The 11 best beaches in and around Traverse City

Great place to watch the Air Show!! Lots of people. Need more rest rooms for this event!!! But still was a great show.

Nice easy to get there

The wind is brisk, the waves choppy. Saw true naturist and dogs in the water. The tree is what caught our eye, as we drove by... West side is dog friendly, indeed. East side, not so much. 13 of 24 parking spaces still intact... others appear broken off into the boulders. MI rest areas, clean & convenient. Even on Mother's Day! Public restroom, off of Grandview Pkwy & N. Division St. BATHROOM available! Men West side, women East side.

Bathroom is in horrible shape. No way to dry your hands or anything. Nothing of significance here.

A nice beach, running parallel to the busy touristic E Front street.

Minimal parking spaces makes the beach less crowded. Bathrooms are nearby and because the parking lot is so close, it's very convenient when you have small kids.

Pretty place to hang out for a day. Nice breeze coming off the water

Great spot for a sunrise view. Clean and has a lot to offer in a small package.

I come here many mornings and watch the sun come up. It's a low key beach in the fall/winter/spring. I haven't spent time on the beach during the summer months, so I can't speak to it's busy-ness. All my photos are #nofilter. Just the real deal beauty of Anishinaabe land. So grateful to be here. Giving thanks to the ancestors.

A nice family-friendly Beach Park.

Unfortunately some very unpleasant home owners who "own" the beach. Took my kids here and walked a little ways down, but then had an angry man come out accusing us of stealing his break wall. We had found a nice petosky stone at the beach, but decided it wasn't worth fighting over.

The water here is very shallow, definitely a good place to swim for younger kids.

Really cute little park. Off the main drag enough to be pretty quiet. Lots of sand and beautiful East Bay views. It's nice to have running water bathrooms

Good beach to bring your family. The water is clear and shallow for quite far. There is a small play area as well for kids.

I love finding little parks like this to just stop and enjoy the scenery for a minute. It was peaceful and sunset was beautiful as it was setting over the water 🥰☀️

Stopped in for a view of the lake. Pleasantly surprised to see a nice playground, public restrooms and plenty of seating and parking options. Great views and easy access.

What a beautiful park by the beach

Nice park. A little run down and not the cleanest beach. Parking is a bit limited. Great access to the water for swimming. Fun little kids playground.

Nice little beach and park, clean public restrooms. Made a quick stop to stretch my legs with 2 new puppies ♥️. PSA: no dogs allowed on the beach itself

One of my favorite beaches to go to in traverse. There is a nice playground and the water is sandy.

Great beach. We had an awesome swim. Watched the Grand Traverse Bay fireworks, had a great view. It was crazy busy for the fireworks the beach during the day was so nice.

Nice little park with parking available. Amenities: bathroom, tables, benches, places for BBQ. Super kids friendly, there is a nice playground. And it's a beautiful place to see the sunset.

Good place to appreciate the sunset

Lovely little beach! Great play area, swimming area, and picnic areas. Public bathrooms are nice and convenient! My children and family love coming her! Parking lot is on the small side, so depending on what time of year you come, it may be difficult finding a parking spot.

Beautiful little park & beach. There’s a playground here for kids to enjoy. Great place to view Sunsets.

Amazing view kids had fun dogs were welcomed ..grill was there easy to get ready and 🔥 for fresh dogs yumm

Small swimming area, good sized sandy beach, not crowded. Nice playground

Beautiful beach with restroom facilities.

Beautiful, easily accessible park with plenty of fun activities for children of all ages available. Wonderful concrete pier with plenty of benches overlooking a marina and the blue waters of West Grand Traverse Bay. Perfect place for watching sunsets, having picnics and walking. One of the true highlights of the city!

Amazing. Across the street from the water and it's a little water park with sprayers and an arch that sprays below! There's a unique merry go round and some spinners... just super cute! Our 4 years old loved it!

Amazing views, lots of boats, plenty of parking during the week, parking is not free, $1 will get you about 45 minutes, boat launch by the beach, clean & enjoyed the water.

Haven't been to TC in over 20 years and what a great job they've done! The waterfront park is clean and beautiful. The bike paths, landscaping and benches are all perfectly placed. The downtown area is full of adorable shops and delicious restaurants. Def recommend coming here on your way thru Michigan!

Nice park, combination of splash and Beach. Kayaking can be rented for single and double person on hourly basis at $30 or $50. Changing rooms are there. Parking is somehow not very close to the Beach area. Parking is paid but free on Sundays.

Beautiful Park, impressive boats, just a quick stop for a nice walk to enjoy the lovely weather.

A great family friendly beach! Super clean changing rooms and restrooms. Definitely a great place for a beach day on lake Michigan

If in Traverse City, and you're up in the morning around 6:15 near the end of July, in the sky is mostly clear, you can get some great sunrise pictures over the bay to the east.

Great spot to relax and enjoy the water. Kids have their own area and can excersice and burn some energy. Great place

Very nice and clean beach with so clear water and playground area

Pretty slick. Easy to get to, pretty clean. Only concern is the road noise, but in the water you can't hear a thing.

Beautiful and serene!

The best kept secret is out! TC Stare Park Beach. It is owned by the State Park so you do need a park pass for your car if you are wanting to use the parking lot. It’s good for me as it keeps crowds down for sure. You can walk by foot for free entry. There are some sticks about in the sand but not really a big deal. Much better beach than anything in downtown TC as this has same amenities but is much larger stretch of a beach without all the boats pulling up like downtown has. Also the West Bay tends to have higher levels of contaminants (look at the flags when you go before you swim. Green is a go, yellow is elevated levels of E Coli and only go waist deep, red DO NOT SWIM) due to their relation with the Boardman River.

