Platte River Point
Honor, MI
Platte River Point is where the Platte River empties into Lake Michigan in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The river mouth forms a shallow, warm sandbar that's perfect for kids and tubers. It's a favorite end point for floating down the river.
Warm, shallow water and a fun river float, though it gets busy in summer.
How we score beachesFloat the lower Platte in a tube and end here. The last stretch opens right onto the beach.
A National Lakeshore park pass is required; parking is at the Platte River Point lot.
A short walk from the lot to the sandbar and beach.
Pets are not allowed April 15 through August 15 to protect nesting shorebirds.
By late July the shallow river mouth is noticeably warmer than the open lake, which is why families camp out on the sandbar. The pet closure ends August 15, and September brings the salmon run up the Platte.
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.