Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk

Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk is a public Lake Michigan shoreline in Portage, with a sandy beach, pier, pavilion and an easy loop through restored dunes. Come for a short lakeside walk, a picnic or a swim rather than a secluded stretch of coast. The steel and industrial facilities nearby are part of the view, a tradeoff some visitors notice.

The Lakefront and Riverwalk Trail is a 0.9-mile loop that takes about 45 minutes, with little elevation change. It crosses the road, passes through restored dune habitat and returns beside Burns Waterway on a boardwalk. The route is mostly paved, with stairs at the south end. Three paved parking lots serve the area and can fill quickly on summer weekends.

The pier and shore look out over Lake Michigan, with boats, waves and, on clear days, Chicago faint along the horizon. For a photo, include the breakwater and water rather than filling the frame with the shore alone; sunset can bring out the skyline. Swimming is unsupervised, and waves and rip currents can make the lake hazardous.

The 3,500-square-foot public pavilion has restrooms, potable water, picnic tables and a seasonal snack bar. The pavilion and picnic area are wheelchair accessible. The sandy beach is not, and stairs at the south end mean the full loop is not step-free.

The lakefront opened in October 2008 after redevelopment of land once used for steel-industry settling ponds and a sewage treatment facility. Cleanup made public recreation possible, and about 46 acres were restored as dune habitat. The grasses along the walk are part of that recovery, not just a border around the path.

The pavilion earned LEED Gold certification. Its glass walls keep the dunes and shoreline in view, while the broad, pale roof echoes the slope of the dunes. The building is a good pause between the sandy edge and the loop trail.

Spring and summer bring migrating birds through the shoreline. In winter, shelf ice can form along the beach edge, changing the look of the lake and dunes.