Ah, lake life. A brisk morning dip is like a baptism that cleanses the soul. The initial chill takes your breath away, then leaves you invigorated head to toe. Morning light dances across the water, and the surrounding nature—mountains, ponderosas—reflect off the calm, glassy surface. The Beach Boys and the Ramones may have romanticized the carefree spirit of America’s coasts, but there’s something undeniably appealing about the freshwater gems tucked away in the heart of the U.S. Lakes have long been a point of pride for mid-Westerners, and rightfully so. Four out of the five Great Lakes reside within the region and come with serious bragging rights: the Lake of the Ozarks boasts more shoreline than all of California and Nebraska’s white sand beaches are as fine as any in the Caribbean (truly!). You can laze the day away floating on a dock or angling for fish. Or crank up the tunes and surf the wake behind a boat. What it lacks in coastal cool, it more than makes up for in rustic nostalgia and summer camp vibes. The anecdote to modern day stress, a day at the lake transports you to simpler times and soothes the spirit with nature’s slower rhythms.
“A normal lake is knowable. A Great Lake can hold all the mysteries of an ocean, and then some.”
― Dan Egan, author of The Death and Life of the Great Lakes
Lake Michigan isn’t the biggest Great Lake (it’s the third biggest), but we think it’s the greatest. Here are our favorite spots up and down its vast shores.
Oval Beach: Bordered by the Kalamazoo as it meets the lake, a treasured shoreline among towering dunes.
Indiana Dunes National Park: Wind and waves shaped the land along 15 miles of Indiana coast. Birders look up for prairie warblers, laughing gulls, Louisiana waterthrush.
Saugatuck Dunes State Park: 300 acres of coastal dunes and wetlands, four sandy footpaths to the lake.
Torch Lake: Crystalline waters–and a sandbar beach for swimming and wading–beckon at Michigan’s longest inland lake.
Kohler-Andrae State Park: A pristine natural preserve is also a prime Wisconsin surf spot surrounded by rolling, golden dunes.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore: Grand dune hikes via the Pierce Stocking Trailhead, plus a 7.4-mile scenic drive through hardwood forest
Sheboygan: It’s a sportsman’s paradise here in the ‘Malibu of the Midwest’, where freshwater surfers and fishermen coalesce.
Schoolhouse Beach: Thank glaciers and waves for this Washington Island gem: a geological wonder of smooth limestone pebble beach and an ethereal stretch of swim terrain.
Leelanau Peninsula: The little finger of Michigan’s mitten is a region of astonishing natural wonder–and the scenic backdrop of the M-22, road trip gold.
Whitefish Dunes State Park: Paddle via canoe or kayak through dunelands and forest. In the park’s nature center, learn about its ecosystem, indigenous history and shipwreck lore.
