Traverse City State Park, Traverse City, Michigan, a Fully Developed Urban Park on Grand Traverse Bay

Traverse City State Park is a fully developed urban park, with 47 acres of land, 343 camp sites and a quarter-mile stretch of beautiful beachfront on Grand Traverse Bay. The bay has two arms, and the park is located at the south end of the bay where the Boardman River empties into its western arm.

In its totality, the bay is 32 miles long, 10 miles wide and as deep as 600 feet in certain areas, and its name is derived from the 18th-century French sailors who named it "la grand traverse'' for "the long crossing'' they had to make at the bay's mouth.

The park's 343 sites are nestled among a completely wooded setting of hardwood (fruit and nut-bearing) and softwood (conifers, such as pine, fir and spruce) trees. Some of the most popular warm-weather activities for visitors include picnicking on the grass, the beach, or at tables and grills available to day-use visitors.

The park also adjoins the TART (Traverse Area Recreational Trail), which is of particular interest to bikers and hikers in the warm months, and cross-country skiers in the winter. The TART is a 10.5-mile trail that runs from the west side of Traverse City to Acme, Michigan and, for the most part, follows the roadbed of the old Chicago and West Michigan Railway.

The trail is intersected by a number of other non-motorized trails throughout the Travers City area, including the Boardman Lake Trail, the Leelenau Trail and the Vasa Pathway found in the Pere Marquette State Forest east of Traverse City.

Swimming, sunbathing, power boating and sailing are also prime park activities during the summer, and there's even a playground for children. Fishing charters can also be found in Grand Traverse Bay for anglers looking to hook some trout, salmon or panfish.

There's also an element of Michigan's early history to the park, which was established in 1920 after the logging industry had begun its decline. The Ottawa branch of the Algonquin Indians were the area's original inhabitants, and there are still about 15,000 Ottawa living in the state.