Central Beach

"My hidden gem in this area. Part of the Idiana Dunes National Park and well worth the yearly pass. The scenery is so peaceful. It is my local place of choice for reflection and recharging."

"Beautiful beach. Go early to get parking as it is limited. You do need a parking pass. We got one at the visitors' center $25/car for up to 7 days (must be displayed on the dash). The walk to the beach is beautiful. From the parking lot, you have a sizable staircase, as pictured. Followed by a jaunt thru a sandy trail in a woods. Then turn left to enter the beach (no sign telling you this). Then you get to the beach where you have to scale down a dune. This was the hardest part for us with kids and a bum knee. The walk back up made us feel incredibly out of shape. The sand gets hot, so wear swim shoes, especially on the kids. With going early, it was beautifully clean water you could see the bottom in Lake Michigan. This beach was not busy at all. Maybe 20 families down the beach. Definitely plan to travel light with that walk back up. The bathrooms were pretty gross when we went. The toilet water was permanently dark yellow. They did have a foot shower by the bathrooms at the top of the Dunes. But hardly seems useful as you still have a jaunt thru sand woods to the car. Would be nice at the parking lot, but still very beautiful."

"Peaceful beach with a public restroom. You do have to walk a ways to the beach and climb up and down a dune to get to beach. Bathroom is not located on beach so you have to climb up hill everytime you have to go, unless you pee in the lake lol. Beautiful spot, never overly crowded. On weekends there are cops asking for a parks pass, otherwise you can just park for free"

"This is a hidden gem! When we stopped in, there weren't many beach goers out, but it was right before rain. We talked to someone else out there & that person said it gets really busy. There's plenty of beach but not much parking!"