Durfee Creek Beach
Grand Marais, MN
Durfee Creek Beach is a small cobble beach where Durfee Creek reaches Lake Superior, northeast of Grand Marais near the Colvill area. It's one of a handful of little creek mouths along this stretch of Highway 61 that the state monitors for water quality, and it rarely sees more than a passing rock hunter.
A peaceful, empty cobble shore, though there are no facilities and little to do beyond stone hunting.
How we score beachesPull over on a calm morning and walk the cobbles toward Colvill; you'll likely have the whole stretch to yourself.
Informal roadside parking along Highway 61.
A short walk from the road to the cobbles.
Spring runoff pushes fresh gravel out of the creek, and fall storms rearrange the cobbles. In summer it's a peaceful spot to sit on the rocks and watch the lake.
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.