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    Tunnel Park

    4.0 (37 reviews)

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    Nichole M.

    Looking for a great place. A family grilling and chilling close to the water side. Pick here. There's even barbecues at the top of this big old stairway that you can take your food up to and have a great view. Definitely a worthy Beach.

    Trenton S.

    Such a nice beach on Lake Michigan! We even witnessed a wedding proposal while we were here.

    Antonio R.

    Although I agree that you can come here and bring your kids to enjoy the games or bring food and use the grills here, coming to the beach it's certainly not attractive. There is basically no space between the lake and the steep dune. You can certainly set your self up in between but then people need to climb or walk in the water to go around you. We ended up sitting down on top of the dune while feeling the strong breeze, which for this weekend was kind of cool. Nice to visit once or grill food with no plans to get into the water with small kids. Bring your own food as they don't have a concession stand.

    Kymberly H.

    Beautiful scenery, family friendly and peaceful. Have to pay a fee if you don't have a county park pass in the park itself that is.

    Hannah H.

    Such a neat park!! As others have said, PARK ACROSS THE STREET! It's not really worth paying for, especially when they have free overflow parking literally directly across the street from the park. Gorgeous lookout area and view from the top if you climb up the sand dune (or take the stairs like I did). If you go this route, there is a tall set of stairs on the other side to go down to get to the beach. There's another way to reach the beach- by going under the tunnel. We missed it at first, but it's to the right of the park, near the restrooms. No stairs there! We walked down the beach a ways to get away from the large crowds that gather at the main beach entrance. It wasn't too busy when we first got there but it was packed mid-afternoon. We went on a Sunday during peek season though. Just beware not to go too far down the beach- you may reach the end of the technical park territory which is marked by a small sign up off the sandy area. Beyond is private beach access for the homes along the water. We didn't noticed this and ended up setting up just past this sign (as several other people had) and eventually a park ranger came and asked us to move. Luckily, we were close to the line and just moved to the other side of it so it wasn't a big deal. Water stays relatively shallow out quiet a ways. Roughly up to mid-stomach/chest. Water is so clear! It amazes me how much the lake looks and acts like the ocean. Beautiful park!

    Best playground
    Mike H.

    When I moved to Michigan, a little over 4 years ago, my first glimpse of majestic Lake Michigan was as I crested the stairs at Tunnel Park in Holland. I have been coming back here a few times a year because this is truly a great park with a lot to offer. I love the picnic areas off the parking lot. They have a HUGE and modern kids play area. Big fields for frisbee, soccer or whatever else you fancy and a dune you can roll down( beat that Grand Haven !! Just joking ) the beach is very clean and well maintained with a great view up and down the coastline. The trudge up the stairs or through the sand to the tunnel can be tough for the elderly but what doesn't kill you often makes you stronger!! I love the State parks but Tunnel park has a specialness for me.

    Rubye N.

    The view is expansive and beautiful! Water is very blue as far as the eye can see! $8 parking for non-residents is very reasonable to maintain the park, including the nice changing rooms provided and foot sprayers to remove sand. We did not enter through the tunnel, as there wasn't very clear signage to the tunnel. We climbed the stairs, the first entrance we saw, and did enjoy the view from the top! The beach wasn't very wide in terms of shoreline to the base of the dunes, but of course plenty of shoreline to share with other sunbathers! We enjoyed much of our day there! As an aside-- not very good phone signal on the beach!

    Liz P.

    I'm being generous and giving this 3/5 stars, I want to give it a 2 compared to Grand Haven's beach though. We got here late in the afternoon, around 6:30pm. It's $7 to get in for the day if you are parking there. The bugs were fierce and to get out of the park, you have to slog UPHILL through the sand, then go up some stairs, then you can choose to run down more sand (if you're a kid, most likely) or take MORE stairs down. I just wasn't that impressed with it. Beach is smaller but nice, but it was the bugs that were offputting.

    Cold day, but beautiful.
    Patrick L.

    I had the pleasure of spending 15 minutes in 38 degree weather at Tunnel Park in December. It was a great 15...maybe actually closer to 10 minutes. On the way to a business meeting, my host asked me if I wanted to see Lake Michigan - sounded good, I was down. So, into the parking lot we rolled, out of the car, through the tunnel and viola - Lake Michigan! What a beautiful spot. Clean sand, an expansive view of the lake and what appeared to be adequate facilities for a visit during warmer months. Oh...and the tunnel is quite photogenic too! 4 stars...probably closer to 5.

    Tristan H.

    A long, long time ago, there were English Hunter/Jumper horses shows at the fairground, and I and my other friends at a stable in Galesburg would participate. Because teenagers need distraction our parents would take us, after the show was over for the day, to a now long gone miniature golf course up the road on Lakeshore Drive and then over to Tunnel Park for a picnic. (Otherwise, all the parents knew that we would pile into whomever had a car and a license and try to find a bar that would serve us. And because the drinking age was 18 then, there were such bars to be found.) It was at that park that I had my wind knocked out of me for the first time. You know how things are either glorious or disappointing or absolutely dreadful the first time. This - finding I couldn't breathe at all - was absolutely frightening. I must have missed class the day the teacher talked about it. We were on the swings, and we were playing the game where you swing as high as you can, and at the apex launch or fling yourself out of your swing onto the sand yards and yards away. The person who can land farthest from the swings wins. When it was my turn my arms did not clear the chains, and I flew into the air off balance, landing hard on my back on the sand. I thought I was going to die. I remember some of the girls I rode with tried to be reassuring that the pain would pass while others laughed in derision. Good times. The park seems now, decades later, remarkably unchanged. It has been updated and modernized here and there, but it's essentially the same park. The tunnel is not the easiest feature to locate but it's there like it was there when I was a teen. The steps far to the left of the tunnel that go up and over the dunes are knee breakers. Find the tunnel. The actual beach area is pretty small. Ignore the mean stares of the neighbors who think the park is a monstrosity in an otherwise peaceful beach housing development. Grand Haven and South Haven have much nicer beaches, but no one has a better tunnel.

