Harbor Beach City Beach
Harbor Beach, MI
Harbor Beach City Beach is the public sand beach in the Thumb town of Harbor Beach, sitting inside what's billed as the world's largest man-made freshwater harbor. The long breakwalls keep the water calmer than the open lake. There's an accessible fishing pier, and the Harbor Beach Lighthouse stands out at the end of the breakwall.
Calm, sheltered water in a big harbor, though the beach itself is modest.
How we score beachesBring a rod for the accessible fishing pier. It's one of the easiest places on the Thumb to cast into deep water.
Parking near the beach and marina.
The fishing pier is accessible; the beach is a short walk from parking.
The harbor's breakwalls take the edge off the waves, so midsummer swimming is calmer here than on most of the Thumb. Shallow shipwrecks offshore draw divers 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.