Live
Clinch Park Webcam – Watch Grand Traverse Bay in Michigan
17:28:27
12.5°C / 54.5°F
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38%
30 km/h / 19 mph
08:00
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12°C / 53.6°F
📍 Location
About this webcam
The Clinch Park Webcam looks north from the rooftop of the Breakwater apartment building in downtown Traverse City, Michigan, over Grandview Parkway to the lawns of Clinch Park and the curved stone breakwater that shelters the Duncan L. Clinch Marina. Past the breakwater, West Grand Traverse Bay runs out to the horizon, with the wooded ridge of Old Mission Peninsula on the right and the Leelanau shore on the left. The foreground is the busy Grandview Parkway crossing below the building, so traffic lights, crosswalks and a small kiosk carrying a Traverse City sign sit beneath the water view. The maples in the park turn red and gold in October, sailboat masts fill the marina basin through the boating season, and the bay shifts from deep blue on clear afternoons to slate gray under heavy cloud.
About Clinch Park
Clinch Park is a city park on the shore of Grand Traverse Bay, along Grandview Parkway in downtown Traverse City. The stone breakwater that crosses the middle of the frame is older than almost everything around it. In 1933 the City Commission passed an ordinance to acquire and build a municipal harbor, and the city clerk wrote to the War Department for a permit to build a breakwater and boat wells next to Clinch Park. The city engineer traveled to Washington for a hearing in 1938, the permit came through, and the breakwater was built in 1939. The marina behind it followed in 1960 and 1961 and opened as the Duncan L. Clinch Yacht Harbor, meant to give out-of-town boaters slips at a time when the town’s two marinas were privately run.
The camera sits on the Breakwater, a four-story apartment building at the corner of Union and Garland streets that Innovo Development Group completed in spring 2020. From that height it looks across the whole West Arm of the bay. Grand Traverse Bay is an arm of Lake Michigan some 51 kilometers (32 miles) long and 11 to 16 kilometers (7 to 10 miles) wide, and it is up to 190 meters (620 feet) deep in spots. The 29-kilometer (18-mile) Old Mission Peninsula splits it into the West and East arms, and that peninsula is the long, low ridge closing off the right side of the view. The Leelanau Peninsula forms the far shore on the left.
Traverse City sits at 191 meters (627 feet) above sea level and counted 15,678 residents at the 2020 census. Within the park, at 181 East Grandview Parkway, the former Con Foster Museum building now houses the Bijou by the Bay, a 150-seat cinema that opened on July 29, 2013. The building itself dates from the 1930s, when it was put up by the Civil Works Administration.
Weather and Climate in Traverse City
Winters on this stretch of the bay are cold and snowy. January averages a high of about -2 C (29 F) and a low of -8 C (17 F), and Traverse City collects around 258 centimeters (101 inches) of snow in an average year, so the lawns below the camera can sit under snow for weeks at a stretch and the parkway is lined with plowed banks. Spring comes slowly on the water. April highs reach about 12 C (54 F), but nights still hover around 0 C (33 F), and the park’s trees stay bare well after the snow has gone.
Summer is the warm and busy season, with July highs averaging 27 C (81 F) and lows of 15 C (59 F). That is when the marina fills, sails spread across the West Arm and the park’s beach draws a crowd. October brings highs near 15 C (59 F) and lows around 5 C (41 F), and the maples in front of the camera color up through the month, framing the breakwater in red and yellow. The time stamp in the top left corner of the picture shows local Eastern Time, which helps when matching the light on screen to the hour.
Things to Do Near Clinch Park
The park has a beach that ranks among the most popular spots in town with visitors, and the Bijou by the Bay screens films inside the restored museum building. A paved path runs along the shoreline in front of the camera for an easy waterfront walk, and cyclists can pick up the TART trail system, the area’s network of non-motorized recreational trails. In downtown Traverse City, the City Opera House hosts plays, films and live performances, and the Boardman River Nature Center is the interpretive center and headquarters for a 204-hectare (505-acre) natural area along the river.
Further out, the Old Mission Peninsula on the right of the frame stretches 29 kilometers (18 miles) between the two arms of the bay, and Sleeping Bear Dunes lies about 32 kilometers (20 miles) west-northwest of the city. The Dennos Museum Center sits on the Northwestern Michigan College campus. Every July the National Cherry Festival takes over the waterfront, and the city’s population of about 15,000 swells to around 500,000 for the event, so the parkway crossing on the camera is often at its busiest that month.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Clinch Park located?
Clinch Park is on the shore of West Grand Traverse Bay, along Grandview Parkway in downtown Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Sleeping Bear Dunes is about 32 kilometers (20 miles) to the west-northwest.
What can you see on the Clinch Park Webcam?
The camera faces north over the Grandview Parkway crossing, the lawns and trees of Clinch Park, the 1939 breakwater and the boats of the Duncan L. Clinch Marina, with West Grand Traverse Bay, Old Mission Peninsula and the Leelanau shore on the horizon.
What is the weather like in Traverse City?
Summers are warm, with July highs around 27 C (81 F). Winters are cold and snowy, with January highs near -2 C (29 F) and about 258 centimeters (101 inches) of snow in a typical year.
When was the Clinch Park breakwater built?
The city asked the War Department for a permit in the 1930s, a hearing in Washington followed in 1938, and the breakwater was built in 1939. The marina it shelters was added in 1960 and 1961.
How deep is Grand Traverse Bay?
Grand Traverse Bay is up to 190 meters (620 feet) deep in places. It is about 51 kilometers (32 miles) long and 11 to 16 kilometers (7 to 10 miles) wide.
When is the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City?
The National Cherry Festival is held in July, when the city’s population of about 15,000 grows to around 500,000.
Is the Clinch Park Webcam on at night?
Breakwater, the building that runs the camera, describes it as a 24/7 live stream of Grand Traverse Bay, so the player stays on overnight. The bay and the far shores are clearest in daylight.