Eagle Harbor Beach
Eagle Harbor, MI
Eagle Harbor Beach is a small sandy beach inside the sheltered harbor at Eagle Harbor, with the red Eagle Harbor Lighthouse across the water on the rocky point. The harbor is calmer and slightly warmer than the open lake. It's a charming stop in one of the Keweenaw's prettiest villages.
The calmest swim on the Keweenaw with a red lighthouse across the harbor, though there's only room for a few families on the sand.
How we score beachesVisit the lighthouse museum after a swim; it's a short drive around the harbor.
Street parking in the village near the beach.
A short walk from the street to the sand.
The sheltered harbor is the best bet for swimming in the Keweenaw in July and August. The lighthouse museum is open in summer.
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.