Kemil Beach

Kemil Beach is a stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline at Beverly Shores, reached from a paved lot by a walk of about a quarter mile. It’s a good stop if you want time by the water, and the same lot gives you the option of a separate dune hike. Don’t expect to step straight from the car onto the sand; the approach is mostly paved before it turns sandy, and the shore has some rough, pebbly spots.

The lot is about a mile north of U.S. 12 on East State Park Road. On summer weekends it can fill quickly, so go early or try later in the day. For a shoreline photo, frame the lake with dune grass or the curve of the beach in the foreground instead of shooting only the horizon.

There are no lifeguards, and rip currents or large waves can make swimming hazardous. Check current park advisories before getting in, and stay off shelf ice in winter; it can break without warning.

Dune Ridge Trail starts at the same lot but is its own outing: about 0.7 mile on a lollipop route, with roughly 73 feet of climbing and 30 to 60 minutes on the trail. It crosses foredune and oak savanna, climbs to a view over the Great Marsh, then drops down steep, loose sand. The distance is short, but that sandy descent takes care.

Waves and currents bring sand onto the shore; wind pushes it inland, where plants such as sea rocket, beach pea, and marram grass catch it and help build the foredune. Across this stretch of Indiana duneland, University of Chicago botanist Henry Chandler Cowles studied how plant communities succeed one another with his students in the late 1800s. The lake-to-dune transition here is part of the landscape that made those ecological questions visible.

The paved lot has year-round restrooms and potable water, but no food service is listed here. The restroom is wheelchair accessible; the beach itself isn’t. Dogs are allowed on a leash no longer than six feet.