Kohler-Andrae State Park
Sheboygan, WI
Kohler-Andrae State Park, just south of Sheboygan, is one of the last natural stretches of dunes on Wisconsin's Lake Michigan shore. A wooden cordwalk winds through the rolling dunes of the Kohler Dunes State Natural Area, and the wide sandy beach runs for miles. There's a nature center and a big campground in the pines.
Wild dunes and miles of sand minutes from Sheboygan, though the campground books up fast.
How we score beachesWalk the Dunes Cordwalk south from the nature center. It's the best way to see the dunes without damaging them.
A Wisconsin state park vehicle admission sticker is required.
The cordwalk is a wooden path over the dunes; the beach lots are close to the sand.
The campground fills on summer weekends. The dunes and white pine forest are beautiful in fall, when the beach empties out.
More Great Lakes beaches
Sleeping Bear Dunes Beach
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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
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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.