Hoeft State Park Analysis

P H Hoeft State Park: A Mile of Pristine White Sand Beach, and Dunes
The park is densely wooded. This is one of Michigan’s very first state parks. It lies near the Straits of Mackinac, and just 50 miles from the Mackinac Bridge. It’s a popular place, but the thick forest means that sounds from other campers come in muffled, if at all. Rangers are friendly, and chitchat with you as you check in. Whether you’re coming for an afternoon or a lot longer, the one thing that can’t be missed is the park’s vast shoreline along Lake Huron. It has all the splendor of the dunes on the west side of the state, but none of the crowds.

A Modern Campground with a Rustic Feel
Each tent site is well-furnished (but bring your own extension cord and fire stick). Photo:
Photo: Graysmith
It’s impossible to sit in the forest of Hoeft State Park and not feel the call of the trail. Campsites are often spaced with wooded barriers in-between. Over the decades, trails have been worn by visitors exploring the undergrowth, or finding more expedient routes to the restrooms and water fountains.
The park also boasts a system of hiking trails that take hikers through about 10 miles of forest, dunes, and beach. And while there is a main path that leads campers from the wooded areas to the dunes and the beach, many trails wind between those spaces, and allow folks to find a more secluded path to the sand. In the winter, cross-country skiing becomes the best way to explore the trails.

A Perfect White-Sand Beach
Sitting on the sand, watching the waves crest and someone fly a kite. Photo: Graysmith
Michigan has countless miles of beaches, but not all of them are so beautiful and sandy. Nearly half of Hoeft State Park is beach and dunes. The park contains a full mile of sandy, clean, white beach. The crash of the waves is rhythmic, and it’s soothing to just sit and watch them break as they approach the shore, or else feel them run up and over your toes as you walk barefoot along the water’s
It’s a little chilly, but the sand continues far out into the clean, clear water. Drying isn’t a chore, because the sand just clings until your skin is dry, when it falls off, leaving no dirt behind. If anything, it exfoliates.
One of the more exclusive features of this beach is that it’s an amazing location to watch the sunrise. Each morning, the sun appears on the horizon, coming up behind the water. Sunsets are beautiful, as well. Folks gather here and there on the beach and on the tops of dunes and sit to watch the sun fall behind the trees. The great stretch of sky over the water shifts through a rainbow of colors before finally fading and exposing stars. You’ll walk back to your campsite in the dark, with the sound of the waves still crashing behind