Grand Mere State Park in Benton Harbor

We occasionally go there for a trail run. Trails are well maintained. Very nice park

Great spot for a quick hike — easy access to the freeway yet surprisingly wild. Full of oak, sand dunes, duck ponds, and sandy hikes through the dunes.

Map that they have there identifies some of the plants and trees you see on the trail. Time to update it as half of the listed items were dead or gone. Nice park. Plenty of parking.

Great quick hike. The whole family had a blast!

Nice hike to beach. Be careful on hot days. Got stuck with my dog due to blistering hot sand on the hike back to the car

This park is not for those who need comfort. There were two portapotties near the parking. Aside from that there are trails. LOTS of trails that wind up and over and around the dunes. No signage so go with someone familiar with the trails or do like we did and use the heatmaps on Strava to see which trails others had used. Sadly, we didnt make it to the beach but we had a great time. As visitors to the area (and the stateI never knew there were dunes like this here.

Great place to bring dogs to Lake Michigan! Long hot walk tho, makes the water worth it!

Beauty, relatively clean state park. Love the sights and challenging dunes 🤣 🤣 be prepared for an intense hike on possibly hot sand for you, your kids and pets. Sand gets extremely hot, enough do to leave you in the ER. Bring water and sunscreen. Pack light for the day because you have to hike back out. Definitely must see and wish the excellent exercise getting there! Enjoy! As always be knowledgeable about water safety to try to avoid hazardous outcomes unexpectedly! Never can be too safe in and around water

Our group went 5.3 miles into the prairie area with a lake. Very few people. I realized there is so much to see. The orb spider webs astounded me. I love this park. Dunes, great small rocks to collect, beautiful lake for swimming and relaxing, backwoods and prairie region.

Love this beach, be prepared for a hike to get to it that involves climbing sand dunes. The paths themselves are beautiful. No facilities near the beach.

Nice little park. Be prepared to walk up the sand dunes to get to the lake. If you want to park 10 feet from the water, head south to Warren Dunes. If you want a beach almost to yourself, and you can physically make this work, this is worth the trek.

Seemed to be one of the few beaches in the area that allowed dogs so we went two days in a row.Took the unpaved trail the first day, which ended with a climb over a big dune with a pretty great view of the lake. Seemed to be much further than the 0.5 miles listed.We took the paved trail the second day. The 0.7 miles listed was probably about right for the paved portion, but there is another ~half mile through sand to get to the beach. Not wheelchair accessible at all but our 15 year old dog made it. We went on a Thursday and there were only a handful of people on the beach.

A very nice scenic and secluded park. There is a beautiful long pathway to the lake. There is a also a sheltered picnic area which is useful for a lunch break.

Used to be a great park if you were willing to hike to the beach. It seems those days are gone as the last 3 times we went they had a ton of boats anchored 6 feet away from the beach. Lol cant make this up: its a state park that doesnt allow you to bring a BICYCLE in and then you hike for 20 minutes to get to the beach and theres a long line of boats anchored to the beach so you cant get past waist deep water. Stinks like diesel, every boat is playing their own music and thats without getting into the liability of boaters running boats onto the beach. With all the crying Michigan has done about erosion its laughable and mind boggling they havent thought to put up boat buoys restricting boat traffic on or near the beach.

Fantastic little beach by the dunes, it’s a more solitary and quiet experience than the Warren Dunes (which are not too far away). The dunes are a little more wooded and you have to hike a mile to get to the beach.It’s a great spot for a day trip to the beach and there are some neat hiking trails to explore. Accessibility to the beach is not easy so anyone with a disability or injury would not be recommended to go.

Great peaceful place...I love the walk to the lakeThru Dunes and nature..

Grand Mere is beautiful. A few years ago, you could walk down the beach to get access but with the rising lake levels and lots of erosion, you now have to hike through the dunes to get to lake. The sand gets hot on sunny days and you have to be careful of rip tides and big waves on some days. But most days are beautiful. You can find fossils and beach glass along the shore, skip rocks, see a beautiful sunset, or just set up and play with kids for the day. We love coming here.

The beach here is amazing and not crowded. Be aware though that there’s a good trek to the beach and the sand can get really hot. Pack water and appropriate foot ware!

One of my most favorite hikes to the beach is at Grand Mere state Park. Warning! Be careful when the weather is hot, the hike in the sand will be NO JOKE. You could burn your feet or if you bring your dog you may need to carry them. Otherwise, extremely beautiful and never crowded beach with nice sand hardly any rocks and beautiful views.

