Michigan summer is a lake week if you let it be. The parks we write about all have water. The managing agencies, not this page, say whether a beach is open, how cold the water is today, or what the flags mean this afternoon.

The big lakes and the inland ones

At Sleeping Bear Dunes, the whole Lake Michigan shore is open to swimming. There are no lifeguards. The park says the big lake is more refreshing than the inland lakes, and it warns about rip currents. It names access at Platte River Point, Glen Haven, North Bar Lake, Sleeping Bear Point and several road-end beaches. North Bar Lake, just north of Empire, is usually warmer and sits a short walk from Lake Michigan. Glen Lake picnic area, north of the Dune Climb, is another inland swim. 1

At Pictured Rocks, Lake Superior stays cold. The park says summer shoreline water usually runs from the upper 50s to the upper 60s, and that some years Munising Bay reaches 70 by mid-August. Sand Point Beach is the warmest and most sheltered. There are no lifeguarded beaches in the lakeshore or the nearby towns. Rip currents, waves, hidden logs and sudden drop-offs are the hazards the park lists. Walk in from a beach. The park prohibits jumping from cliffs or rocks higher than 15 feet above the lake. 2

On the state-park shore, Grand Haven, Silver Lake, Ludington and Petoskey each keep a buoyed swim area when the DNR has the buoys in. Those dates and the flag system are on the park pages and the DNR beach safety page. 35

Water quality

EGLE's BeachGuard map is where local health departments post swimming advisories. A clear day on the sand is not a water-quality report. 4

Places on this site

The place pages for Sleeping Bear, Grand Haven, Silver Lake, Ludington, Pictured Rocks, Petoskey, Mackinac Island, Tahquamenon and Big Sable Point are the trip notes. This hub does not replace them, and it does not replace a park's current-conditions page.

A note on this year

Typical water temperatures are not today's reading. Buoys go in and come out. Check BeachGuard, then the managing park, the morning you swim.