Beulah Public Beach

Beulah, Michigan · on Crystal Lake

Verified · 4 independent sources · top-verified

WATER: lake
ACCESS: Designated swim area
FEE: No fee found
SEASON: Best in summer

About Beulah Public Beach

Beulah Public Beach is a village-owned swimming hole on the southeast/eastern shore of Crystal Lake in the small Benzie County village of Beulah, Michigan. It sits one block from downtown Beulah, and its wide sandy shoreline makes one of Michigan's clearest, deepest inland lakes an easy lake to swim in.

The beach lies where the village of Beulah hugs the southeast end of Crystal Lake, a large (9,854-acre), deep (avg. 70 ft, max 165 ft) inland lake known for exceptional water clarity because of its small watershed and low nutrient runoff. The sandy beach itself exists because an 1873 channel cut to Lake Michigan lowered the lake roughly 20 feet, exposing the sand flats that make up today's shoreline. The setting is a small-town lakefront park immediately adjacent to downtown Beulah rather than a backcountry or undeveloped site.

Swimming at Beulah Public Beach

Swimming is in shallow, sandy-bottomed water typical of Crystal Lake's shoreline, described by local sources as calm and family-friendly with clear, turquoise-tinted water. Water temperatures run from the low 50s°F in spring up to the mid-70s°F at the height of summer, cooler than nearby Lake Michigan beaches.

How to get to this swimming hole

The beach is at 139 Lake St, Beulah, MI 49617, about one block from downtown Beulah, directly on Crystal Lake's shoreline.

Parking: Described by local sources as ample/plentiful parking on site.

The walk in

No real hike here. The water is a short walk from where you park. This is a drive-up village beach with an on-site parking lot; swimmers walk directly from the lot to the shoreline (well under a minute/a few dozen yards), no trail or hike involved.

Plan your visit

Bringing kids

OK with supervision

Shallow, sandy-bottomed entry with a marked/designated swimming area and an on-site playground make it a generally easy, low-current spot for kids. However, some visitors report swimmer's itch after swimming here and recurring seasonal E. coli concerns, so 'with_care' rather than an unqualified 'yes.' Note: the village's own official water-quality page shows weekly 2025-2026 testing by the Benzie-Leelanau County Health Department reporting 'Level 1 - satisfactory for full body contact,' i.e. no current advisory, which tempers the anecdotal E. coli complaints somewhat.

Parking

Lot

On-site parking lot at 139 Lake St, plus additional parking associated with adjacent Beulah Village Park (tennis courts/playground). Tourism sources describe it as ample, but no official capacity figure or fee was found; no signage/fee info confirmed either way.

Restrooms

Yes

A beach house is on-site at the beach itself; a search-engine summary of cityseeker.com's listing also describes restrooms and tennis courts in the adjacent Beulah Village Park next door. No official village page could be reached to confirm exact restroom hours/type.

Water clarity

Clear

Crystal Lake is documented (Wikipedia) as unusually clear and deep for an inland Michigan lake because of its small watershed and low nutrient/sediment input (avg depth 70 ft, max 165 ft). Tourism source heymichigan.com describes the water at Beulah Beach specifically as clear with a turquoise tint.

On the water

KayaksCanoesPaddleboardsMotorboatsPontoonPersonal watercraft

Restrictions: No lake-wide no-wake, electric-only, or motor ban was found for Crystal Lake generally -- it supports pontoons, ski boats, fishing boats, and personal watercraft per local marina rental listings (operators must be 21+ to rent power craft). The swimming area at Beulah Public Beach itself is described as 'safely marked,' implying motorized traffic is kept outside the roped swim zone, but no explicit ordinance text was found confirming this.

Rentals for the lake are readily available in both Beulah and Frankfort (see rentals below); Cold Creek enters the lake next to the beach as an additional minor paddling feature per traversecity.com.

Rentals nearby

Crystal Lake Adventure Sports

Kayaks (singles/doubles/sit-in/sit-on-top), canoes, stand-up paddleboards, pontoon boats, bikes (e-bikes at Frankfort Annex only), beach chairs/umbrellas

Has both a Beulah location (on Crystal Lake) and a Frankfort location; family-run, in business 30+ years per its own marketing. · Beulah location: Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri/Sat 10am-5pm, Thu 10am-4pm, Sun 10am-2pm. Frankfort location: Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 10am-4pm. Rental bookings routed through the Frankfort Annex, (231) 399-0329.

Crystal Lake Marina

Fishing boats, pontoon boats, ski boats, personal watercraft

Prices: Fishing boat: $40 half-day (4 hrs) / $60 full day (8 hrs). Pontoon boat: $175 half-day / $250 full day. Ski boat: $250 half-day / $350 full day. Prices do not include gas; renters must be 21+.

7271 Crystal Dr, Beulah, MI 49617, directly on Crystal Lake. · Seasonal (summer), reservations open beginning Memorial Day weekend; exact daily hours not published.

What regulars say

Visitor reports are mixed on water quality and comfort: one visitor described getting swimmer's itch 'all over my body' after swimming at the Beulah public beach and being wary of going back in; another account (circa July 2024) claimed the beach 'closes every year, around the same time because of E-coli,' and a more recent 2026 report noted swimmer's itch is now common across upper-lower-peninsula lakes generally, not unique to this beach. Against that, the village's own official beach-monitoring page shows weekly 2025-2026 Benzie-Leelanau County Health Department E. coli tests reporting satisfactory 'Level 1' full-body-contact water quality, suggesting no active advisory as of the most recent postings. On the positive side, visitors consistently describe the lake's turquoise clarity and sandy, gently sloping shallow entry as a draw.

Backstory

The sandy beach at Beulah exists in its current form because a channel dug in 1873 to connect Crystal Lake to Lake Michigan caused the lake's water level to drop about 20 feet, exposing sandy beaches along the shore, including the site of today's public beach.