Little Traverse Bay ( ) is a small open bay of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

. Extending about into the Lower Peninsula of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, much of the head of the land surrounding Little Traverse Bay, and has become part of the urban areas of Petoskey and Harbor Springs. Little Traverse Bay primarily lies within Emmet County, although a small portion lies within Charlevoix County.

Overview

Harbor Springs, a settlement on the bay, originated as ''L'arbre de Croche,'' (Crooked Tree) a French

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

mission village to serve the

Odawa people The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ) are an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous North American people who primarily inhabit land in the Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands, Eastern Woodlands region, now in jurisdictions of th ...

bands in the area. After the British took over the territory, the village was renamed in English. The federally recognized

Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBBOI, ) is a Native American recognition in the United States, federally recognized Native Americans in the United States, Native American List of Native American Tribal Entities, tribe of Odawa ...

have their headquarters here. They have land here, and additional land and a gaming casino in Petoskey. The Little Traverse Light marks the entrance at Harbor Springs to the smaller harbor within the bay. After the Odawa bands in northern Michigan were persuaded to cede considerable lands to the United States, the Little Traverse Bay region was developed by Illinois land developers and resort founders, such as lawyers Henry Stryker III and Henry Brigham McClure, and the Capps family of

Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville is a city and the county seat of Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,616 at the 2020 census, down from 19,446 in 2010. It is home to Illinois College, Illinois School for the Deaf, and the Illinois Sc ...

and woolen mills fame. The Stryker, Capps, and McClure families were interconnected with the Jacob Bunn industrial dynasty of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

. The bay has also been used as a refuge by Great Lakes freighters during severe weather.

Settlements

* Bay Shore * Bay View * Forest Beach * Harbor Springs * Harbor Point * Petoskey * Wequetonsing

Recreation

The bay has significant publicly accessible parkland on the waterfront, including in the cities of Petoskey and Harbor Springs, and in Petoskey State Park. Little Traverse Bay is popular during the summer for

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

by the numerous vacation communities on the bay, including Bay View, Wequetonsing, and Harbor Point. Many of these communities also provide sailing and swimming lessons. The bay is the location of the annual Ugotta Regatta, hosted by the Little Traverse Yacht Club in Harbor Springs. Participants are often boat owners and crews who have sailed in the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac and

Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race The Bayview Mackinac Boat Race is run by the Bayview Yacht Club of Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the longest fresh-water races in the world with over two hundred boats entering the race each year. There have been at least six changes to the c ...

, each held on one of the two weekends before.

References

{{Authority control Bodies of water of Charlevoix County, Michigan Bodies of water of Emmet County, Michigan Bays of Michigan Bays of Lake Michigan