Bay Harbor Webcam – Watch Little Traverse Bay, Michigan

The Bay Harbor Webcam looks out from the Inn at Bay Harbor, a hotel on the south shore of Little Traverse Bay in northern Michigan. The camera sits high on the building, and its wide lens takes in the inn’s lawns, a looping footpath, a sand beach curving away to the left and a shoreline armored with boulders on the right. Beyond them the bay opens out. The view runs roughly northwest, along the bay toward its mouth and Lake Michigan, with low hills marking the far shores at either edge of the horizon. On sunny mornings the shallows near the rocks turn a clear green over a pale, stony bottom, and the shadow of the inn stretches out across the water. Through the year the same frame moves from green summer lawns to autumn color in the trees below the camera and snow-covered grounds in winter.

About Bay Harbor

Bay Harbor is a resort community on the bay about 5 kilometers (3 miles) west of downtown Petoskey, in Emmet County. It was built on industrial ground. A cement works went into production here in 1921 under the Petoskey Portland Cement Company and passed to Penn-Dixie in 1954. The 1,100-acre (445-hectare) operation closed in 1980 and sat idle for years, shedding kiln dust and leaking leachate into the bay.

Developer David Johnson took on the old Penn-Dixie property in 1994 with CMS Energy as a partner, in what has been described as one of the largest land and environmental reclamation projects in North America. CMS put about $250 million into the cleanup. The parcel came with 8 kilometers (5 miles) of frontage on Little Traverse Bay. The harbor that now holds the marina was mined out of the old quarry, which was already about 24 meters (80 feet) deep, and the kiln dust was buried under the golf course beneath roughly 30 centimeters (12 inches) of rock and overburden.

The inn stands right at the water’s edge, which the camera makes plain. A swimming pool and a pavilion with a dark red roof sit at the left of the frame, an outdoor chessboard is laid into the lawn below the lens, and paths wind past planted beds down to the beach. Little Traverse Bay reaches about 16 kilometers (10 miles) into the Lower Peninsula and opens west into Lake Michigan, with Petoskey on its south shore and Harbor Springs on its north shore. The beaches around it are known for Petoskey stones, the fossilized coral that is Michigan’s official state stone.

Weather and Climate in Bay Harbor

NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals for nearby Petoskey put the average July high at 24 C (75 F), with nights around 15 C (59 F), and September still reaches about 21 C (69 F). Summer is when the lawns in the foreground are at their greenest and sailboats can appear out on the bay. October brings highs near 13 C (56 F) and the color change in the trees below the camera, and by November the average high is down to about 7 C (44 F).

Winter is long and snowy. January averages a high of about -3 C (27 F) and a low of -9 C (15 F), and February nights are slightly colder, around -10 C (14 F). Petoskey records about 314 centimeters (124 inches) of snow in a normal year, nearly 80 percent of it from December through February, so the lawns and beach in this view can stay white for weeks at a time. Spring arrives slowly: April highs average about 9 C (48 F) and May about 16 C (61 F).

Things to Do Near Bay Harbor

Downtown Petoskey, a short drive east along the shore, has the shops and restaurants of the Gaslight District, with the Bay View Association grounds close by. Petoskey State Park gives public access to the bay’s beaches, and Petoskey stones turn up along the local shoreline. The Little Traverse Wheelway, a recreational trail, runs through the area for walkers and cyclists.

Across the water, Harbor Springs grew from L’arbre de Croche, a French Jesuit mission village serving the Odawa people, and the Little Traverse Light still marks the entrance to its harbor. The Little Traverse Yacht Club hosts the annual Ugotta Regatta on the bay. Inland, Walloon Lake is where Ernest Hemingway spent his childhood summers, and it gave him settings for his Nick Adams stories. Back in Bay Harbor, the golf course covers the ground where the cement plant’s kiln dust was buried.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

Stay in northern Michigan with these views of its lakes, bays and islands.

• Walloon Lake Webcam
• Traverse City Webcam
• Beaver Island Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Bay Harbor located?

Bay Harbor is on the south shore of Little Traverse Bay in Emmet County, northern Michigan, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) west of downtown Petoskey and roughly 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Charlevoix in a straight line.

What can you see on the Bay Harbor Webcam?

The camera looks down from the Inn at Bay Harbor over its lawns, pool, pavilion and footpaths to a sand beach on the left and a boulder-lined shore on the right, then out across Little Traverse Bay. It faces roughly northwest, toward the mouth of the bay and Lake Michigan, with low hills on the far shores at the edges of the horizon.

Does the Bay Harbor Webcam show the marina?

No. The Bay Harbor marina lies in the harbor cut from the old quarry, roughly 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) southwest of the inn, and it is out of the frame. The camera shows the inn’s grounds, its beach and the open water of the bay.

Can you see Petoskey from this webcam?

No. Downtown Petoskey is about 5 kilometers (3 miles) to the east, behind the camera and to its right, while the lens points northwest along the bay. The view stays on the Bay Harbor shoreline and the water beyond it.

Is Bay Harbor on Lake Michigan?

Yes. Little Traverse Bay is an arm of Lake Michigan that reaches about 16 kilometers (10 miles) into the Lower Peninsula, and the open water at the top of the frame leads out toward the lake itself.

What is the weather like in Bay Harbor, Michigan?

Summers are mild, with July highs around 24 C (75 F), and winters are cold and snowy, with January highs near -3 C (27 F) and about 314 centimeters (124 inches) of snow a year, based on NOAA normals for nearby Petoskey. Spring and autumn are cool, with April and October highs of about 9 C (48 F) and 13 C (56 F).

What is there to do in Bay Harbor, Michigan?

The resort has its own golf course and marina, and the inn’s beach sits right on the bay. Nearby are Petoskey’s Gaslight District, Petoskey State Park, the Little Traverse Wheelway trail, Harbor Springs across the bay and Walloon Lake inland, and the local beaches are a good place to look for Petoskey stones.

Source: Inn at Bay Harbor