Whitefish Point Beach
Paradise, MI
Whitefish Point Beach runs along the tip of the Shipwreck Coast north of Paradise, where more than 200 wrecks lie nearby, including the Edmund Fitzgerald. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on the grounds displays the Fitzgerald's recovered bell. The pebbly beach is prime agate country, and freighters pass close offshore on their way to and from the Soo.
Shipwreck history, agates, and big-lake drama at the point, though it's a long drive north.
How we score beachesTour the museum first. Walking the beach afterward, knowing what's out there, hits differently.
Parking at the Whitefish Point light station and museum grounds.
A short walk from the lot to a pebbly beach; boardwalks cross the dunes near the point.
The museum runs from spring through fall. Spring is huge for bird migration, when hawks and owls funnel up the point before crossing the lake.
More Great Lakes beaches
Sleeping Bear Dunes Beach
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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.