Washington Park Beach — Attraction in Michigan City

Update: Just returned from visiting Washington Park Beach July, 2024. It is as beautiful as it was last year. Catching the sunset this time around was breathtaking. Not as busy as is during the afternoon, but still lively. Really enjoyed the peace and tranquility during the evening hours. The weather offered a great view of the setting sun. Highly recommend the evening views at this beach. The only complaint was the beach bathrooms. Horrible, disgusting facility and it should be condemned. Major health risks if you need to spend extra time inside. Best option, use the port-a-potties, they are so much cleaner. From Michigan and this was the first time in Indiana and decided to head to Washington Park Beach. I was amazed at how big and beautiful this beach is compared to New Buffalo, MI's beach. The sand at Washington Park is very soft, both dry and in the water. NO rocks larger than aquarium gravel surrounds this beach area's water. Very different from New Buffalo's beach. While it is a dark golden color, many areas had almost pure white (dry) sand as they have on the Gulf of Mexico's coast. The lake water was crystal clear and it would have given Florida's Gulf waters a run for the money. While it was crowded (Hydroplane boat races in town), there were plenty of places next to the water to sit all-size groups of people. Because of the boat racing during the week, parking was a hit and miss. I was able to find parking close to the water, however, many of the main lots were closed. An older man (the parking lot attendant) was super nice and full of knowledgeable about the area and shared it with us. Very thankful for sharing. So, coming to this beautiful beach for the first time, really made an impression on me and I will definitely be back. Had a great time and meet some great people of Indiana. Looking forward to visiting all the areas associated with...

This is barely 3 stars. I would say it's got great parking, and a nice area for plenty of people. However, that's about where it stops.

The $20 fee to get in kind stinks. But at least it has "in and out" privilege, so whatever.

The water was filthy and pond like. Maybe it was from a recent storm, but it wasn't clear at all. It was bilgy, and full of garbage. And I'm saying FULL. You couldn't see it because the water was cloudy, but you will get at least 10 to, oh, 723 plastic bags or pieces of a wrapper stuck between your toes while in the water. Lots of trash just blows by. I picked up a lot of it and threw it away, which brings me to my next point.

This place has tons of trash cans! Literally, you could count at least 15 from any spot you're at. People, you have a great beach! Pick up your trash! It's like Old West Tumbleweed.

The people there were all very nice, so it's safe to say that residents are very kind, which has always been my experience so close to Chicago. You won't find any disrespectful people about, which is very refreshing when you're shoulder to shoulder at the beach.

The water isn't crystal clear like we've experienced further north in Lake Michigan, which stinks. But, we can safely check this beach off our list with no bad memories, except for...

This beach is AWESOME. The sand is so clean!

This is nothing like any of the beaches I’ve ever been to at the ocean… and I’ve been to beaches at the ocean in 6 states.

Ocean beaches are so dirty… seaweed everywhere… usually trash laying around. Hoards of scavenger seabirds. Trashy people who couldn’t give a rats behind about packing it in and packing it out.

This beach… wow. For $15 for our vehicle, we drove off to the right to get away from the main beach and the life guards. Didn’t want to be super crowded.

The second parking area had plenty of parking so we parked there. There was a portajon there.

So gorgeous! The water was clean and cool that day.

When we left we saw more parking down the way, a nicely shaded park eat and then cross back over the burm and back to the water.

The zoo is across the little street.

Would be a nice little day trip for the...