    Sunset view from tunnel observation area.

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    9 months ago

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    9 months ago

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    8 months ago

    Beautiful park! The day we went, there were very few people which was perfect. We will definitely be back.

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    2 years ago

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    9 years ago

    It's a great family park, beach-wise and the playground on the other side of the dunes. The valley beach helps keep the wind at bay!

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    7 years ago

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    12 years ago

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    12 years ago

    Pretty beach on Lake Michigan! Very clean! We enjoyed walking through the tunnel to get to the beach.

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    Review Highlights - Tunnel Park

    Big fields for frisbee, soccer or whatever else you fancy and a dune you can roll down( beat that Grand Haven !!

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    Holland State Park

    Holland State Park

    3.9(99 reviews)
    1.7 mi

    I always adore Michigan's state parks. And Holland's holds its own. Huge sandy beach to plunk down…read moreyour towel and take a dip in the Big Lake. Lots of walkable space, too, for beachcombing or watching boats cruise through the channel. Excellent views of Holland's famous "Big Red" lighthouse. Camping available, too. Sand seems more littered these days with washed up debris. On busy days Ottawa Beach Road backs up for miles. For the best chance to avoid traffic arrive super early or wait until late afternoon when the families have headed home. No lifeguards. Swim at your own risk. Motor vehicle permit required.

    The campground is along a busy road that seemed to be the drag-strip for locals. Traffic and loud…read morecars made for a less than stellar experience. I tend to camp to find nature and peace, don't want to camp on a drag strip! If you don't care about camping with constant road noise, then this may be what you would like. We had company who paid for a visitor tag the one evening we were there during "shoulder" season. Most of the sites were empty, yet rangers issued a ticket for parking incorrectly! No warning! No gentle "even though we're practically empty, we will issuing tickets". The rangers patrolled though routinely never spoke to us, or acknowledge our presence. Just seemed to cop an attitude. They wouldn't even make eye contact much less talk to us. We were 4 sixty plus individuals checking out the park, not rablerousers trying to cause problems. We didn't clearly understand the strictness of the rule enforcement, would think rangers might be considerate of first time visitors especially during the slow season. Instead by ruling with a heavy hand and large fine we would not go back. While restrooms and showers were relatively clean, as campground bathrooms go, regular maintenance was being ignored, one sink and one toilet ran continuously and several of the showers had broken plumbing parts. We'd paid for two nights up front, but the rangers managed to irritate me enough that we left after one. I would hate to be there during busy season, will not return, and would never recommend staying at this campground! Found the dune behind the campground to be full of litter and just did not find anything good about our trip to Holland town or park!

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    Holland State Park
    Holland State Park
    Holland State Park

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    Windmill Island Gardens - August 2025

    Windmill Island Gardens

    3.9(155 reviews)
    5.7 mi

    Oh my Gosh, 5 Stars all the way! I'm so happy we came here during Tulip Festival! Was it kinda…read morepricey at $20 a person to get in, and crazy busy, yes to both! but would I do it again, yes for sure! We walked up and saw you could catch a big ol school bus to shuttle you up to the entrance for free, we hoped on and went in. I was very excited to see de Zwaan the famous Windmill imported from the Netherlands! The only one in the US, I think! It was SO beautiful! I got some great shots of the tulips and the windmill that I thought were just so pretty! Loved going up in the windmill and walking thru the tulip fields. Also don't miss walking thru the shops with authentic goods for sale including a whole cheese wall! With samples! You know some Dutch Gouda had to come home with me!

    Back in July I went to De Zaanse Schans in the Netherlands and then in August I came here to…read moreWindmill Island Gardens - so I feel like I have a good way to compare the parks. The windmill is identical to what is in the Netherlands. The only difference between this windmill and the ones in the Netherlands is that each level of this windmill has different types of jobs that were done that relied on windmill power such as clog carving and flour milling. I feel like the people in costume don't really want to chat or start a discussion around the park except for one woman at the very top of the windmill who was giving out stickers and one doing the pipe organ demonstration - everyone else in costume were either chatting with each other or kind of zoned out. Outside of the windmill, there's not much to do - we watched the short informative film and the pipe organ demonstration, but that's it for activities. We were told that the park had horses in the pasture but we walked the entire park and all the paddocks were empty. There is a carousel for kids and there is a gift shop selling the exact same stuff as all of the gift shops in Amsterdam. Even though we were in Holland, Michigan, everything just says "Holland" on it - I even saw the exact clog magnet I purchased in Amsterdam for sale here! Even the paper shopping bags for small items are identical to what is available in the gift shops in Amsterdam. (The cheese is local though.) One that that was pretty cool was looking at this big miniature town that they have on display from the 1930's. If you have never been to Windmill Island Gardens, then you'll have no idea of the significance of the miniature town in Nicole Kidman's basement in the film "Holland" that she starred in. It is set in Holland Michigan and features many shots of this particular windmill. My husband and I watched it after we stumbled upon it after our visit and having been here was kind of cool while watching. Overall, I'd say you can do absolutely everything in 2 hours here, including walking the entire loop around the fields. It was fine but I'd definitely like more of the employees doing talks discussing Dutch culture, crafts, architecture, whatever. Visited: August 2025

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    Windmill Island Gardens - Welcomed in heritage costume

    Welcomed in heritage costume

    Windmill Island Gardens - August 2025

    August 2025

    Windmill Island Gardens

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    Tunnel Park - parks - Updated May 2026

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