Magnus Park
Petoskey, MI
Magnus Park is Petoskey's city beach and campground, about 1,000 feet of Little Traverse Bay shoreline within walking distance of the Gaslight District downtown. The beach is a mix of sand and stones, and it's one of the easiest places in town to hunt for Petoskey stones.
Convenient to downtown with good stones, though it's more of a campground beach than a destination.
How we score beachesWalk to downtown along the waterfront trail for dinner, then come back to the beach at sunset.
A lot at the park, shared with the campground.
A short walk from the lot to the shoreline.
The campground fills in summer. In spring, stones wash up fresh after the bay ice breaks.
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.