Lake Michigan beaches, especially those beaches in Michigan and Northern Indiana, are known for their beauty and the region is often referred to as the "Third Coast" of the United States after those of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The sand is soft and off-white, known as "singing sands" because of the squeaking noise made when one walks across it (caused by high quartz content). There are often high sand dunes covered in green beach grass and sand cherries, and the water is usually clear and cold (between 55 and 70 °F/13 and 21 °C) *, even in late summer. Lake Michigan beaches in Northern Michigan are the only place in the world where one can find Petoskey stones, the state stone, aside from a few inland lakes in that region.


The beaches of the western coast and the northernmost part of the east coast are rocky while the southern and eastern beaches are sandy and dune covered. This is partly because of the prevailing winds from the west which also cause thick layers of ice to build up on the eastern shore in winter.

Chicago annually imports fresh sand to replenish the popular city beaches but much of the city waterfront is covered by seawalls, harbors or developments.

Steel mills are visible along the Indiana shoreline, and the pollution caused by these mills is believed to contribute to the color of sunsets.



The Chicago skyline can be seen from the Indiana shore and parts of extreme southwest Michigan and southeastern Wisconsin, but when standing on the beaches in Wisconsin or Lower Michigan, it is impossible to see across the lake, providing a view similar to that found on ocean coasts.