Kirk Park — Attraction in Grand Haven Charter Township

One of the very few beaches in Michigan and the entire USA that is nice and clean, but people, the city, snd the state made into a bad area. Their weird dog hours make no sense. Make it leashed dog beach all year round and put some bags and a one trash bin. Is that so difficult? Otherwise, be advised that dogs are supposed to be on the beach only from 7 to 10 am and from 7pm to 10 pm, meaning there is no way you can be there... Lots of people just access the off leash dogs beach through the area where they are not supposed to be there, but it's understandable since the actual entrance is rocky, longer, and has not way to use a cart for your beach stuff. There are no showers yet the restrooms have hand and body soap. Again, very weird park. There doesn't seem to be security on the beach and if some unruly dog owner does not control their misbehaving dog, you are out of luck. Make sure you have an attorney before coming here as it seems you can get dog bites fairly easy. Some users are so rude: to the lady that threw a dog garbage bag onto my car, we have you recorded and identified, filing a police report for property damage, littering, and harassment. The people around the area know how you are, contact us or turn yourself in. Note that I put my dog poop on the bin. It also seems some schools bring kids and allow them to be running randomly, so again make sure you have an attorney. Some public beach: Florida has no income tax and yet most beaches are free, well equiped and safer, yet Michigan has a relatively high state income tax but the roads and services are really lacklust. Funny how they don't allow dog in almost all beaches in this country but no dog has ever done so many bad things like what happens here, shame on...

Drove an hour here from Rockford on Memorial Day with my kids and GF’s dog thinking it was 100% dog friendly based on their google page. Only to find out once we got here there are only dog friendly hours in the early morning and late evening. Again nothing on their Google page stating limited dog friendly hours. Already paid the daily parking fee because they had QR codes posted to pay digitally and none of those signs had their limited dog friendly hours posted. There was an old man in a beach chair enforcing these rules with a clip board who you could tell loved delivering this news to people with dogs. I get it he was doing his job. But what didn’t make sense was he tells us there is a section of the beach that is 100% dog friendly giving us hope that our drive wasn’t wasted. However, the access point stairs were washed away and he wouldn’t allow us to walk to that section without issuing me a citation and immediately calling the county sheriff. I mean why even mention it then?!?!? Then has the audacity to ask me where my dog was not even noticing my GF walked back to the car with her while he was giving me the pointless info. Thinking she snuck her out onto the beach. Apparently he couldn’t be bothered to get up out of his chair to look for himself…All of this could have been avoided if whoever manages that park cared to claim their google page and update it with accurate information so we wouldn’t waste our entire holiday afternoon driving there just to tell my kids sorry can’t walk down the stairs with Ginger (the dog) for another 4 hours per the policy. Also way to hot to leave her in the car and be responsible pet owners. Bathrooms were also trash with no...

We visited Kirk Park twice during our trip—once on a Monday and again on a Friday morning—and both times the beach was nearly empty. It was perfect for a calm, off-leash experience with our dog. The park has a dedicated dog-friendly beach area where dogs are allowed to run free and play in the sand and water. Our white pit mix isn’t exactly a water dog, but once we got in the lake, he followed us in. It was a great way for him to cool off and explore at his own pace.

The beach was easy to find—just follow the clearly marked signs from the parking area. The whole park felt clean and well maintained, and everyone we encountered was respectful with their dogs. If you visit early on a weekday, there’s a good chance your pup could have the whole beach to themselves for a while.

We spent about 30 minutes there each visit. The only downside was that biting flies started to swarm us toward the end, which cut our time short. Still, it was a great experience overall, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone traveling with a dog. Bring some bug spray just in case—and don’t forget your camera. We got some great photos of our pup playing by the lake.

There are also some concrete cornhole boards by the other beach which are actually pretty nice if you’re...