Very cool Aqua Park in Coldwater, MI, conveniently located by the highway. Great for all ages with…read moreyard games, a clean cool beach, kayaking, and paddle boarding and great shaded areas for picnics and grassy areas. They also have a water blow up for ages 1-5. In addition to tons of huge inflatable gladiator style slides diving platforms Bring a picnic and water/soda they also have concessions , hot dogs Dippin' Dots and corn hole. Water is fresh and clean. Natural spring feed lake. Great venue for weddings. Reunions. Family gatherings parties. And evening movies by the lake.

This beach is tiiiiny. Employee was very nice. Admittance fee is $4 and you have to hope you can…read morefind a spot to lay your towels. Half of this beach is maybe 3 feet across for sand. the other half is photographed

On the eastern side of Goguac Lake, this public access park isn't free. It's $2 per person or $5…read moreper car. This is Battle Creek's only park with lake access. Lots of parking, walking paths, several picnic areas with cover, picnic tables, grills, restrooms and playgrounds. I don't know if they have lifeguards at the beach area. Note that the park is only open during summer hours, so be sure to check first. [Review 11187 overall, 962 of 2019.]

Beautiful beach. But... you have to pay to park so being from out of state, I assumed the hefty…read moreparking price would translate to nice bathrooms/snack shack. That was not the case. They employ people to patrol the bathrooms and beach and they were very respectful and helpful. The beach itself requires a trip down and UP a long steep dune. It was near impossible to get up the hill carrying items. Stairs near the bath house/snack area would be very helpful. Even a rope to help pull yourself up would be good. Also there is NO alcohol allowed and if the patrol staff see you, they do confiscate your beverage.

Not too bad of a hike to the beach! It's not super big or anything but a nice hang out spot. Other…read moretrails were fun to hike too!

My favorite beach in Michigan…read more I've been to: Douglas Beach (wonderful neighborhood beach nearby) West Side County Beach (a bit south of Oval and lots of rocks to collect) as well as North and South Beach in South Haven, and a few other neighborhood ones there. Oval wins for me for a lot of reasons. Great, abundant parking ($15 per car for the day, $75 for the season as of 2026). Good restrooms, snack bar, but most importantly, lots of space on the beach to spread out and enjoy. Vibes are immaculate here. We had several days on our trip where this was it. We set up a beach tent, packed sandwiches, and had a blast. The waves were big a few days which I thoroughly enjoyed. It's kind of a roll of the dice whether the water is fine or a bit too chilly, but it's fun nevertheless. So, to sum it all up. SUN. WAVES. EASY. BEAUTIFUL. I will dream of the time spent here, especially come mid-February when we'd give nearly anything for a nice weather day.

Oval Beach is STUNNING and I'd love to give it 5 stars, but two things keep me from doing that…read more Primarily this is because the beach is not totally accessible to all visitors. We came here with my mother and she has MS, which affects her legs. The only way down to the beach were fairly steep sand dune paths that were incredibly difficult for even able bodied individuals to navigate. We tried finding stairs but came up empty, so that's a big deterrent here. The other is a more petty one, but it's parking. There seems to be a great amount of parking available here, especially on weekdays BUT it comes at a cost of $15, which seems more than we paid at other beaches. The beach itself is crisp and clean, with beautiful sand and shoreline, and some of the cleanest water we saw while on our visit to the lake. As a family with kids, this would be a great beach to visit, but you do need to factor in the difficulties of getting down to it, especially with your groups ability level and your beach gear in tow.

I loved this lake growing up, so many amazing memories of my childhood here. Whether picnics,…read morebirthdays or family reunions. Great beach and lots of shade, perfect for young families.

More than 2,000 acres, one of the largest inland deep clear spring fed lake in west Michigan. In…read moreearly summer lake is very transparent Caribbean blue color. It is in Kalamazoo county!!. Love to go boating, sailing, 2 mile long from south to north end. OK, for swimming and we see sometime scuba divers!! You can see around the Island Park lake floor with google map satellite view!!!! Not only they have yacht club, country club but also ice sailing yacht club!! Since 1897!! http://www.gulllakeiyc.org/ This video is surreal, cool to believe some one ice sail in Kalamazoo County!? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYbLGYvqP8E

Everyone pretty much has the same opinion about this: a beautiful, "neighborhood" beach that has…read moreextremely limited parking. Ideal if you're staying around it, I'm sure. We arrived on a day with intense wildfire smoke, the kind where the air quality was the worst in the entire world that day and you could feel it. We'd held the girls inside most of the day, but finally snapped in the evening and told them we wanted to catch the sunset here. Fortunately we were earlier enough to slide right into a spot (tried to come back two other times and had no such luck). After being cooped up in the AirBnB, we said screw it and all got in and swam around for a bit. It was glorious. The only unique thing is there are a lot of rocks to step on/bang into within the first 10 feet or so of the water. If you go out a little further, it shifts back to soft sand. It's such a cool visual both ways; the great lake, of course looking west, and then the towering stairs and cliffside neighborhood over to the east. Up top, there's a foot rinse for knocking off sand and a public restroom. I love this spot, and really the only knock is if you don't luck out on parking there's almost no alternative to getting here.

