Harrington Beach State Park

Belgium, Wisconsin · Harrington Beach State Park

Verified · 3 independent sources

WATER: lake
ACCESS: Designated swim area
FEE: Yes, see below
SEASON: Varies by conditions

About Harrington Beach State Park

Harrington Beach State Park is a 715-acre Wisconsin state park on the Lake Michigan shoreline near Belgium and Lake Church, Ozaukee County, offering more than a mile of natural sand/pebble beach for swimming and sunbathing. The park also contains a scenic 26-acre former limestone quarry lake dating to a quarry operation that ran from the 1890s to 1925. It is a developed, drive-up state park with camping, trails, and an observatory rather than a backcountry or informal swimming hole.

The park sits directly on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Ozaukee County and encompasses white cedar and hardwood swamp, old-field grasslands with restored wetland ponds, and a limestone quarry lake left over from a dolomite quarrying operation that ran from the 1890s until 1925, once served by the company town of Stonehaven (Wikipedia).

Swimming at Harrington Beach State Park

The primary swimming area is the more-than-a-mile-long Lake Michigan beach, which the Wisconsin DNR lists swimming and sunbathing among the park's core beach activities. No first-hand descriptions of water depth, temperature, or bottom conditions were found in the sources located.

The walk in

No real hike here. The water is a short walk from where you park. No source describes a required hike to reach the water. Harrington Beach is consistently described by the DNR and Wikipedia as the park's core, drive-in day-use feature (a mile-plus Lake Michigan beach), and entry requires a vehicle admission sticker, implying vehicle/lot access rather than backcountry trail access. However, no source gives the exact walk distance/time from the parking lot to the sand, so that detail is left null rather than estimated.

Plan your visit

Parking

Paid

Wisconsin DNR requires a vehicle admission sticker to enter the park (functions as the park/parking fee for the whole property); no source found gives the sticker dollar amount, lot location, or capacity.

Hours

6 a.m. to 11 p.m. year-round (Wisconsin DNR)

On the water

Wikipedia notes the park's 73-site campground includes 1 dedicated 'kayak site,' implying kayak/canoe access to Quarry Lake (and/or Lake Michigan) is part of normal park use, and Wikipedia separately lists fishing as available on Lake Michigan, Quarry Lake, and Puckett's Pond. No source confirms which watercraft types are permitted on which specific water body, motor restrictions, or launch points, so the allowed list is left empty rather than assumed.

Backstory

The park's 26-acre Quarry Lake originated as a dolomite/limestone quarry operated by the Lake Shore Stone Company from the 1890s until 1925. The company town of Stonehaven housed immigrant quarry workers from Luxembourg, Austria-Hungary, and Italy; most Stonehaven buildings were later relocated, though some foundations remain visible in the park (Wikipedia).