Packard Park
South Haven, MI
Packard Park is a small South Haven park at 231 North Shore Drive, with grills, picnic tables, a deck overlooking Lake Michigan, and a big shaded lawn. The beach below is quieter than South Haven's main beaches. It's where locals go when they want a swim without the scene.
A calm alternative to downtown's beaches, but it's small and parking is limited.
How we score beachesPark along North Shore Drive if you can find a spot. It saves you the lot fee.
A paid lot at the park, with some free parallel parking along North Shore Drive; check current rates.
Paths lead from the lot to the overlook deck and down to the beach.
On a 90 degree July afternoon, the shaded lawn up top is the real draw. The beach itself is best in the late afternoon, once the sun swings west.
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.