Clinch Park Beach
Traverse City, MI
Clinch Park Beach is downtown Traverse City's front yard, about 1,500 feet of sand on West Grand Traverse Bay a block from Front Street. There are lifeguards in summer, a snack bar, and kayak and paddleboard rentals. The TART Trail runs right along the back of the beach.
The easiest beach in Traverse City with everything on site, though downtown crowds and paid parking come with it.
How we score beachesDuring the National Cherry Festival in early July, the open space next door fills with the festival. Come early or pick a different beach that week.
Paid public parking in the downtown lots and garages near the beach.
Paved paths and the TART Trail run right up to the sand, one of the easier beaches in the area to reach.
The bay is swimmable from late June, with lifeguards through August. Winter brings the frozen bay and the TART Trail still plowed for walkers.
More Great Lakes beaches
Sleeping Bear Dunes Beach
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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
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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.