Nice little beach. Water was a bit cold. Beach was clean. Restrooms were big and clean. Thanks for the opportunity!

Friendly park rangers and nice campground. We got an exceptionally site (lucked out). Video of our spot and photo of spot across from our RV. I have to leave an excellent review considering the spot we were given. It was 1 of only a couple available when reserving.

We have stayed at the State Park Campground about 6x’s. We love it there. It is a long drive or we would go more often. A large state park campground with different size lots. There is a bridge that goes to the public beach area. A bike trail behind campground that provides access to stores and restaurants. It’s clean and well kept.

Great RV camping location, clean bathrooms, friendly staff and campers, beach is easily accessible with a walk-over bridge. Central location for visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes Park, lighthouses, amd wineries!

Site 475 IS NOT full shade as described in the site description!!! It IS full sun!! Had to fix our AC while at the site. We would have reserved a different site if we knew it was FULL SUN!!

My family and I just returned from a weekend at this state park and campground. There is some noise from the main road. However the location is very hard to beat. My folks rented a campsite for two weeks and my partner and I joined them for the weekend. The campground itself is excellent. The shower and bathroom facilities are well-maintained. The campground is well-maintained and the DNR staff are very helpful at directing when it is high traffic times. I would highly recommend a stay here. You will need to book the campsite months in advance as they fill up fast, especially in the summer months around the holidays. You will have access to the state maintained public beach via walkway that connects to the campground. You will need a recreation passport to enter the park. I purchased one with my license plate tab renewal, but you may purchase one at the entry from the DNR staff if you don’t have one or if you are traveling from out of state.

First off here are the pros: good level sites (gravel/dirt, not paved) newer picnic tables and fire rings, plenty of clean restrooms and showers, not so busy during the week, kind and helpful staff, access to beach is just a walk over the bridge, good location to get to attractions, plenty of dogs and kids biking. Cons: busy especially closer to the weekends- it’s a highly visited park, the last loop is right on Munson Ave and sirens/engine noise went all night long, it’s also adjacent to the airport and helicopters were flying around/planes taking off all day and night ITS SO LOUD, dog beach is not dog friendly. Please consider my review in terms of what my family looks for in a site when camping- quiet, reclusive, a little dirty and beautiful. We have toddlers and dogs and a pop up. We will head back to northport for our favorite campground- leelanau state park. *The sites have electricity plug in but no water. There was also a long line for the dump when we left on a Friday.

Just sit, look at the water, right there...so relaxing! There's playground equipment for the children and a sidewalk to walk along near the beach. Sweet little park!

The facilities are nice in theory, the sand is better than the East Bay but contaminated frequently after rain so do not swim within 24-36 hours after it rains since Boardman is right there to wash it out to everyone. I find that there is too much boat traffic on the West Bay and it is very crowded. TC State Park is probably the best beach in the area. Not super crowded, has a playground, BBQ areas and picnic tables, permanent restrooms, same or similar concessions as Clinch and the top reason to choose: a lot fewer boats! It is mostly locals here or people who walk over from the campground since you must have a state park pass to park there. The biggest downside is there are sticks in the sand from trees and the sand isn’t raked.

Just passed by. Nice beach. Would be great for kids to spend a day here. Looks like they have a nice change room too.

A smexy beach 💕. A great place to tan in the summer ^.^ 🤗. It gets pretty gosh darn busy during the summer time particularly during the National Cherry Festival >.<. But like yah other than that it's great and like a nice little area for the children ❤.

A think stretch of the beach access; there are ducks and people swimming it in.

Love it great for kids to swim play on the water fontens very nice view

Dog-friendly!! A clean, convenient beach and the best part is that the EAST end is a designated dog beach! We were there just after Labor Day, and had the whole east end of the beach practically to ourselves! Our dog had a blast!

Nice beach with dressing room and lifeguard.

Absouletly delightful beautiful beach with an amazing view! A lovely view of the bay and the marina just up the road. The only reason for a 4-star review is that the actual volleyball play area is under CONSTRUCTION, but the beach IS accesible. Great place, I'll have my feet in the sands again soon. 🤙🤙😻 Don't forget to like this review if you found it to help! 🔥🤩 it indeed helps even here on the google platform. ❤️ if you would like to help out even more, check out some of my photos🏞 and videos, it is much appreciated. Thank you very much for your time. 🌄⌚️😄

For an urban beach it's not too bad but it's doesn't hold up to almost any other beach on the bay. Good place if your in you 20s or 30s and wanna play volleyball and socialize. Also good place to anchor your boat if you want easy access to tc or just a safe place hang out and swim.

Not a bad beach when you need a beach in a hurry! Close to town and a nice view of the bay.

The beach and water are both a little dirty with debris but the water is crystal clear

Great beach!

Great area for swimming and watching fireworks

A small dog park in the heart of Traverse City. It is a nice park for the doggies. I was a little worried about it being so much traffic around, but all seems ok when inside. The entrance and parking are very confusing, with only vague signage. The entrance is actually behind a small building. Breezy had a great time running here and making friends. It was also clean and had a doggy water fountain, a plus. Overall a 4 star review. Would I bring My dog here again? Yes I would.

I love this park. I just wish people would pick their dogs shit up. I take my frenchie here when im visiting Traverse city and I always go around picking shit up so my dog don't run in it. It's very secure and a nice place for doggie play dates/exercise other then the shit🥴🤣

Nice park ive never seen another small dog there tho

Nice park, has water spigot for the dogs and waste clean up bags. Grounds could use some attention.

It's close and the dog people are nice. Good spot.

Convenient, but hard to find parking. Thankful there is a play area close to the downtown!

Wags dog park is in a great location looking at the bay. They have 2 separate areas for smaller dogs and bigger dogs. (By weight) 4 stars b/c I wish it was bigger it looked bigger