Tiscornia Park - St. Joseph — Attraction in Saint Joseph

We brought the family up here as a last-minute decision to try and see a sunset. We did not end up with clear skies that night, so the sunset was just OK. This beach area is beautiful, but expect a decent walk to the water itself. You will have to walk in the beach sand downhill to the water. So you guessed it, the walk back, is uphill in beach sand. Just a heads up as it could be tough for some people. You DO have to pay for parking, but there is an app you can use, and that way, you can reload it from the beach rather than walk back to the ticket booth to update your ticket. If I remember correctly, it was $3.00 for 1 hour. There is a pier that you can walk out on and a lighthouse at the end of it. When we were up there, it looked like an oil rig out in the distance. I did include a picture of it because it was very cool and even pretty, lit up at night. The water was cold, but there was no rough water, and it was definitely a great place to swim. We had our 2 dogs with us on this particular day, and they had a blast as well. We ended up having a picnic dinner on the beach while the sun set and the kids and dogs played in the water. It was a beautiful family evening, and I would definitely recommend it to others.

The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is simply because this is a very busy beach, so there were more people than I personally would prefer. That is 100% a personal thing, though, and should not affect your decision to check it out. It was not packed by any means. I just don't like a lot of...

Nice place to watch a sunset. This beach that has more of a rustic feel than what you might expect for a city beach. The lighthouse extends from this beach, and if the time of year is just right, you can get some dramatic sunset shots with this lighthouse in frame. There are dunes immediately behind the beach that obstruct any view of the surrounding residences. We were there on a Wednesday evening for sunset, and there weren't more than maybe two or three dozen other people there. Some swimming, some watching the sunset, and come young couples having their photos taken with the sunset as their backdrop. One family had a small dog with them on a leash, so I presume pets are allowed there. There is a parking lot at the beach; not sure how much it costs, because we parked a couple blocks away and walked in. Do be careful not to park in the parking lot on the southeast side of Ridgeway St overlooking West Basin Marina. There is a small sign in the middle of this line of parking spots that says it's for marina parking only and that violators will be towed. We actually parked there, not seeing the sign, and we were lucky that we...

We were on our way home from Holland, Michigan to Middle Tennessee and decided to take a quick stop in Tiscornia Park in St. Joseph to see the lighthouse! It was a blustery, chilly Thursday morning and so hardly anyone was there. We paid $3 to the machine in the parking lot to be able to stay for 1 hour. At the end of the parking lot, there is a sidewalk that leads out to the lighthouse pier, so we were able to get out to the pier without having to walk through the sand or take off our shoes. We were able to get pretty close to the lighthouse but the wind and waves were too wild to try to go all the way. It was a beautiful spot. I imagine on a warm day the beach at the park is full of beach lovers. But the day we were there it was empty. The sand looks very clean. Despite the old-looking door to the bathrooms, the restroom was surprisingly beautiful and clean. There are also showers to wash your feet.

It is a little difficult to get to the park on very bumpy brick-paved road, but it was...