Big Bay Park
Whitefish Bay, WI
Big Bay Park is a Whitefish Bay park on the bluff at 5000 North Lake Drive, with a walking path and staircase leading down to a quiet stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline. The park was recently rebuilt, with new stairs and landscaping. It's a calm, local spot away from Milwaukee's busier beaches.
A quiet, rebuilt bluff park with lake access, though the beach is modest.
How we score beachesTake the stairs down for a quiet walk along the water, especially at sunrise.
Street parking along North Lake Drive.
A staircase leads down the bluff to the shore.
Sunrise walks are the draw year round. Summer is quiet compared to Bradford Beach.
More Great Lakes beaches
Sleeping Bear Dunes Beach
Empire, MI · Great Lakes
Freshwater Lake Michigan surf below towering sand dunes, some over 400 feet tall, with water clear enough to rival a coastline and a hike back up the dune to burn it off.
New Buffalo City Beach
New Buffalo, MI · Great Lakes
New Buffalo City Beach is the first real Lake Michigan beach you hit crossing from Indiana, a wide stretch of sand at the end of Whittaker Street beside the harbor and the Galien River channel. Chicago weekenders fill it in summer. The town's shops and restaurants are a five minute walk back up the street.
Warren Dunes State Park
Sawyer, MI · Great Lakes
Warren Dunes State Park in Sawyer has roughly three miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and some of the tallest dunes in southwest Michigan. Tower Hill rises about 260 feet above the lake, and climbing it and running back down is a rite of passage. On a hot July Saturday the beach feels like a small city.