Lakes Near Dearborn Heights With Sandy Beaches
The closest sandy lake beach to Dearborn Heights is Belleville Lake at Van Buren Park, about fifteen minutes down I-94, though it is a small strip with a posted capacity of 50 people. For a longer beach day, Kent Lake at Kensington Metropark has two sand beaches, Maple and Martindale, with boat rentals and water slides beside them.
Beyond distance, these twelve split on the pass you need and on how much park surrounds the sand. Three are Huron-Clinton Metroparks, eight are Michigan state parks that take the State Recreation Passport, and one is a township park with its own day pass. Park size runs from Dodge #4's 139-acre peninsula, which exists mainly for its beach, to Highland's 5,900 acres, where the swim beach on Teeple Lake is one stop among more than ten lakes and 44 miles of trail.
Our picks
- Shortest drive for an after-work swim: Belleville Lake at Van Buren Park. Straight down I-94, open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, with a buoyed swim line.
- Renting a paddleboard or kayak: Kent Lake at Kensington Metropark. Canoes, kayaks, paddleboats and stand-up boards rent near Maple Beach, and the Splash 'n' Blast spray ground next door has two 240-foot slides.
- Great Lake sand instead of an inland lake: Lake Erie at Sterling State Park. A mile of Great Lakes shoreline in the one Michigan state park on that lake, with more than 500 acres of protected marsh and prairie for birdwatching.
- A park that is mostly beach: Cass Lake at Dodge #4 State Park. 139 acres on a peninsula with a mile of shoreline on the largest inland lake in southeast Michigan, plus an accessible pier and a kayak launch.
- Turning a beach day into a camping trip: Bishop Lake at Brighton Recreation Area. Five campgrounds, one of them for horses and riders, sit in the same 4,947-acre park as the swim area, and a 35-mile trail system runs through it.
At a glance
| Option | Address | Lake | Entry Pass | Park Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4570 Huron River Parkway, Milford, MI 48381source | Kent Lakesource | Metroparks passsource | 4,481source | |
| 4300 Main Park Road, Shelby Township, MI 48316source | Stony Creek Lakesource | Metroparks passsource | 4,435source | |
| 31300 Metro Parkway, Harrison Township, MI 48045source | Lake St. Clairsource | Metroparks passsource | 770source | |
| 2800 State Park Road, Monroe, MI 48162source | Lake Eriesource | State Recreation Passportsource | 1,300source | |
| 6301 Kensington Road, Brighton, MI 48116source | Kent Lakesource | State Recreation Passportsource | 4,000source | |
| 6360 Chilson Road, Howell, MI 48843source | Bishop Lakesource | State Recreation Passportsource | 4,947source | |
| 3500 N. Wixom Road, Commerce Twp., MI 48382source | Proud Lakesource | State Recreation Passportsource | 3,000source | |
| 2401 N Williams Lake Road, Waterford, MIsource | Pontiac Lakesource | State Recreation Passportsource | 3,745source | |
| 5200 Highland Road, White Lake, MI 48383source | Teeple Lakesource | State Recreation Passportsource | 5,900source | |
| 14390 Fish Lake Road, Holly, MI 48442source | Big Seven Lakesource | State Recreation Passportsource | 1,434source | |
| 4250 Parkway Dr., Waterford, MI 48327source | Cass Lakesource | State Recreation Passportsource | 139source | |
| 50901 S. I-94 Service Dr., Van Buren Township, MI 48111source | Belleville Lakesource | Township day passsource |
Metroparks pass or Recreation Passport
Kensington, Stony Creek and Lake St. Clair need a Metroparks pass. Island Lake, Brighton, Proud Lake, Pontiac Lake, Highland, Seven Lakes, Dodge #4 and Sterling all take the State Recreation Passport, so a family that already has one has eight beaches to choose from. Van Buren Park sells its own township day pass.