Beautiful dunes. Trails are sort of narrow, but very nice flowers and birds. You do have to watch for poison ivy in the summer. Not in the winter :-). There are really no facilities. But still there are a lot of people sometimes. We usually go during the week.We especially enjoy the lower part on Wishart Road. It is a dirt road but shady and nice. Lots of pull outs to park and some dunes right by the road. Sometimes we even just walk the road.

Very "natural"nature. 1 mile hike on flat path. Then you tackle deep sand hills and valleys to get to the shore! Stunning ...but not accessible for everyone! Do not bring stuff with you..except water...or walking stick.

A very beautiful place for both hiking and beach. It’s about 20 minutes walking from the entrance to the shore. Fewer people than silver beach.

It is quite a little trek to get there but very much worth it. The first part of the path was paved for the most part with small paths branching out and leading to different parts of the beach. The path ends in about 1/4 mile, and the real fun begins as you assend the mountain of sand. Take your time when walking to the beach and bring water cause it gets hot quick.

It wss very pretty. I wish the trails had been more defined. Beautiful space

Fantastic park with less traffic on the beach than other areas due to the walking distance. Easy parking access off the main road and pit toilets but then you have a hike in through the woods and over several large sand dunes to access the lake. Not easy for strollers/coolers/hauling chairs/equipment etc....Beach is very nice and clean with sand and small pebbles/rocks in areas.

A very nice beach, about a mile long. The problem is getting their. Parking is adequate, then the trail, its an old paved trail for 3/4 of a mile, some parts covered with mud as it follows the swamp. You come up to the sand dune, several ways to approach the beach, all are in full sun, about another 3/4 mile. If you have a dog, you will burn there paws. Bring very good sand shoes, it will get hot so beware.Once there youll love the beach, bring a lunch and spend the day. Remember, you have to go back there same way.

Grand Mere S.P. is a great place to hike in S.W. Michigan. It has many different difficulty levels and a lot of beautiful views.

Beautiful and peaceful beach. A little bit of a hike through the forest and dunes to get to the beach, but its completely worth it!

Great place to bring kids and dogs to release some energy! Plan ahead with water for all of you, and if its hot out, the sand gets hot quick. Make sure your puppys paws dont get burned! A fabulous place for adventure for all!

I remember finding this place on social media and I thought I’d give it a try. We went on a Saturday earlier this year in august and I really liked the park. The tropical trails leading up to the dune areas looked beautiful and the dunes looked really nice and were worth walking and climbing through. One of my favorite parks of grand mere state park is the beach area at the end which looked really nice. We didn’t go swimming but we did walked around the water for a little while. Overall, I really like this park and I do recommend this park to someone looking for a great place to hike and possibly swim

We took the nature trail just to the right of the main entrance (where the latrines and picnic table are). If you stick to the right all the way, youll end up at the end of Dunham Ave. and Grand Mere Rd. with access to the beach, in about a half mile. Theres a nice view of the middle lake there as well, and the walk is almost all packed earth.Returning to the main sandy trail, we followed the ridgeline all the way up the large dune that tracks along the shoreline. We were rewarded with beautiful views of Lake Michigan at every turn. The beach is largely inaccessible here, but from the vantage of the dunes its really a nice walk. After a mile or so, it seemed like the dune trails were pushing us back inland, so we turned to the east and followed the (occasionally quite steep!dunes back towards the southern lake.We found our way back to the paved trail that leads back to the main entrance, although portions of it were under water after some rains. Overall, its not always a clear navigational experience, but its also not too hard to find a trail and keep moving in the right direction. Beautiful views of the Lake and the lakes make this a worthwhile hike that could be just about any length you want!

A hidden treasure of the Michigan coast! Admission was free during this time of year, and the park offered a lot of great hiking trails in addition to a long, scenic beach view and a few serene lookout locations that allowed us to take a break and relax.

Overgrown, muddy trail led to dunes. Lots of walking without ever getting to Lake Michigan. Had to turn back as too rough for my sciatica. Wild nature.

This is a lovely little park that makes you feel like youre discovering Lake Michigan. Bring drinking water; the description of the trail as a half mile paved trail tends to leave out the hike up the dunes to the water. This is a really special place worth visiting

A treasure of a place! Love this beach! The best beaches in Michigan require a bit of workout to get to, but the payoff is worth it!

I found this place on accident when I was with my two daughters and my son and go somewhere new and explore together. I looked on the maps and I found this part close to where we were at. Its a small walk. Maybe a half mile to the lake tops. We really enjoyed that the sand dunes went up into the woods so that we could walk barefoot and not burn our feet. As we follow the trail it brought us up to the dune cliffs around lake Michigan. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we came back a few more times since then. Although this spot is not handicap accessible, (meaning its a Sandy walk all the way to the beachit is worth a quick lunch break or even a full day with a cooler to head out and look at all the beautiful scenery

To get to the beach from the parking entrance is about 20 mins walk (up and down). We took the path inside the forest due to a part that was flooded.It is sand but in the water, first part is rocks then as you walk further out it is sand.When we went, boats were parked and lots of dogs 😁.4 stars is due to the boats were too close and at some point you can see oil/gas in the water.

