Fishtown
Widewater Rd, Luther, MI
Leland, MI
A cluster of gray, weather-beaten fishing shanties and docks on a rushing river channel, one of the last working fishing villages left on the Great Lakes.
Fishtown is a cluster of weathered gray fishing shanties, docks, and smokehouses lining the Leland River where it tumbles from Lake Leelanau down into Lake Michigan. One of the last surviving commercial fishing villages on the Great Lakes, it has stood on this rushing channel for well over a century, its board-and-batten buildings silvered by decades of weather off the lake.
Where most such villages have vanished, Fishtown has been deliberately preserved, its historic shanties now home to a mix of working fishing operations, small shops, and eateries selling smoked whitefish and other lake fare. It remains a genuine, salt-of-the-earth place rather than a reconstruction, and it is the beating heart of the pretty village of Leland on the Leelanau Peninsula.
What Guests Love
- Wandering a row of authentic gray fishing shanties turned to shops and eateries
- Watching the Leland River rush past docks, tugs, and fishing boats
- Smoked fish and pasties in a genuine working-village setting
- The ferry docks where boats depart for the remote Manitou Islands
Worth Knowing
- This is a real, lived-in village that stays busiest in the summer season
- Parking in tiny Leland fills up fast on warm days, so arrive early
- The shanties sit right on the water, and the river channel runs swift, so mind children near the edge
- Ferries to the Manitou Islands leave from the Fishtown docks, worth planning ahead if you want to go
Details
Leland, MI
Learn about Fishtown
A working village on a rushing river
Leland grew up in the nineteenth century where the Leland River drops swiftly from Lake Leelanau into Lake Michigan, a spot that offered both water power and a harbor. Along the river channel, commercial fishermen built simple shanties to store nets and gear, dress their catch, and tie up their boats, and this working waterfront became known as Fishtown.
For generations, families hauled whitefish, lake trout, and chubs from Lake Michigan, and the smoke of the fish houses hung over the river. Commercial fishing on the Great Lakes declined over the twentieth century as fish populations changed and regulations tightened, but a few tug operations have continued at Fishtown, keeping the tradition alive on the same docks.
Saving the shanties
By the early twenty-first century, the aging shanties and the land they stood on were at risk of being sold and lost. A community group formed to buy and preserve Fishtown, raising money to acquire the historic buildings, docks, and fishing tugs and to keep them as a living village rather than let them be redeveloped.
That effort saved one of the Great Lakes' last authentic fishing villages. The preserved shanties now house a blend of active fishing operations and small businesses, and careful restoration keeps the weathered buildings standing against the harsh lakeside climate, so visitors experience a real historic waterfront, not a stage set.
Smoked fish, shops, and the island ferry
Today the shanties hold a mix of uses that keep Fishtown lively. Fish markets sell fresh and smoked whitefish and trout, some of it still caught by local tugs, alongside little shops offering crafts, clothing, and northern-Michigan goods. Eateries serve smoked-fish spread, pasties, and other regional fare, best enjoyed by the water.
The docks are also the departure point for ferries to the Manitou Islands, the remote, largely wild islands offshore that form part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Watching the fishing tugs, pleasure boats, and island ferry come and go along the swift river channel is a large part of Fishtown's charm.
The Leelanau Peninsula around it
Leland sits on the Leelanau Peninsula, the little-finger of land that reaches into Lake Michigan northwest of Traverse City. It is a landscape of vineyards, cherry orchards, sandy beaches, and rolling hills, one of the most scenic corners of the state, with the towering dunes of Sleeping Bear a short drive south.
This is Anishinaabe homeland, long the country of the Odawa (Ottawa) and Ojibwe (Chippewa) peoples, whose descendants are enrolled today in the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, centered on the peninsula. The name Leelanau and much of the region's identity are rooted in the deep and continuing presence of these communities, who fished and traveled these same waters long before the fishing shanties were built.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Leland
Village of Leland
In town
A pretty Leelanau Peninsula village around Fishtown, with beaches, a marina, galleries, and views over Lake Michigan.
Manitou Islands
By ferry from Fishtown
Remote, largely wild islands offshore, part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, reached by ferry from the Fishtown docks.
Leelanau wineries
Throughout the peninsula
A celebrated wine region of vineyards and tasting rooms spread across the rolling Leelanau Peninsula.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
About 25 miles south
Towering Lake Michigan dunes, scenic overlooks, and beaches, one of the most beautiful shorelines in the country.