Michigan Beach Park

Charlevoix, Michigan · on Lake Michigan · Lake Michigan Beach Park

Verified · 4 independent sources · top-verified

WATER: lake
ACCESS: Designated swim area
FEE: No fee found
SEASON: Varies by conditions

About Michigan Beach Park

Michigan Beach Park is a 17-acre public park and swimming hole owned and managed by the City of Charlevoix, Michigan, fronting roughly 2,000 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline just north of the Charlevoix channel. For anyone scouting places to swim in Charlevoix, the park pairs a groomed, actively used sand beach along the lake with a heavily forested upper dune bluff, and a 2018 city master plan aims to improve trails, parking, and beach access.

The park sits along Park Avenue between Grant Street and Antrim Street in Charlevoix, comprising an active sandy beach directly on Lake Michigan backed by a heavily forested upper dune bluff. The forested portion functions as a de facto wooded arboretum with unpaved walking trails, while the lower beach area is separated from part of the upper dunes by the city's water treatment facility. The dune bluff has steep slopes in places, connected to the beach below by rustic wooden stairways.

Swimming at Michigan Beach Park

The lakefront is described in the city's own planning documents as an "active public beach", a groomed sand beach along Lake Michigan used for swimming and beach recreation, distinct from the forested/trail portions of the park above the bluff. No specific detail on water depth or clarity was found in available sources.

How to get to this swimming hole

The park runs along Park Avenue in Charlevoix, roughly between Grant Street to the north and Antrim Street to the south, about 0.3 miles from downtown. Beach access is via several unpaved parking areas along Park Avenue, with some sections reached by wooden stairways down the dune bluff to the sand.

Parking: Multiple unpaved, informally defined parking areas exist along Park Avenue adjacent to the park; the 2018 master plan identified "better-defined parking" as a needed improvement.

The hike in

Time on foot: 1-2 min walk from adjacent parking; short stair descent (no distance/step-count published) from bluff-top parking areas

Drive-up/walk-up public beach; several unpaved parking areas sit directly along Park Avenue immediately adjacent to the sand, so the walk from a parking spot to the water is on the order of 1-2 minutes. Where parking is on the bluff-top rather than at beach level, access is via short wooden stairways down the dune bluff rather than a hiking trail.

No hiking trail leads to the swimming area itself; the forested upper dune does have informal unpaved walking paths, but those are a separate recreational feature (bird-watching/arboretum), not the route to the beach.

Plan your visit

Bringing kids

Good for kids

Pure Michigan's official listing describes it as a 'family-friendly beach' with a wide, sandy shore and on-site lifeguards, plus a playground, volleyball net, and basketball courts. Caveat: the city's own master plan notes the upper dune bluff has steep slopes reached by wooden stairways, so families approaching from bluff-top parking should use the stairs rather than the slopes themselves.

Parking

Lot

Multiple unpaved, informally-defined parking areas run along Park Avenue directly adjacent to the beach (per the city master plan, which flagged 'better-defined parking' as a needed improvement in its 2018 planning process). No fee schedule for this parking was found in any source checked; city Parking and Public Works pages did not address beach-specific parking.

Restrooms

Yes

Restrooms on-site, confirmed by both the City of Charlevoix's 2018 Michigan Beach Master Plan (which describes a 'small restroom facility') and the Pure Michigan (michigan.org) amenities listing; the latter also notes a seasonal concession stand.

Hours

Listed by Pure Michigan (michigan.org) as open year-round across all seasons; no specific daily operating hours (e.g., dawn-to-dusk) were found in official city sources.

On the water

Michigan Beach Park is presented in all sources as a swimming beach, not a boat launch, and no source found states an explicit on-site policy for hand-launching kayaks, canoes, or paddleboards from the sand. Left unlisted rather than assumed; nearby marinas (see rentals) serve the connected Round Lake/Charlevoix channel and Lake Charlevoix for anyone bringing or renting craft.

Rentals nearby

Ward Marina

Tri-toon pontoon boats (25' Bennington), ski boats (21' Chaparral), plus kayaks and paddleboards; motorized rentals include life jackets and tubes

Prices: 25' Bennington tri-toon $950/day; 21' Chaparral ski boat $785/day; 15% non-refundable deposit plus a $500 cash security deposit at pickup for motorized rentals (kayak/paddleboard pricing not published)

106 E Antrim St, Charlevoix, MI - on Round Lake at the Charlevoix channel, roughly 0.3-0.5 mi from Michigan Beach Park · Sept-June 8am-5pm; July-Aug 8am-7pm

Summertime Rentals, LLC

Jet skis, tritoons, pontoons, fishing boats, water trampolines, kayaks, paddleboards, tubes, skis, and wakeboards

2474 S M-66, East Jordan, MI - South Arm Marina on Lake Charlevoix, roughly 13 mi from Michigan Beach Park (different water body than Lake Michigan itself)

Backstory

In 2017-2018 the City of Charlevoix commissioned Edgewater Resources to develop a Michigan Beach Park Master Plan after its five-year Recreation Master Plan flagged general deterioration of site features (stairs, benches, trails) and safety/access concerns. The planning process included public visioning sessions, stakeholder interviews (including the Shade Tree Commission, Historical Society, and Munson Healthcare Charlevoix Hospital neighbors), and an online preference survey with 334 responses, leading to a consensus plan emphasizing native plant restoration, bluff stabilization, defined parking, and an ADA-accessible trail along Park Avenue.