Erie Bluffs State Park
Lake City, PA
Erie Bluffs State Park, west of Erie near Lake City, protects a mile of undeveloped Lake Erie shoreline below 90 foot bluffs. The beach is rocky and wild, with a coastal observation tower up top and Elk Creek, a famous steelhead stream, running through the park. It's not a swimming beach; people come to beachcomb, fish, and walk.
A wild, undeveloped stretch of shore with a great tower view, though it's rocky and closed to swimming.
How we score beachesClimb the observation tower for the view, then walk down to the rocky shore to hunt for beach glass.
Free parking at the park lots.
Trails lead down the bluff to the rocky shore; they can be steep.
Steelhead anglers crowd Elk Creek in fall and spring. There's no swimming at any time.
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.
