Fisherman's Island State Park, Charlevoix, Michigan, United States

by Melissa
(Northeast Ohio)

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Home > Great Lakes Beach Glass > Fisherman's Island State Park

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Fisherman’s Island State Park, Charlevoix, Michigan

August 2017

It was an absolute gorgeous day when we went. This was my first time visiting Fisherman’s Island State Park and I sincerely hope that I can return soon.

There are actually two beaches in this park. The first one is the one that we found the most treasures. To get to it, enter the park via Bells Bay Road South and Bells Bay Road. Turn right once you reach the end of Bells Bay Road. You will have to pay a fee ($9 for us) at the ranger station to get into the park. Once you do, continue up Lake Shore Drive.

You will begin to see spaces made of gravel to your right where you can pull off the road. Find a place to park and head down to the beach. There are many “paths” that you can take. 

Once I got down to the beach, I felt like I was on a tropical island (aside from the cement factory building looming to my right). The water here is the prettiest shade of blue that I’ve ever seen and there weren’t that many people around, making the beach feel almost “secret.” While there is plenty of soft sand here, there are also large collections of rock, excellent for beachcombing.

My family actually came here looking for Charlevoix and Petoskey stones. We found about a million Charlevoix and a few really good Petoskey stones. Despite this intention, sea glass was still on my mind, and I kept an eye out for it.

The first piece I found was a fairly frosted thick, ridged white piece. It was the biggest piece I found all day. I’m assuming it maybe came from the top of a bottle or jar. This was my first sign that sea glass did exist here.

The next piece I found was a small Kelly green piece, nothing too exciting. I also found a pretty small frosted white piece. Then, as I was digging through some rocks, I found the most perfect frosted turquoise piece that I have ever seen. I shouted with happiness when I pulled it out. It’s flat and about an inch in length. I’d like to make it into a necklace.

Throughout the day, I found four more pieces; two amber ones floating in the water and two identical white triangular pieces at the other beach down the road (the more popular one, much less rocks there). We were at both beaches for about two hours total.

This beach truly was amazing, but I wouldn’t rate it as being great for sea glass. While I found some cool pieces and proved that sea glass can be sought out here, I really didn’t find that much. However, if you like beachcombing in general and would like to find some neat rocks/fossils, Fisherman’s Island State Park provides this experience. 

~ sea glass beach report by Melissa, Northeast Ohio

 

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