Tawas Point State Park — Attraction in Baldwin Township

In 1853 da 1st lighthouse waz built on diz site, but blowin & shiftin sand had constantly extended tawaz point so00o much dat in 1876 da original lighthouse waz abandoned & a new lighthouse waz built on diZ site closer 2 da point. In da early dayz da community known az EAST TOWN owed itz origination 2 a crooked land agent. It all started wen George P. smith & Henry perkinz smith of Tonawanda N.Y. principle ownerz of da firm smith, van valkenburg CO. had retained a bay city land agent named miller 2 locate sum land 4 a mill @sand point on Michiganz thumb. Miller used da smith loot 2 buy da site in hiz own name & den wanted 2 bleed da smithz heavily of mo cold hard cash b4 he would deed it 2 da smithz but diz backfired on miller cuz da smithz in 1864 looked 4 another site on tawaz bay in tawaz twp. east of da strugglin hamlet occupied by da pinoneer Whitemore sawmill Enterprise. In 1891 mayor Temple Emery & Nelson Holland of saginaw started Holland & Emery lumber co. & constructed a new sawmill on da site of todayz Tawaz Bay Beach Resort east of da state dock, Also a salt block waz built, da dockin facilitiez wer expanded, & a new 2story office buildin/store waz built, also built along wit deez buildinz waz da Holland Hotel. Later in 1891 saw da historic peak production of finished lumber & da timber biz would never recover. After da collapse of da lumber biz Development of US-23 through da formerly impassable AuGrez swamp of da early dayz, opened Saginaw Bay frontage 2 rapid development in da 1930z. A new route off da state trunk line, on da south side of da railroad trackz in East Tawaz, waz completed in 1931, coincidin wit completion of a new bridge acrozz da river @ Tawaz City. B4 da end of da decade, a two-lane concrete highway waz extended through Oscoda, replacin da former zig-zag route through Wilber Township. Da concrete highway eventually reached Cheboygan. Early on in diz recreational development, da state of Michigan began lookin 4 potential sitez 4 state parkz. East Tawaz waz in an excellent position 2 reap da benefitz, thankz 2 da foresight of da town officialz in 1891. Az a provision in da original transfer of property 2 Emery, da city retained ownership of da site if it waz not used 4 itz intended purpose--­ da manufacture of lumber. da former mill site became da new East Tawaz State Park in 1920 and in 1965 TAWAZ STATE PARK OPENED...

First, it is a beautiful park. The sites are nicely spaced with lots of trees, particularly on the perimeter, and the beach and lighthouse are great. HOWEVER, I feel if a park/campground is going to be open after the summer season, they need to continue to maintain it. We arrived last Friday, 10/21/16, and did the automated check-in without a problem. We arrive at our site and the fire pit was full of garbage. Okay, it was cold and windy anyway so no big deal as we probably weren't doing a fire that night. I go to the restroom (only one was open) and no toilet paper in any of the stalls. Well I should say no paper in the 2 of 3 stalls open. One was locked. The box for feminine product disposal was full, as was the garbage. This was kind of gross but I figured maybe they only work on weekends and we have a camper so I could avoid going back for awhile. My husband said the men's room waste box was full of syringes. Nice. Meanwhile at least 20-30 of the sites filled up during the evening, several with pop-ups and tents, and I began to wonder about the bathroom situation. We just used our camper shower and facilities Saturday morning and went sightseeing. We came back mid afternoon and I decided to try the restroom again and nothing had changed other than there were now streaks of feces on the floor outside the stalls. Needless to say, I didn't go back. It was quite obvious that NOTHING had been done at this campground in terms of cleaning or maintenance for several weeks. We have done fall camping at other state parks and not experienced this. We actually enjoy it because it's less crowded and peaceful. This was very disappointing, particularly since they were still charging the full rate for all amenities. I gave it 2 stars because it is a pretty park and we had a camper and could avoid the nastiness, but I don't know that we would return or recommend it to anyone....

The tawas point state park. Is very beautiful and it is pet friendly. You can bring your dog to the beach that is just for dogs. Tawas Point State Park is a public recreation area located on Lake Huron in Northern Michigan near the city of East Tawas, Michigan. The state park encompasses 183 acres at the end of a sand spit that forms Tawas Bay. It has been referred to as the "Cape Cod of the Midwest" and is a notable bird-watching site. Tawas Point Lighthouse is located in Tawas Point State Park, off U.S. 23, 2.5 miles southeast of East Tawas. Our address is: 686 Tawas Beach Road East Tawas, MI .Built: 1876 Construction: Brick and masonry Height: 67 feet (20 m) Coordinates: 44°15′14″N 83°26′56″W / 44.254°N 83.449°W Lens: Fifth order Fresnel lens (original), Fourth order Fresnel lens (current) Fog signal: HORN: 2 blasts ev 60s (3s bl- 3s si-3s bl-51s si). 3,150 feet, 232° from light. Operates May 1 to Oct.Due to the restoration of the lighthouse tower, the lighthouse will be closed to visitors for most of 2023.  There will be an interpreter stationed outside the lighthouse from 11am to 5pm, Thursday through Monday to meet with the public, answer questions, and offer information - note:  this is currently on hold. Every Tuesday in June, July, and August members of the Friends will be outside the lighthouse from noon to 4pm - drop by to visit and pick up a lighthouse sticker and other...