Grand Mere State Park, Michigan, United States

5Gidgetglam 5:00 PM Jul 11, 2021

Serenity
We were looking for some peace and quiet and this place delivered. The path is paved until the dune climb. It's challenging but manageable at that point. The path dropped off into the water because of erosion so getting to the beach further down was a bit of a challenge. We wound up walking for about 2 hours and only saw a handful of people. Great beach for rock hunting. The only downside is there are only outhouses.

4Indy-ND 5:00 PM Oct 25, 2020

Rugged Dunes
It may seem odd to some that there are 2 state parks right down the road from each other along the coast of Lake Michigan. Warren Dunes is just south of Grand Mere. While Warren Dunes is beach goer friendly with a huge parking area right next to the beach , with concessions, bathrooms, changing areas, and all sorts of activities, Grand Mere is the complete opposite, which is why I like it so much better. Go to Warren for a day at the beach. Come to Grand Mere to be in nature. Grand Mere proper has a small, dirt parking area at the trail head. There are 2 pit toilets at the parking area, go now or go in the woods. There is a information board up, but it did not have much info. The park map distribution stand was empty. It would be a good time to download the park map onto your phone if you are not sure where you are going. There is a fine cell signal (for me anyway) so following an app like Google Maps worked too. The walk to the lake shore was beautiful and the fall colors were peaking. It was a mostly cloudy day, but when the sun came out, the trees really popped. I followed the paved path the the base of the dune (lots of sand) and turned right to climb up, It wasn't bad. The path winds along the dunes (sand and tall grasses) to the lake. You can start hearing the waves as you get closer. Once at the lake, I headed south about a half mile of so. It was very calm and really beautiful. There was only a few people around on a Thursday in October. No wind and 70 degrees made for a perfect afternoon hike around the lake. After my usual photos, I headed back to the car. There were a few off-shots along the main trail, but I didn't go far down them. I just sort of checked them out and took a few pictures. The weather has been pretty cool, especially at night, so the bug population was low, except for lady bugs. I seemed to have walked through a large amount of them and had 20-25 land on my at different times. Not a bin deal. It was a very good day. Trail signage could be vastly improved.