This is a beautiful state park with tree covered trails to hike. If hiking sand dunes is not your…read morething there are other trails. If it is, it could be a training pre-curser to bigger dunes. In any regard, it is rustically beautiful. There are porta-potties and picnic tables near the parking lot.

This is such a lovely state park with hiking right to the beach. I had a great time with my pups…read moreand enjoyed the water which wasn't too hot and neither too cold. The sand is great and the hike is pretty short (about 15 mins) a lot of people walked in with towels, chairs, blankets, and were lazing around great place. Just be aware of ticks. Seems like there were a lot of banners and I had my tick spray so that was great.

Best camping experience in a long time, maybe ever. Staff extremely friendly and helpful…read more(especially Brandon amd his grandfather). Clean facilities. Wood cheaper than at the gas-station (even if you have to buy it on the premesis). Canoe/Kayak rental and ride on the premises. Just a short distance from South Haven, breweries and wineries and a blueberry farm. Will definitely be back! Thank you for the experience. Chris S.

Would highly recommend this place. My spouse and I are originally from the Pacific Northwest and…read morenow live in Chicago - so we are always looking for little nooks within 3 hours of the city. This is a little gem of a campground that's pleasantly filled with comforts and modern amenities. The campground itself is very small, but it's quiet, & has a steady body of water. I will be staying here again. I spent the weekend sitting in my hammock and enjoying hearing the water. 5/6 of the cabins face the water just as an fyi, so it's like a private paradise. The town of SoHa is really fun too and a great place to wine, dine, & explore. The cabins are basic and rustic with one plug in to charge your electronics. There is one light in there but it does get dark at night. Bring a nightlight. The queen bunk beds are great and comfortable. I would say more like 2-3 people could comfortably sleep in a cabin due to space and the cabins get hot at night! There's showers, there's toilets, there's cabins- oh my! The showers run on a unique token system. 1 token=$1=3 minutes of hot, private, shower. Tokens are purchased on site. the showers are game changers because they're open 24 hours with cameras outside so the owners monitor who goes in/out and your safety. As a queer person, I felt comfortable & safe at this campground.

If you're looking for a peaceful getaway, Grand Mere State Park is a hidden gem that delivers on…read moreall fronts. The park offers several trails that take you through dense forests and towering sand dunes which lead to some stunning overlooks and beaches of Lake Michigan. It's a bit of a trek to get to the water, but once you do, the lakefront is beautiful and less commercialized than other spots. Definitely recommend Grand Mere State Parkin for anyone in the area looking for a peaceful outdoor escape.

Path to Lake Michigan was flooded, water over your ankles. No easy path to Lake Michigan. A…read morehiker would love the up/down sand dunes.

Very clean and beautiful beach that is walking distance from downtown South Haven. Paid parking…read moreavailable but you can also find free parking in downtown and walk down the beach. Love that were are life vests available to borrow for FREE.

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.

Nice little dog friendly beach for our pups first time at the beach! There were plenty of places to…read morepark but we got there pretty early. Short walk to the beach. It was a pretty small area and pretty packed but it was a holiday weekend when we went. Wasn't the most clean/pristine beach but we didn't expect that for a dog friendly beach. There were bathrooms up near the parking lot. Kind of a mixed sand rock beach but mostly sand. When we left, the parking lot was packed and people were lining the street, so I'd say go early if you want a parking spot.

One of the top highlights of our week stay in South Haven. This small secluded nature preserve has…read morea modest rocky beach perfect for small treasure hunting. At the beach we found geodes, lightening rocks, and sea glass. This area has a small 45ish car parking lot. It is dog friendly (dogs must be on leash and picked up after). There's a .33 mile trail that is not difficult. Park is free and a great way to spend some time in nature!

This is an easily walkable/bikeable sometimes-shaded, bucolic trail created as a "rail trail" on a…read moreformer railroad bed from the 1870's. It is all asphalt, flat, & winds alongside bodies of water, sometimes busy main roads and with lots of wildflowers growing alongside (also flies...so, bring bug spray). It is 33.5 miles long, has a campground, Kal Haven Outpost, on the South Haven end of it, as well as a water fountain, bike tools & rest rooms. There are covered bridges & overpasses to go under and through, nice views alongside & benches to rest on. We started on the trail midday and, interestingly enough, barricades, closing down the trail, were put up sometime during our walk. We are lucky that we got in our walk before this happened.

I live around the corner and walk the trail daily. I take various directions but my favorite is the…read moretrailhead at 10th to F. The scenery is beautiful in every direction. I've had deer & coyote's jump in front of me on the trail. Maybe one day I'll walk from Kalamazoo to South Haven!

303 gang, rise up! That's for all those who make it up the 303 steps to get great views of the…read moreKalamazoo river. My five year old made it, so I hope you can too. It's just steps away from the chainferry, so if you're in downtown Saugatuck, a lot of people will chainferry it over and explore this park. We had a beautiful weather day that was just chilly enough to now want to park at the beach. This ended up being a ton of fun because we could essentially hike up a dune, make our way to Oval Beach and get the unique experience of nature here. The steps are not as crazy as I'm making it out to be, and there are nice little rest benches as you go, if needed. Bonus, there are so few if any mosquitoes here. We didn't really know what to do after we got to the top. We ended up just letting whatever sounded fun happen, which ended with us dunking feet in the waters at Oval Beach. *Important tip! If you do this, do NOT head back up the same dune you come down to return to town. It's a steep, hot, sandy dune that will zap all your energy. Instead, take the "John Woolam Trail" as you come out of Oval Beach for a nice, flatter, solid, wooded experience.

I love how they make 303 stairs sound like a scary and steep ascent worthy of celebration, but you…read morebetter believe that we leaned right into that and decemated them in under 151 steps! Seriously, this is a great little climb to the top with some amazing payoff views overlooking Saugatuck/Douglas and the Kalamazoo river and everything beyond. I did it with my 8 year old, going every other step, and my 70+ yr old father, who took it a little slower but got there just behind us. From the top you have two choices, stairs down OR run the dunes down to Oval Beach, and we chose the latter. Running down sand dunes is a blast and I encourage anyone able bodied enough to try to go for it. There was a QR at the top that took you to a cute page of stickers and swag you can buy to recall your accomplishment, but you can get a lot of it in the museum at the bottom of the stairs as well. The parking area is ample and there are also two very clean bathrooms there you can use. The museum shares the history of the area and is free to visit. The park also has a large picnic pavilion and it looked like there may be a dock behind the museum that was accessible as well. Great experience!

Located along the shores of Lake Michigan,this State Park has over 1500 acres of pristine beaches…read moreand sand dunes making it one of Michigans most popular State Parks. There is an admission free to enter. Plenty of parking available. We went in the Fall midweek so it was not crowded at all.

Beautiful beach and park!…read more We came for the day to play on the beach and see the sand dunes. You have to pay for the use. There is a large parking area by the beach. As soon as we pulled in we noticed the beach on one side of the parking lot and the sand dunes on the other. We decided to climb the dunes first. There is one big hill that everyone was going up. It is challenging but fun. Great views from the top. And super easy to come down. Then we went to the beach. Sand was really nice and clean. A storm started to roll in so we had to leave the beach a little early. They do a great job of communicating and changing the flags when the beach conditions change. There are bathrooms and some food vendors. Only wish is they had actual showers to clean off all the sand. They have the outside ones but they weren't very efficient.