Laketown Beach
Holland, MI
Laketown Beach is a township park south of Holland where the only way to the water is a long wooden stairway over a steep, wooded dune. Plenty of people turn around at the bottom step. The ones who don't get a quiet stretch of Lake Michigan sand and a view from the crest that runs a long way up and down the shore.
The climb filters out the crowds and the view from the top is excellent, though hauling beach gear up and over is a chore.
How we score beachesThe top of the stairs is one of the best free sunset seats between Holland and Saugatuck. Bring a sweatshirt; it's windier up there than on the sand.
A small township lot at the base of the dune; check posted signs for current rules.
Reached only by a long stairway over the dune, so it's not workable for wheelchairs, strollers, or heavy coolers.
The stairs keep it calm even on the Fourth of July. On an October evening the dune forest turns orange and you may have the whole beach to yourself.
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.