century nature artist, and a lakeside cabin that’s served a Polish immigrant’s family recipes for 100 years.

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Michigan is home to 129 lighthouses, more than any other state in the nation.

Explore Traverse City, Michigan

Subterranean 2
Insane Asylums 2
Tunnels 2
Trees 2
Subterranean Sites 2
Giant Food 2
Plants 2
History 2
Trails 2
Local History 2
Cherry 2

Traverse City Leaderboard

Places Added

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    11
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    1
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    1
  4. Rebecca Byrne
    1
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    1
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Places Edited

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    4
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    2
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Places Visited

  1. melaflip
    16
  2. rickbbiking
    15
  3. kevbot
    15
  4. Jeremy T
    15
  5. w3rt
    15
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Visit a place in Traverse City.

Recent Traverse City Activity

  • naturallybysally

    wants to go to Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park Fairy Trail

  • naturallybysally

    wants to go to The Hippie Tree

  • sushdesaraju2849

    wants to go to Traverse Colantha Walker's Grave

  • schellidittmann

    wants to go to World's Largest Cherry Pie Tin

  • robkilgo

    wants to go to Tunnels of Traverse City State Hospital

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