Oak Beach County Park

We were here just after Labor Day so the beach was pretty much dead which was awesome for us as we had the whole place to ourselves. The wind made it a bit too chilly to do much outside from walk along the beach but had it been a bit warmer it would have been a great place to go swimming or wading. I hadn't realized that nearby is also a dark sky park so I imagine you'll have some dynamite night sky gazing if you're there after sunset. I'd love to come back and take some astrophotography shots with my camera this coming summer.

Also worth noting, not sure if this is the case in peak season times but the park has a solid public restroom as well. Very clean!

Overall very good, relaxing experience however the last few times I've gone we've been on edge with boats and jet ski's getting too close to the shore where my children are swimming. And with water levels rising because of the rain we're stuck setting up camp on the rocks but that's not a controllable factor. The boats and jet skis are. That should have better regulation.

2020-07-25. Oak Beach County Park, Port Austin, MI.

In Michigan, everyone boasts of the beauty of the mitt; the scenic scapes of the UP (Upper Peninsula), the old world charm of Mackinaw and Mackinac Island, and the great outdoors of the Grand Traverse County. But there's another part to every mitten, and today my travels took me here, to Michigan's thumb. Well, to what I call the Thumbnail to be more precise. The thumbnail I refer to is the coastal areas of Michigan's thumb, from Bay Port to the West, to Harbor Beach to the east.

One thing this area isn't lacking are beaches, beautiful sand beaches bordering Saginaw Bay or Lake Huron. While many a property here gets a piece of the water, there are many pubic beaches as well. The beaches are smaller and encompass only a few hundred feet of waterfront, but they make up for it in how many there are within close proximity to one another. Caseville has a decent size beach, but is often very crowded, and with COVID still looming around, we decided to go further north to Port Austin. Our day began at Bay Port to pick up some smoked fish, then to the Port Austin Farmer's Market. After that I had 3 beaches picked out. Oak County Park, Veteran's Park, and Bird Creek Park.

Bird Creek Park is a 1000 foot expanse of beach to the immediate east of the Port Austin State Harbor. From here, you would be able to see personal boats come and go. The parking lot has enough space for about 70 vehicles, and spaces fill up by early afternoon.

Not finding any spots within social distancing guidelines, we moved to the west side of the Port Austin State Harbor to Veteran's Waterfront Park. It's about half the size of Bird Creek with approximately 500 linear feet of beachfront. This side has the breakwater, so if you're in to boat spotting, it's not the optimal side to be on. While these two parks are adjacent to each other with only about 500 feet between them, there is no direct path to get there on foot. You will need to drive from one lot to the other. The parking lot is proportionally smaller here with about 40 parking spots.

Not having any luck at Veteran's we moved to my original choice of Oak Beach. During our journey west, we passed by several other beaches. 4 miles away is Port Crescent State Park. Being a State Park, a Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry. We had ours, but if you don't have one, no worries, you can purchase one at the entrance. The cost is $12 for the year + $5 convenience fee for not purchasing it when you renew your License Plate tabs. This beach is the largest of them all by far, and spans about 2 miles. There's one central lot, and despite the price of parking, many come to enjoy this beach. This was my backup beach, so we pressed on westward.

The next beach is at McGraw County Park. A small pubic park with no pavilions and only about 400 feet of beachfront. After this one is our destination, Oak Beach County Park. This park is much bigger compared to McGraw with two large pavilions, a playground, 2 horseshoe pits, and about 700 feet of beachfront. Here, we were lucky enough to find both a spot on the beach and in the parking lot. In addition to the pavilions, fixed charcoal barbecue grills are scattered throughout the park for public use. There are restrooms with one shower stall in each as well as a rinsing well to get the excess sand off your legs before heading home. Still on the Lake Huron side, the water is much cooler and the water remains shallow throughout the buoy markers for swimmers. At spots there are pockets where the water does get about 5 feet deep, so if you have little ones, take care to make sure they don't wander off to far on their own. If you venture past these deeper wells, it gets shallow again (about 3 feet). The bottom is sandy so muddy waters are kept to a minimum. Overall a nice beach with nice amenities. 4 stars.

The great thing about this beach park is that there is a nature center about a half mile away. The Huron County Nature Center has many hiking trails that are well marked and pets are welcome.

Overall, Michigan's Thumbnail Coast boasts many smaller beaches which is quite a nice change from the densely populated ones of Metro Park and Stony Creek. The water is cleaner and cooler, a bonus on those really hot days. There is one more beach if you continue on the Journey to the West. Thompson County Park is very similar to McGraw County Park, with about 400 feet of beachfront and no pavilions or playgrounds. So don't give up if you can't find a spot straight away.

Our day trip was to conclude with a stop at Rybak's Ice Cream, but they were closed due to COVID, so we checked out The Grindstone General Store and Blue Moon Ice Cream Shoppe.

If you would like to experience more, come dine-with-me.yelp.com I'd love to have your company... Bon Appétit!

The beach is great for swimming in the day or watching a meteor shower at night. The water stays shallow for quite a long way, as evidenced by how far out the buoys are. It was so nice to take a dip in Lake Huron. I live close to the Detroit river and Lake St. Clair but find those 2 bodies of water pretty sketchy for bathing in so it'd been a long time since I swam in natural water.
The campground across the street is pretty crammed in, with no trees or anything between any of the spots. They were very nice at the well air-conditioned office, the dude's Grumpy dwarf T-shirt notwithstanding. An old Doris Day and Rock Hudson flick was on the TV. Rates were average. I had planned to camp at the nearby state park to watch the Perseid meteor shower, but due to the nearby Parrot head themed Cheeseburger in Caseville festival they were sold out.
My dumb ass forgot the collapsible poles for my tent so my friend Dave and I had to sleep in the back of my Explorer. D'oh! And then when we went off to check out the Cheeseburger fest I left our bundle of firewood by the fire pit. When we came back it was gone. Now, with no tent or anything there, it might have looked like we left it behind, but it was still disappointing. Damn delinquent drunken Parrotheads!
The beach was great for meteor watching later. We saw a whole bunch, including a big yellow streaker with a big tail that took several seconds to fade. It's nice dark sky up that way, and a new moon made it even better.
5 stars for the beach, 3 stars for the campground. If you come up here to watch a meteor shower, check to see if there's a big Parrothead fest going on first.

This is my favorite little hidden gem around Port Austin if you don't wanna go into the downtown area and especially if you are camping. It's between two campsites and we were staying at the Crescent and there's also the sleeping bear on the other side what I like about this place is that unlike the public beach in Port Austin it allows dogs and nobody seems to mind of a cute dog is swimming around and being polite. Water is very clear and there's a lovely liquor store across the street. I love this little beach.

This is the worst park we have ever visited. The camp manager only wants her family and "buddies " in the park. They are very rude and socially inappropriate people, Different set of rules depending on who you are.