The pass also decides which end of Kent Lake you use. Kensington Metropark's side is the busy, developed one, with two beaches, rentals and slides. Island Lake Recreation Area, on the Recreation Passport, is the quieter, undeveloped end of the same lake, with a buoyed swim area and a beach house but a shooting range you may hear on some days.
Beaches built for day trips versus campers
Most of these beaches are day-use beaches. Proud Lake is the exception: its buoyed swim area is inside the modern campground, so it suits people staying the night more than a carload arriving for an afternoon. Seven Lakes has both, a day-use beach on Big Seven Lake and a second one for campers on Sand Lake.
Pontiac Lake's day-use beach has its own entrance off Williams Lake Road, a short walk from parking, and the park suggests a wagon for coolers and chairs. Its modern campground and A-frame cabin are closed for the rest of the 2026 season for construction, but the beach stays open.
Lifeguards, dogs and crowded water
No page for these parks mentions a lifeguard on duty. The three Metroparks say there are none and swimmers enter at their own risk, Van Buren Park has staff watching in season but no guard, and the state park pages describe buoyed swim areas without saying either way.
Dogs stay off the swim beach at Brighton, Highland and Proud Lake, though they are allowed along the other shorelines, and Pontiac Lake has a fenced dog park near the gate. On Cass Lake, boats run just past the Dodge #4 buoys, and Kensington is one of the busiest parks in the Metroparks system on hot summer weekends.
The options in detail
Kent Lake at Kensington Metropark
The biggest beach park within easy reach of Detroit's western suburbs, with two sandy beaches on Kent Lake: Maple Beach and Martindale Beach, each with changing rooms, a playground and mats laid across the sand to the water. Canoes, kayaks, paddleboats and stand-up boards rent near Maple Beach, and the Splash 'n' Blast spray ground alongside adds two 240-foot water slides. Free all-terrain and floating beach wheelchairs are kept at Martindale. There are no lifeguards, and on hot summer weekends this is one of the busiest parks in the system.
Stony Creek Lake at Stony Creek Metropark
Two separate sand beaches sit on opposite sides of Stony Creek Lake: Eastwood Beach, the larger of the pair, with paved walkways, changing rooms, showers and the Grill & Chill concession, and Baypoint Beach, with accessible parking and a family changing room. Both have basketball courts nearby, and free beach wheelchairs are available at Eastwood. The park posts no lifeguards and asks swimmers to enter at their own risk. It is the northeast corner option, closer to Macomb County than to the Ann Arbor side of the metro area.
Lake St. Clair at Lake St. Clair Metropark
A 600-foot sandy beach on Lake St. Clair, backed by a bathhouse with heated showers and coin lockers. The draw for families is everything around it: the Squirt Zone spray ground with geysers and water cannons, and a 50-meter pool with two 120-foot flume slides and an inflatable obstacle course. Gear rentals run out of the Beach Shop. There are no lifeguards on the beach, and the lake here is shallow and wind-exposed, which is why it is also the region's kiteboarding and windsurfing spot.
Lake Erie at Sterling State Park
The only Michigan state park on Lake Erie, and the only option here where the sand fronts a Great Lake rather than an inland lake. A mile of shoreline runs past a beach house with restrooms and changing stalls, a 256-site campground and a set of man-made lagoons that draw walleye and perch anglers. More than 500 acres of the park is protected Great Lakes marsh and lake plain prairie, so birdwatching is as much a reason to come as swimming. The River Raisin Heritage Trail links the park to downtown Monroe.
Kent Lake at Island Lake Recreation Area
The quieter, undeveloped end of the same Kent Lake that Kensington Metropark sits on, with a buoyed swim area and an accessible beach house with restrooms and vending machines. The park keeps a deliberately natural feel across 4,000 acres of hardwoods and meadows, and the Huron River running through it is a designated State Natural River with an accessible kayak launch near the swim area. Mountain bikers and triathletes train here, and there is a large shooting range on site, so expect to hear it on some days.
