New Buffalo City Beach
New Buffalo, MI
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.
Wide sand steps from town, but it's Chicago's closest Michigan beach and the parking rates reflect that.
How we score beachesPay for the three hour window instead of the full day if you're just coming for the afternoon. It's the cheaper rate, and the lot turns over after 4.
The city lot uses pay-by-plate parking from April through September, with a full-day rate and a cheaper three hour rate; expect it to fill by late morning on summer weekends.
The lot sits right behind the beach, with a short, flat walk onto the sand.
Animals are not allowed on the city beach or in city parks.
The southern tip of Lake Michigan warms earlier than the rest of the lake, so swimming is comfortable by early July most years. Watch the flag system near the harbor channel, where currents run stronger on wavy days.
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.
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.
Weko Beach
Bridgman, MI · Great Lakes
Weko Beach is the city of Bridgman's Lake Michigan park, a sandy beach with a campground just north of Warren Dunes State Park. A boardwalk climbs over the dune to the lake. It's the locals' alternative when Warren Dunes is jammed, with the same sand and water on a smaller scale.