North Beach
Racine, WI
North Beach is Racine's award-winning city beach, a wide stretch of powdery sand just north of the harbor and downtown. Lifeguards are on duty daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer, and there's a big playground and a beach house. It's been named the best beach in Wisconsin more than once.
Racine's lifeguarded pride with soft sand and a big playground, though it's busy on summer weekends.
How we score beachesIf the sand by the beach house is packed, walk north toward Zoo Beach. The crowd thins out within a few minutes.
Parking lots near the beach and beach house; they fill on hot weekends.
Paved paths lead from the parking area to the beach house and sand.
Lifeguards are on duty from early June through Labor Day. The water warms by mid July.
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.