10 Michigan Beaches Are Closed Heading Into The Holiday Weekend
The forecast for the holiday weekend calls for sunshine and heat. Many of us will consider heading to one of Michigan's many beaches. But before you grab your sunscreen, cooler and the family...double check to make sure your beach of choice is open.
High bacteria counts from stormwater runoff or other, unknown sources has closed or prompted contamination advisories at 10 beaches across the state. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Beach Guard system has posted a list of beaches that are closed or have advisories.
Click here for Michigan's Beach Guard Advisory. The list covers 1,224 public beaches and 575 private ones.
Here is a list of beaches that are closed or under advisories:
- Park Lake, Bath Township Park Lake Beach, Clinton County – CLOSED since June 15 due to high bacteria levels from an unknown source.
- Keweenaw Bay/Lake Superior, First Sand Beach, Baraga County – CONTAMINATION ADVISORY since June 18 due to high bacteria levels from an unknown source.
- Portage Canal/Lake Superior, Houghton City Beach, Houghton County – CLOSED since June 24 due to a fuel spill contaminating the surface water. On June 24, a gas tanker truck overturned and spilled fuel onto a roadway north of the canal in Hancock and some of the fuel flowed into a storm drain that empties into the canal.
- Handsome Lake, Crossroads For Youth, Oakland County – CLOSED since June 29 due to high bacteria levels from storm runoff. The beach was also closed from June 22-23 for the same reason.
- Crooked Lake, Independence Oaks County Park, Oakland County – CLOSED since June 29 due to high bacteria levels from storm runoff. The beach was also closed from June 23-25 for the same reason.
- Lake St. Clair, St. Clair Shores Memorial Park Beach, Macomb County – CLOSED since June 29 due to high bacteria levels from an unknown source.
- Pontiac Lake, Pontiac Recreation Area, Oakland County – CLOSED since June 30 due to high bacteria levels from runoff.
- Bush Lake, Holly Village Beach, Oakland County – CLOSED since June 29 due to high bacteria levels from runoff.
- Silver Lake, City Park Beach, Genessee County – CLOSED since June 29 due to high bacteria levels from an unknown source
- Ross Lake, Beaverton City Park, Gladwin County – CONTAMINATION ADVISORY since June 30 due to high bacteria levels from an unknown source.
LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America
Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.
Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.
Gallery Credit: Keri Wiginton