Holland State Park & Ottawa Beach Michigan

Our trip to Michigan included camping at Holland State Park.

Its a nice park sandwiched between Lake Macatawa & Lake Michigan.

The park offers more than just a beach with camping, hiking, fishing & views of the Big Red Lighthouse.

There are 2 campgrounds, one on the beach, aptly named Lake Michigan Campground 

and one on the other side of the dune called Lake Macatawa.

We camped in the latter which had wonderful pine trees and a brand new restroom.

If you want to stretch your legs, there is a trail over the dune

 which connects to the Mt. Pisgah dune stairway and Overlook.

(The dune is called Mt. Pisgah, but its a stretch calling it a mountain.)

The stairway is over 200 steps up from Ottawa Beach Road,

but accessing from the state park trail, its very do-able and you bypass the stairs.

However, you might want to go down and visit Dune Dogs on the street below
 where you can indulge in an ice cream cone or Chicago dog.

 The view from Mt. Pisgah overlook features the lighthouse & beach facing west

And Lake Macatawa facing east.

On one of the most enjoyable walks we took, we discovered the Ottawa Beach Historic area.

It features cottages built along the side of the dune with only boardwalk access.

There was a large parking lot with an assortment of carts which the owners used to tote their groceries & vacation clothing to their cottages.

 The boardwalk formed a loop with upper cottages perched above the lower ones.

Former president Gerald Ford's family had a cottage here.

We didn't know which one until we googled it back at camp, so I didn't get a photo of it.

I expected it to be one of the more elaborate homes, but it was surprisingly modest.

 The cottages had beach access where the boardwalk ran closest to the great lake.

Perfect for viewing the sunset.

Holland State Park offers a little bit of everything Michigan.