Norman F. Kruse Park has about one mile of Lake Michigan Beach, with breathtaking views of Lake Michigan. This is the major picnic area with 4 picnic shelters and an accessible ramp to the beach and into the dunes.
Picnic Shelter Reservation Information for Kruse Park
The city has allocation a section of the beach along the northern part of the park just for Dogs. Take a look at the video below and see just how fun it is!
Location: Sherman at Beach
Land Area: 52.3 acres
Surrounding Land Use: Residential, open space
Facilities: Parking lots (2), nature trails, barrier dunes, accessible dune walkways, playground, dune overlooks, picnic shelters, restrooms, basketball court.
The city has two other popular ‘beach’ parks, they are Pere Marquette and Harbour Towne Beach.
We come with our dog just for a walk at least once a month. We thoroughly enjoy the availability of a place where our kids are welcome too (4 legged and furry). The cat comes once in a while too, but not during summer when there are a lot of dogs. Always bring extra poo bags cause you never know who has forgotten or had theirs accidentally blown away.
We like the park so much that we organized a picnic with a mixed group of people (kids to retired folks) and everyone enjoyed the park immensely! I also heartily appreciate the attention to detail of all the park workers to make this a beautiful site to be enjoyed. We rented Kruse #4 and from the call to reserve the pavilion to the final check off at 3pm we have had nothing short of excellent and courteous service. I would so use them again for the next picnic I have to organize. High marks and a hearty thumbs up to the Muskegon County Parks employees.
We had a great afternoon at the dog beach today. It was our 1st time there. We got caught up in the boardwalks in the dunes and couldn’t figure out how to get to the beach. Finally by process of elimination we found it. A few signs along the way would be helpful. It was a fun crowd and everyone got along well. Visit my web site to see some pictures.
http://patriciawilson.me/Blog/Entries/2012/7/28_Today_Was_A_Beach_Day.html
Lake Michigan and flies. If there is wind from the east (northeast, east of southeast), there will be flies. Pay attention to wind direction.
Is this the only dog park in Muskegon? We are coming up for July 4 week and were thinking of bringing our dog. We want to make sure we have a place to take the pup for fun if we do. Thanks!
A group of us went with 3 dogs over memorial day weekend this beach is great! People were polite and all the dogs got along just great. It was extremely busy but manageable. No bugs to speak of, we’re going back this coming weekend.
There was one dog owner who would let his dog run 100 yards away out of his field of vision, this dog was pestering other dogs. This happened about 10 times, Even after asking to keep the dog on a leash. Some people just don’t understand how to be polite. So just keep an eye out for the idiots on the beach.
Is the dog beach area nice for both pets and owners to lay out at and swim together or not? Some dog beaches are not clean enough or nice enough for owners to lay our or swim in.
YES it’s wonderful!! I have seen a machine clean the sand about once per week, but don’t let this stop you from bringing plenty of bags to pick up your pets poo. Some rude pet parents don’t.
Yes. It is very clean with gorgeous sand and the water quality very good. We even had warm water yesterday (July 28). Luckily there were no flies at all.
Being a dog beach attendee for over 10 years, I have yet to run into a serious problem with people or dogs. Of course, sometimes dog’s personalities differ & they just don’t get along, but you just work it out. There used to be park rangers that came along in an ATV checking on things & handing out poo bags & the city used to provide bags along with dumpsters. With the budget cuts, all that has gone by the wayside, but for the most part people clean up after their dogs. The walk/ steps at Kruse park has alway been a problem as well as the boardwalk on the north end of the dog beach. As for the flies – well, nothing can be done about that. It all depends on the weather, wind, humidity, etc how bad they are. There has been many times we have been forced to leave because of them. Later in the summer/fall, it will be lady bugs everywhere.
We went to this beach for Memorial day weekend. We drove over 2 hours to go and we loved it!! The sand was clean, the water was clean and cool and the people and dogs were great. Being a holiday weekend it was super busy (I would say over 100 pets/owners) but it was a very laid back relaxing atmosphere. Everyone was just having fun and enjoying the beach with their dogs! My dog has sensitive skin and I’m allergic to bug bites so we were a bit worried since I read the review about the bugs but there were none to be seen.
this was a visually beautiful beach. we drove 1 1/2 hours to bring our dogs out. by the time we reached the waters edge, we were all covered with flies! I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN MY LIFE. we didnt even get to sit down. we had to haul everything back to the car. we were literally covered in these biting flies. the poor dogs as well. there were others that came down to the beach with their dogs and also had to leave. we were pretty bummed : (