Came here to check out the beach. We had no idea it was such a hike to get there! Kinda grueling but a nice dog friendly beach once you make it there!

Grand Mere has beautiful dunes with access to the beach after a 10 minute hike through the woods and dunes. Its seen much erosion over the past few decades so be careful in some areas.

Great Lake Michigan shore access. Strenuous climbing up and down sand dunes but well worth the view. The playing on the beach for children and dogs is a bonus.

We went hiking and was surprised to see an Actual beach and waves coming from a lake that look so much like the ocean! The first time for this Texas girl to see lake Michigan so I was stunned needless to say! Only piece of advice I wouldnt gear up to heavy, hard to hike in the sand, and watch for ticks!!!

Awesome place to go for a family hike! There is nothing better than reaching the shore of Lake Michigan and just taking it all in. Makes it worth the hike there and back.

Great trail to walk to the beach. Id say its a 10 minutes or less trek. The beach is more of a walking beach not lounging around building sand castles. My boys are 11&8 and loved trying to climb the dunes. My 4 year old loves anything sand and water. Free to get in also.

A fair bit of level maintained trails. Near the beach the clime is intense at times. The walk to the beach could be a challenge if your not somewhat fit.

Unlike most parks along the lake, this one you have to walk quite a ways to even see the water. Once you walk a while on the path you eventually reach the dunes which you first have to climb and cross just to get to the beach. For this reason I would not recommend this park for people who just want a nice easy day at the beach because its not that simple to get there. If that doesnt turn you off then this place is great. There are lots of dunes and some great trails. Compared to other state parks this one is more secluded and hidden with only a small parking lot and no place to buy a parking pass for the day (when I went we got the pass at waren dunes then drove here since it works for both parks). The beach itself (as of early august 2019is extremely close to the dunes due to the lakes high water level. Also be warned that the only bathroom is at the parking lot which is very far from the water if you really have to go.

Just off the highway. Really nice scenic views that get better the closer you get to the beach. Very long beach walks available. There are some sandy dunes to hike across to reach it, but it is well worth the effort.

I loved my visit to Grand Mere State Park! The main paved trail was a little flooded in parts but there are plenty of other trails to take to the beach. I loved hiking the dunes and walking in the woods. The paths were maintained very well. The beach was amazing and the water was perfect. My only complaint would be the bathrooms were very poor and the trash cans were overflowing. Make sure to bring bug spray. Overall I think Grand Mere State Park is perfect for family and friends!

Wow. What an amazing slow sloping entrance into the water. The hike in was about 20 minutes. Moderate work to get up and down but all was fine in flip flops.If youve never been, walk past the first sand path up to the right (just around marker 8 maybe?And keep going to the next big path of sand up to the right.

be warned: there are NO clear trails or trail markers here.Novice hikers should STAY AWAY.No cell reception!NOT a good place for a picnic or for those with disabilities.Its essentially a maze of random sandy/wooded trails.In addition the sand dunes & uneven trails make it difficult to tell elevation/direction.Even as an experienced outdoorsperson I found it difficult to keep my bearings.The beach is beautiful but tiny & extremely rocky once you get into the water.After a short & strenuous hike (which granted is what I wanted!I relaxed at the beach for a bit before heading back.Although I had ample water, trail snacks, appropriate gear, etc. I ended up on the opposite side of the park when heading back due to a complete lack of mapped/marked trails or even trails that led anywhere period!Id try to circle back but you never know where the trail youre on is going to take you.After a few hours of hiking I cut my losses & found the access road that eventually leads to the highway & hiked that back to my car..... please come prepared with a fully charged phone should you get lost & somehow be able to get some cell reception, a compass, knowledge of the parks layout, & plenty of water, snacks, layered clothing, any meds you might need, etc.... just keep a good attitude (you chose to come here expecting strenuous hiking!& always be prepared!Maybe theres an easier way to traverse the park but if there isnt just be prepared for a potential several hours of hiking + several hours of beach time & plan your daylight accordingly :)

This place is no Warren Dunes where you just drive up and boom youre there at the water. I parked in the lot down the dirt road off Thornton Drive (not sure if thats the only entranceand had to hike through some woods and over some hills before getting to the water. Really, really beautiful scenery and lots of trails that have some memorable and gorgeous views. And it was so quiet (in July no less). Really love this place.