Nice spot. Limited parking. The stairs aren't as bad as they look. Small beach bc most is private…read morebeach.

Such a great spot! Came here on a Sunday as a family and friend meetup. We had ages ranging from…read moretoddler to teenager and adult. To enter the metro park it is $10/car. The splash pad cost an $8/person but allows in and out entry and was nice for the kiddos. The playground was pretty small-kid focused. Lots of beach sand and grassy area. The concessions and Kona ice were also a nice convenience on this hot summer day. Love that the restrooms had warm showers, toilets, sinks and a person cleaning during the peak busy hours. Only thing we wished was that there was a basketball court nearby for the teen and adults to play.

There are bathrooms, showers, and changing stalls. Keep in mind the changing stalls are not large…read more There's a lot of beach/sand. Water has a sandy bottom, not rocky. Water isn't clear, plenty of seaweed/algae both in the water and floating on top. That didn't stop us but definitely have enjoyed better beaches. The main attraction is the splash pad with water slides. It's fenced in but if you have wristband you can come and go. You must be 42" to ride the slides. When we went they had green wristbands for 42"+ and white bands for those under 42". It was $7 for 42" and $6 for under. Super reasonable. There were signs with rules but nobody followed them. There were 1-2 slide attendants at a time and the rules stated no jewelry or goggles but I saw so many people (adults and kids) with both. People went down the slides with sunglasses and cell phones too so nobody really cared, but they did do a great job of making sure people at the top of the slides didn't go down until the people at the bottom were done. At one point we saw a bunch of the teenage employees standing by 2 preteen boys and then a serious looking manager guy walked over and the boys confessed they were cussing. Not sure the before/after of that, but I'm glad it was dealt with. I didn't witness it but saw so many young kids standing in the slide line without an adult that I wouldn't want them hearing inappropriate stuff. **The tube slide goes way faster than the other one. There's one line on the staircase and then at the top splits off for which slide you want to go down and sometimes there wasn't a line at all for the non-tube slide. It would ideal for first-timers, or those that don't want to go fast. Coolers/food is allowed at the splash pad as long as you're sitting at a table while eating, which was so helpful for us. There's also a concession stand for beach goers with a lot of typical convenience options and I thought the prices were reasonable for beach food. $3.25 for soft service ice cream, for example.

Best park! I love that this year there are lifeguards (or maybe that was normal and I've never…read morenoticed?). Nice sand, a nice area to swim before you run into boats and you can borrow life vests. I like the flag warning system as well. The lifeguards were moving around swiftly to change them when the weather turned quickly which was nice. Bathrooms near the splash pad and a spot to buy food and ice cream is a nice touch. Also, if the kids tire of the water, there's a playground in the sand near the sidewalk. Perfect!

South Beach was just ok for us. The beach itself is nice and spacious, so it never felt…read moreovercrowded, which we appreciated. There was quite a bit of seaweed near the pier though, and that made the water less enjoyable than we were hoping. Safety is obviously important, and I completely understand the rules around rip currents and only allowing Coast Guard-approved flotation devices. My only suggestion would be to do a better job communicating that before people get into the water. A sign near the parking lot or beach entrance explaining the current conditions and flotation rules would've been really helpful. We didn't find out until we were already in the water, and it would've saved some frustration. One thing I did really like was the little beach shop and cafe. They were both super cute and made it easy to grab a snack or pick up anything you forgot, which was a nice touch. The staff clearly cared about keeping everyone safe, which I appreciate, but it also made us feel like we were being watched the whole time instead of being able to relax. We ended up heading over to the splash pad.

This campground is perfect for families or solo campers getting away for a couple days or even a…read moreweek or two. Its a big campground, ive met people here that book a year in advance and make it a yearly family reunion. Most campers are couples/ families. Remember to book as soon as possible this place is popular! A campsite is around $50 with electric and dont forget to get a sticker for Michigan state parks, it is required. This price is super reasonable for all you get and its dog friendly! Sites vary in size, but lots of options. The campground is super clean and well maintained (yes, even the bathrooms and showers.) I came across this gem of a campground a few years ago and I have been returning yearly. Van Buren is only about 10 minutes from South Haven so you can enjoy both vibes! They have their own gorgeous beach just a few minutes walk from your campsite and on the way there is a beautiful walk with a big and clean bathhouse right next to the beach and free life vests for all the little kids. Did i mention this campground is dog friendly!? I love bringing my furry family member here. The grounds are calm, quiet and the people are super nice. The staff is never too far away keeping an eye on things. I always feel safe here. There is a daily activity sheet and the campground host is very accessible and they have a little area right before you drive into the camp with information pamphlets and little things to look at. Hiking, biking, dunes, vollyball, beach, dunes & close to south Haven and a beautiful place to chill out at the end of the day at your campsite or RV with a nice fire and good friends. Van Buren Campground exceeded all my expectations and I hope it does the same for you.

Great beach for rock hunting fossils and colorful stones, especially lightening stones. Water is…read morecrystal clear!