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

I love our local state rec area! Yes, I do wish there was more shade, and more shade closer to the…read morebeach, and I also know what the possibilities are for short and long term goals. This space is such a gift in our community.

Traveling has become so darn expensive (mostly thanks to hotels and rental cars) so I've been…read moretrying to find places within driving distance to explore this year so I can drive and also camp to save money and connect with nature more! I loved this campground. It's quite large with lots of lakes and bodies of water. I didn't get to hike a ton but the one trail I did hike was great and very peaceful. I reserved campsite 159. I will say that the campsite next to it was basically right on top of mine so it would be great for a group site! It was also located right by the bike/hike trail, so that was good for me but could see how it wasn't as private as other sites. Loved the check in process and great location related to Kalamazoo.

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.

You pay $15 per car to get in but it is worth it. Great area to swim, has bathrooms and a snack…read moreshack. The beach itself is well kept and no trash was seen. Great for watching sunsets and swimming. No stairs or easy way down if you have motility issues. :( My elderly mom was happy sitting at a picnic table at the top of the beach but was unable to touch water. That's ok but I wish I would have seen it somewhere so we could have picked a different beach the day she was visiting.

Beautiful beach, clean sand, clean water, wheelchair accessible ramp, lots of driftwood structures,…read moreand best of all, it's not crowded. People come here to just sit and watch the waves, look for beach glass, do zen meditation/gardening with the pebbles, clean up litter, swim, paddleboard, and chill with their dogs. (The last is technically not allowed but I won't tell if you won't.) The only drawback is there isn't much parking. Pro tip: your navigation app may direct you to a parking lot north of the parking lot with a ramp entrance to the beach, but that is great for overflow parking. Rocky Gap County Park will get you to the closest parking lot to the beach.

This park has free parking, nice ramp down to beach area with sand mat to the water. Family,…read moreSenior, friendly beach area. More parking is needed. Bathrooms are outdated.

We've been swimming here for years, so I was surprised to see I hadn't written a review yet!…read more This park has a sandy (with some gravel) beach, accessed via a hilly sidewalk from the handicap parking next to the newish picnic pavilion. Note: to get to the handicap parking, you don't park up top (and walk down those stairs, obviously!), but drive down a clearly marked accessible road down to the four handicap spaces nearer to the beach. You will still have to walk/wheel from those spots to the water. The water starts out really shallow (good for playing, if you have littles), and then goes deep pretty quickly. There is often a bunch of seaweed near to the shore, and, depending on the weather, the water can be murky. Persevere! STILL! It is a swimmable lake, and feels really good to get in the water, so close to home. There's a small playground area, a grassy area next to the sidewalks, and then, along the lakeshore, plenty of space for fishing.

An oasis in the middle of the city, it's easy to blink-and-you-miss-it this gem across from Oakwood…read morePlaza near the intersection of Oakland Drive and Parkview. This small park offers an elevated path and raised overlook and a small beach. If you work nearby, this is a great place to escape on your lunch break with a picnic and a good book. I once spotted a snowy owl in a tree adjacent to the park. Definitely a life highlight! Not the best swimming hole in the area (definitely visit Portage's Ramona Park for a bigger, better beach), but still worth the trip.

Every time I come here, I am treated like family. The staff ask for your preferences when going…read moredown certain slides, and the price is nice and cheap. Love this place, will return next summer

It was our first time visiting the East Lansing Family Aquatic Center. I was with some family from…read moreout of town so we needed a place to take the kids to burn off some steam. Sounds like a great spot right? Right! Unassuming from the outside, it was all business and professional courtesy once you entered through the gates. Here's the thing with aquatic centers. Lifeguards are paramount! We can all imagine a scenario when security and lifeguards are lacking, so to see it in action was incredibly impressive. On the day we went - near the end of our stay, we witnessed an episode where all the whistles blew, lifeguards stood up at their stations and pointed to the spot where someone was struggling in the water. In a matter of seconds, lifeguards converged and basically took care of business. Now these are late teens to early twenty-something kids. And to see this type of urgency, and trained behavior for the safety and security of their patrons was, well - encouraging to say the least. Once we got home it was decided that, based on our first experience, this won't be our last trip to the East Lansing Family Aquatic Center. Well done staff! You came through with stars!

There is no place like Crooked Lake in my book. It is the perfect size, big enough to spend the day…read moreon the water but not too big that it loses its tight-knit community. The Crooked Lake Association does a great job of hosting events and keeping the community cohesive- the most notable are the fantastic 4th of July firework show and 5k race. The water is clean and beautiful and very family oriented. There are two sand bars that are a great place to float, throw a football or let kids search for shells. The lake freezes over in the winter and is great for hockey, ice skating, ice boating, or ice fishing! It's one of my favorite places, it's truly beautiful.

A great little lake in northeast Indiana. Very quiet on week days and tons to do during the…read moreweekend. Nice beach with a great playground for small children. Boat launch just down the beach. Tons of parking and very quiet setting.

We came again this year because it's so close and even though we thought things had gone downhill,…read moremy kids love it. Well, they have made up for all the things that weren't great. The staff has gotten so much better the last couple years. They have more people that care and genuinely want you to have a great experience. Brandy, her husband Rob, and Jed are my favorite people at the park! They know you by name, are helpful, fun, and just good people. They make the park inviting. They put in a new splash pad, have made a lot of nice improvements, and yes, the bathrooms were really clean this time :). It's nice to see things improving and some of the staff staying year after year. I hope this company will continue to make this an inviting, clean, and fun place. And Jed, if you see this, you're definitely the king of candy bar bingo!!!

I've been coming to this campground for over 20 years with my family. I'll never go back to that…read moreexpensive RESORT again!! They don't have security like they used to, games like they used to, family sports like they used to, friendly staff like they used to, helpful staff like they used to. The place isn't at all the place you used to go to for the price. Now it's like going to any other RESORT, high prices and a shit show.