Bishop Lake at Brighton Recreation Area
A sand beach and buoyed swim area on Bishop Lake, one of nine lakes inside a hilly 4,947-acre park west of US-23. An accessible walkway runs to the water and a water chair can be borrowed. Five campgrounds, including an equestrian-only one, make this the easiest of these lakes to turn into an overnight trip, and a 35-mile trail system pulls in hikers, mountain bikers and riders from the stables. Dogs are welcome along the other lakes but not on the swim beach itself.
Proud Lake at Proud Lake Recreation Area
About 3,000 acres straddling the Huron River in Oakland County, roughly 40 minutes from downtown Detroit. The catch for day trippers is that the buoyed swim area sits inside the modern campground rather than in a separate day-use beach, so it suits campers better than a carload arriving for an afternoon. Paddling the river between Proud Lake and Kensington is the signature outing, with paddlesport rentals and a concession store at the campground. Dogs are allowed along the whole shoreline except the swim beach.
Pontiac Lake at Pontiac Lake Recreation Area
The day-use beach sits on its own entrance off Williams Lake Road, with a spacious picnic area, grills, a playground and a fenced dog park near the gate. The beach is a short walk down sidewalks from parking, and the park recommends bringing a wagon for coolers and chairs. Two universally accessible fishing piers stand near the beach on a 600-acre lake known for bass and pike. Note that the modern campground and A-frame cabin are closed for the rest of the 2026 season while a sanitation station and solar project are built.
Teeple Lake at Highland Recreation Area
Teeple Lake holds the designated swim beach in a rolling 5,900-acre park with more than ten inland lakes. The accessible beach house in the day-use area includes restrooms and a picnic shelter, and EnChroma viewers on the south side of Teeple Beach let colorblind visitors see the full spectrum. Beyond the water there are 44 miles of trails shared by hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians, plus the Haven Hill Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark. Dogs are allowed on the other lakes but not on the swim beach.
Big Seven Lake at Seven Lakes State Park
A 1,434-acre park north of the metro area holding six lakes and over 230 acres of water. The main swim area is a buoyed stretch in the day-use area on Big Seven Lake, with a beach house, modern restrooms and changing courts, and an accessible walkway down to the water. A second designated swimming beach with a playscape sits in the campground along Sand Lake, so campers get their own. This is the farthest drive on the list from the Dearborn Heights side, up near Holly and Fenton.
Cass Lake at Dodge #4 State Park
The smallest park here by a wide margin, a 139-acre peninsula on the north shore of Cass Lake, and the one whose whole reason for being is the sandy beach. It holds a mile of shoreline on the largest inland lake in southeast Michigan, with a buoyed swim area, an accessible pier and a carry-in kayak launch beside it. Because Cass Lake is one of the busiest recreational lakes in the region, expect boat traffic just past the buoys; vehicles without trailers are directed to the Bay parking area.
Belleville Lake at Van Buren Park
By far the shortest drive from Dearborn Heights, straight down I-94 to Belleville. The beach is a small east-facing strip of shoreline at the southeast corner of the park, open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a buoyed swim line and a posted capacity of 50 people. Park staff monitor it in season but no lifeguard is on duty. The rest of the park adds trails, a bike path, a play structure, rentable pavilions and a community garden, and the same hill becomes a sledding run in winter.
How we researched this
Each row is a sandy swim beach on a lake, open to the public for the price of a vehicle pass, within roughly an hour of Dearborn Heights. Lower Huron and Lake Erie Metroparks are missing because their swimming is a pool and a waterpark rather than a lake beach, and Newburgh Lake and Ford Lake allow no public swimming. Pinckney's Silver Lake beach belongs here but is left off for now because we had no photo of it, and Independence Lake County Park's address, size and fees weren't readable on the county's pages.
Park Size is the whole park, not the beach. Four of those acreages (Lake St. Clair Metropark, Sterling, Highland and Dodge #4) come from Wikipedia because the parks' own pages don't give one, and Van Buren Park's is empty because the township doesn't publish it. The other cells are from the park operators' pages as of September 2026. Beach hours, swim-area openings and campground closures change by season, so look at the park's page the week you go.