Torch Lake, about 30 miles east of Traverse City, is a long, narrow inland lake in Antrim County whose turquoise colour in summer sun looks more Caribbean than Midwestern. The clarity of the water — visibility down 30 feet in places — and the sandbar shallows on the western shore create that improbable colour, which photographs well but is more striking in person. National Geographic once ranked it among the most beautiful lakes in the world, a claim locals repeat with some regularity and which, on a clear summer day, is not entirely unfair.
The lake was formed by glacial activity and sits in a long basin that concentrates light; it takes its name from the torchlight fishing once practised here by Indigenous peoples. Today it is primarily a local recreation area, given over to boating, swimming, and sandbar socialising through the summer months. The Chain of Lakes that connects Torch Lake to six other lakes and eventually to Lake Michigan provides an extended waterway for kayakers and canoeists.
The small town of Bellaire, at the south end of the lake, has a few good restaurants and Short's Brewing Company, one of Michigan's most creative craft breweries. Allow a half-day for the drive, a swim or boat ride, and lunch.