Peterson Beach

Winter clouds over Peterson Beach.

NPS credit

Quick Facts

Amenities

4 listed

Beach/Water Access, Entrance Passes for Sale, Parking - Auto, Toilet - Vault/Composting

Pets:
The endangered piping plover nest on Peterson Beach. Please review the pets in the park page for the most up-to-date information about areas closed to pets.
https://go.nps.gov/slbepets

This Lake Michigan beach at the end of Peterson Road is one of the most beautiful and secluded beaches in the Lakeshore. This relaxing, less-crowded beach is a great place to hide out on a hot summer afternoon. Nestle in the deep sand behind a thicket of beach grass, listen to the waves rolling in, and just let go.

Peterson beach offers vistas of the bluffs along Sleeping Bear Point and Empire Bluff. To the south is Platte River Point. On a clear day, you can also see South Manitou Island.

Limited parking is available at the end of Peterson Rd and along the roadside. A boardwalk crosses the low dunes from the parking lot to the beach.

Enjoy the Beach safely

**Poison Ivy: leaves of three, leave it be!**
Poison ivy grows plentifully in many areas of the Lakeshore as a vine or low shrub. The leaves are red in early spring, shiny green in summer, and an attractive red or orange in the fall. Each leaf consists of three leaflets. Most people are sensitive in varying degrees to the sap of this plant, which makes the skin itch, blister, and swell.
Avoid contact with all parts of the plant. Avoid plants with three leaflets.
If exposed, wash the affected skin with soap and water as soon as possible.

**Beach fires**
Roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over glowing coals while watching the sun go down over the lake is a perfect ending to a fun day at the beach. Beach fire are allowed on our mainland Lake Michigan beaches between the water's edge and where the dunes begin, and away from any vegetation. Make sure you use firewood from park approved vendors to help us protect our forests from pest and disease. And be sure to extinguish all beach fires with water. DO NOT bury fires-hidden embers could burn unsuspecting bare feet!

**Take care around plover nesting area**
Keep a watchful eye out for a tiny animal friend, the piping plover, a threatened species that breeds here in the spring. Piping plovers find the cobbled beaches of Sleeping Bear Dunes an ideal place to find mates, nest, and raise their young. To protect the plovers and their nests, some parts of the beach may be temporarily closed to visitors and pets. Please help us protect these special birds by keeping dogs on a leash and obeying all beach closure signs.

**Step around the Pitcher's thistle**
Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcher) blooms only once when the plant is seven years old. This native thistle grows only on the shorelines or sand dunes of the Great Lakes and is common in the Lakeshore. It is a threatened species: it is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.

Walking through foredunes on your way to the beach may trample and kill these plants before they can reproduce. So please watch out for the Pitcher's thistle: stay on the wooden walkways and established trails.

**Swim safe**
The Lakeshore's pristine beaches are ideal for swimming, but forceful waves and rip currents can turn a fun visit into a frightening one. Use caution when swimming alone and take special precautions with children: keep a close watch on all children, stay within arm's reach, and be sure they are wearing a life jacket.

**Be alert for rip currents**
Although they are not common in the Lakeshore, rip currents are dangerous and can occur at any beach with breaking waves.
Lake Michigan conditions can change quickly. Know what to expect before you go in the water. Monitor the weather and check out the swim risk level for the beach you plan to visit. Read more in Safety.

**Paddle safe**
Before going out for a paddle, check the weather. Have a boating plan and make sure others know it. Always wear safety gear, including personal flotation devices. Buddy up, don't go out alone. Check your boat and make sure it is safe for conditions. And always keep the shoreline in sight.

Lake Michigan Pirates: Roaring Dan Seavey

Lake Michigan's eastern shoreline is a paradise treasured by tourists and recreationists. But during the periods of western expansion, the upper Great Lakes region was a very dangerous place. Up until the mid-1800s, a wild west mentality ruled the Great Lakes. The lakes were a source for all kinds of smuggling, poaching, and piracy. Pirates sailed the waters stealing beaver pelts, timber, and sometimes entire ships. One notable pirate was Roaring Dan Seavey, a man that would sail out into the lakes and plunder wherever and whatever he could.

Seavey and a small crew would silently slip his schooner, the Wanderer, with no running lights, into ports in the dead of night and make off with anything on wharves, in unlocked warehouses, or on nearby streets-cattle, hay, leather goods, fruit--anything of value and could be carried on the schooner.

Known for his monumental acts of drinking, brawling, whoring, poaching, and stealing, Seavey also practiced moon cussing: a pirate trick of rearranging or removing or putting up fake port lights so that ships coming in would crash on the rocks. Then, his crew would board the ship and steal the cargo. He earned most of his money from poaching venison and stealing. He also ran an offshore casino and brothel.

Seavey's biggest heist was stealing the 40-ft schooner Nellie Johnson in Grand Haven, Michigan. As the story goes, he gained the trust of the Nellie Johnson's crew and captain and came aboard with booze and drank them all under the table. When the crew was passed out, he and his crew removed them from the schooner and set sail for Chicago to sell the cedar posts onboard. Unable to sell anything and being discovered as a pirate, Seaver took the Nellie Johnson and fled up the coast of Lake Michigan. He eluded federal authorities for two weeks but was captured near Frankfort. He was taken back to Chicago where he claimed he won the ship in a poker game. The ship's real captain never showed up, so charges were dropped and he was set free.

The only man ever formally charged with piracy on the Great Lakes, Seavey eventually was deputized as a U.S. Marshall and tasked with curbing poaching and robbery on Lake Michigan.

Pirates in our region were tough, but they were practical too. They wore knitted wool caps and mittens and sweaters. When the lakes iced over, the sweater-wearing pirates would head home until May.