Holland State Park — Big Red and the Big Lake

At the western end of Lake Macatawa, where the channel narrows to meet Lake Michigan, Holland State Park occupies a strip of land between the two bodies of water. It is among the most visited state parks in Michigan, and the reason is simple: the beach.

Lake Michigan sand has a texture and color that surprises visitors who have not seen the Great Lakes before. The sand is fine and pale, deposited over thousands of years and sorted by wave energy into a consistent grain that makes beach walking easy. The water in summer warms to comfortable swimming temperatures in July and August while retaining a freshwater clarity that ocean beaches rarely have.

The lighthouse on the south side of the channel, across from the park, has become one of the most recognizable landmarks in western Michigan. The current structure dates from nineteen thirty six and is painted bright red, which is why locals call it simply Big Red. It is not ancient by New England lighthouse standards, but as a visual anchor at the end of a breakwater over a blue lake, it earns its popularity. On summer evenings, the piers fill with people watching the sun go down over the water toward Wisconsin.