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November 2023 by Robbie Barnhill
Great state park! Dog friendly with nice beach areas. It is a bit tough to get to the beach, with having to climb the dunes, but that just means its not too busy!
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October 2023 by Sebastian fowler
This is a really cool place to go for a walk/hike. Lots of fun dunes to climb and run down, when we went the paths were flooded with rain from the night before, but no worries as there are other paths in the forest to the right of the path.
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October 2023 by Frederick Martinez Jr
Beautiful park! And we saved a lost dog.
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October 2023 by Dan Patrick Photography
Nice place to take a short hike to the beach
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September 2023 by FA M.
It has changed so much over the years. You have to hike to the beach now. The original beach entrance is very limited.
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September 2023 by Joe Z
The main trailhead to the beach will get your heart rate up but its totally worth it! There are "bathrooms", uhh they are not perfect. If you gave this place less than 5 stars, you are probably entitled or out of shape.
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August 2023 by Zach Koch
Hidden park. There's more entrances than the main one that I wish were shown on the map. It's an amazing trail though. Make sure to bring your bug and tick spray, but otherwise, enjoy nature at its finest. Some of the things about the park need some tidying from the state, but looking past that and seeing nature as it should be helps me and has helped others disconnect from the world of instant into the world of right here, right now.Dog-friendliness: Dogs must be on a 6ft leash.Picnic area: Picnic tables but they're not as up kept as they should be.
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August 2023 by Megan Smith
We went to Grand Mere on July 4th and found it to be a really nice alternative to busier beaches in the area. We arrived around 9 am and easily found parking. It's a bit of a hike to get to the beach but, knowing this ahead of time, we packed light and wore tennis shoes. Our whole family, including our two kids (ages 9 and 7) pretty easily managed the hike over the sand dunes. The beach itself is beautiful and there was hardly anyone there in the morning. It did get more crowded in the afternoon.
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August 2023 by Valeri C
Wow. We were not prepared for the trek to get from the parking lot to the beach ? We went around 11:00am on a Tuesday, 75* (so not too hot) things I wish I knew ahead of time:-Not great for young kids to walk.-The walk to the beach from parking lot is FAR, with sand hills.-NOT stroller friendly.-Wear sneakers!!!-Bring extra water to drink.-The sand is extremely hot walking the path and climbing sand dunes. It will get into sandals and burn feet even with them on (not exaggerating)we passed numerous people who were seeking the bits of shade from bushes along sandy path to cool their feet just like we were.We warned people we passed on the way back cause they noticed our exhaustion; 3 couples tried going further but ended up turning around because the sand was just too hot to make the trek!I had my 2 young daughters with me so this may be why it was much harder to get to and from the beach for us- I ended up pulling my 4 year old on her beach towel through the sand and my 9 year old sat on her tune and scooted along because it was too hot for their little feet!It was QUITE the journey, definitely a workout getting to and from the water; beach was pretty, lots of rocks along the shore, but we will NOT do that again ??
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August 2023 by Crystal Smith
Yes the paved trail is flooded. There is an alternative trail just to the right that is up higher, sandy, more scenic, and just more pleasurable anyhow. Based on these other reviews you would think the “dune” is some monstrosity… compared to sleeping bear or warren dunes it’s a hill really. Yes the sand is hot when the sun is out. The bugs weren’t all that bad and it had just rained earlier. Even some older folks warned us of the long upcoming trail. Hardly the case. Brought my pup and she got to test the water for the first time. It was a beautiful day, a little bit of a crowd but still plenty of room for privacy. Really enjoyed the day ❤️
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July 2023 by Lori Leung
You get a workout walking the sand dunes and your feet are sinking in the sand and sneakers filling with sand. The trail has a lot of bugs that kept hitting my head, buzzing my ears and flying in between my glasses and my eyes. I wish I had a head net for bugs. The 2 outhouses were disgusting with flies and mosquitoes coming out of the toilet, so I suggest you go to the bathroom before you come. Bring plenty of water because you will sweat in July. I almost turned around because of the bugs, but I just kept going to see a Great Lake (Lake Michigan). Was the hike worth it, not really. Find another place that you can drive to get to the lake. Lake Michigan is very large and I have never seen waves in a lake, so that was interesting, but I love my Florida beaches.Restrooms: Use at your own risk! Smells and bugs flying out of toilet, so no Thanks!
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July 2023 by Brian - TGR
About a 20 minute casual walk each way from the parking lot to the lake. Don't get discouraged by the first big dune you have to climb along the trail, it's by far the steepest. Worth the effort to get about 10 minutes further to the lake. Be prepared to fight flies along the path, although I did see a guy wearing a Tilley hat with a big net surrounding his head ... I never thought I would be jealous of that attire ... And I don't think you can share that like an umbrella.
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July 2023 by Nigel Bradford
This is my favorite beach to visit in lower Michigan. Why? The journey to get to the beach is quite fun, about a mile of trekking up and down through conditions common to nature. I love this as it eliminates most of the annoying people who would visit the beach. Now I won't be giving it a five-star as recently boaters have taken up coming here... most of these people boating are rude and blast music. While they swim in their wake of diesel fluids. Seriously, people, we come to the beach to relax, not hear your horrible music. Listening to your kids scream at a pitch and tone of mortal danger. They block a lot of the swim zones for people on top of just being super obnoxious. Next time, I'll be bringing a speaker to counter their music with obscenities so maybe they can have some self reflection. Overall, we need to make sure these boaters aren't happy to come here. Definitely skip this place if you're bringing lots of gear as you'll just leave trash everywhere... I love the beach, but dang, we need to socially engineer it back to tranquility.Restrooms: Going to be using your hand to plug your nose, and you'll need strong legs to hover.Dog-friendliness: There is no water outlet, so bring some. Most people do leash their dog. Although there are quite a few choke points to pass people.Picnic area: Wayy to bug infested imo to be functional.
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July 2023 by Stefany Vargas
Beautiful experience, it is a perfect place to go as a couple, you have to walk about 10 minutes passing between the paths of the trees and then cross the sand dunes until you reach the beautiful view of the beach, remember to take the path on the right.Restrooms: The bathrooms are at the beginning of the walk so make sure you use them before you start walking.Dog-friendliness: It’s perfect for pets, just make sure you’re clean
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June 2023 by Jace Addison
Hiking to the beach was really intense if you didn’t choose the right path, but the paths are mostly unmarked… so
