M-22 Fall Color Tour!

One of the wonderful things about Michigan is the changing seasons and the most dramatic of these is the fall color change. During October and the first part of November the countryside comes to life with bright yellows, oranges and deep reds.

One of our favorite color tours is along highway M-22 between Manistee and Glen Arbor. This has been called one of the Midwest's most scenic highways. M-22 winds its way along Lake Michigan, through charming waterfront villages, and around Crystal Lake.

The drive up M-22 is worth the trip alone, but that’d be only half the story of this wonderful, not to mention colorful, day trip. The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, which is part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, provides plenty of eye candy all along its 7.4 mile route. In addition to the dunes, camera bugs will find plenty to photograph, like a covered bridge, the beech-maple forest, the Manitou islands, Glen Lake and of course, the sweeping views of Lake Michigan. The Lake Michigan and the Sleeping Bear Dunes Overlooks are, no question, a must get-out-of-the-car-and-see.

If you have the time, you should continue on M-22 from Glen Arbor to Northport. From there you can make the short side trip up M-201 to Leelanau State Park and the Northport Lighthouse. From Northport, M-22 heads south along the shores of Grand Traverse Bay to Traverse City.