Grand Haven City Beach
Grand Haven, MI
Grand Haven City Beach runs along Harbor Avenue just south of Grand Haven State Park. It's the same sand and the same pier view, minus the state park gate. Neighborhood families use it as their everyday beach and let the tourists fight over the state park lot next door.
A calmer option next to the state park, though the small lot means you need to get there early.
How we score beachesStroll north along the waterline to the pier for sunset. You'll get the same view without paying to enter the state park.
A small city lot on Harbor Avenue fills fast; the city has been changing its parking rules, so check current signage.
A short, flat walk from the lot reaches the sand.
Busy from late June through August. On a clear winter day the frozen pier and lighthouse are a short walk up the 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.