Point Iroquois Beach
Brimley, MI
Point Iroquois Beach sits beside the Point Iroquois Light Station in the Hiawatha National Forest, where Whitefish Bay narrows toward the St. Marys River. The beach is a mix of sand and stones, and a boardwalk crosses the dunes to the water. Freighters bound for the Soo Locks pass closer here than almost anywhere else on the lake.
A lighthouse and front-row freighter views, though the beach is more stones than sand.
How we score beachesClimb the lighthouse tower in summer. From the top you can watch freighters line up for the locks with Canada on the other side.
Parking at the light station off Lakeshore Drive.
A boardwalk leads from the lighthouse grounds over the dunes to the beach.
The lighthouse museum and tower are open in the summer season. On fall evenings, the freighter traffic is steady and the sunsets are long.
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.