Train wise, the only thing in Suttons Bay
to see is the old railroad station.
Otherwise, Suttons Bay is full of eateries and
cool little shops to spend your money in.
About 20 miles to the north is the
Leelanau State Park, and it has one of the preserved Michigan light
houses, the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.
Suttons Bay is almost at the north end of line for the Pere Marquette/Chesapeake & Ohio, it went up to Northport as it's final destination.
This page is a breakout page from my Traverse City guide, so I retained the sight numbering to agree with the Traverse City map.
The only reason I started coming to the area of Traverse City and Suttons Bay is because my Aunt had a summer home here on Lake Leelanau, and
had friends that lived right across the street from the depot! How about that for a small world? :-)
The small map of Suttons Bay below is off of my
Traverse City PDF, if you need to find it, go to the
Traverse City page.
Friends of my aunt and uncle live across from the depot at the yellow dot, in
case you're wondering :-)
On the eastern side of the state, such as Detroit or Ann Arbor, you can come up I-75, and jump off at Grayling, heading west on 72 into TC via
Kalkaska. Grayling is roughly 50 miles from TC. Out of Ann Arbor, you should head north US23 till it joins up with I75 in Flint.
On the western side of the state, from Grand Rapids for instance, head north on US131 till you're just south of Cadillac, then head north (NW) on 115 (but make sure you
stop in Cadillac for the depot). Hop on 37 north at Mesmick, and your only 25 miles from TC.
From the center of the state, as in Lansing, head north on US127. When you hit Clare / Grant Township, you have a decision to make, for you can stay on 127 till
it joins up with I-75, and then do the Grayling and route 72 thing. Or, you can US10 west a shorts ways till you cross 115, and take that up to TC via Cadillac.
Obviously, coming from the U.P, there is really only one choice of coming down I-75 and again, getting off at Grayling for route 72.
Once you have hit Traverse City, just follow the M22 up about 15 miles to Suttons Bay.
The depot was built by the Leelanau Transit Company in 1920. Tracks going north were removed in the 1960's. Over the years, the railroad
was operated by the Leelanau Transit Co, then later leased to the Manistee and Northeastern, the Pere Marquette, and finally the C&O. The last operator
was the Leelanau Scenic RR between 1989 and 1995, when an accident caused a lot of local opposition and subsequent closing of the operations. An architect
currently uses the building.
Standing in the street to the following picture, if you turn about 90 degrees to your left, you will get the first view below in the floobydust section of Main St.
The following picture came off of an O-Gauge modelers forum for the Manistee & Northeastern RR boxcar, but since it was staged in front of the Suttons Bay depot,
I grabbed it for my Michigan stations page
The Sutton's Bay Depot
Main street in Suttons Bay with an approaching storm at sunset.
One of the more interesting places to shop in Suttons Bay.
You pass this on the way up to Suttons Bay.
