Sleeping Bear Dunes Beach
Empire, MI
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.
Water clear enough to rival a coastline and dunes over 400 feet tall, the climb back up is the one thing that catches first timers off guard.
How we score beachesThe climb back up the dune is far harder than the walk down. Pace yourself and bring more water than you think you need.
Leashed dogs (6 feet or shorter) are welcome year-round on Lakeshore beaches near Empire, though other sections of Sleeping Bear Dunes are off-limits to dogs or close seasonally to protect nesting shorebirds.
Lake Michigan's beach season is short, really just July and August, when the water finally climbs into the swimmable 60s and 70s. It freezes over or gets close most winters, and the lake stays too cold for swimming well into June most years.
More Great Lakes beaches
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.
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.