Zorn Park Beach
Harbor Springs, MI
Zorn Park Beach is the city beach in Harbor Springs, on Bay Street just west of downtown. The water in Harbor Springs' deep, sheltered harbor is famously clear. There's a bathhouse, a playground, and a mineral well, and lifeguards are on duty in summer.
Clear water and a pretty harbor, though the beach is small.
How we score beachesWatch the sailboats come in and out of the harbor from the beach; it's one of the prettiest harbors on the lake.
Street parking along Bay Street and nearby lots.
A short walk from the street to the sand.
Lifeguards are on duty from early June through the summer, until 6 p.m. The harbor is calm and clear even when the open lake is rough.
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.