Magoon Creek Natural Area

On the West Coast of Michigan, about 5 hours from Chicago, this Natural area is right on the Lake and offers free parking and is less crowded than the nearby Lake Michigan Recreation Area.
For those interested in backpacking, there is (free) overnight parking available outside the park gates. We recently embarked on a 16 mile lake-​side trek leaving one car up north at Magoon Creek and then driving south to Ludington State Park, parking the other car there for State Park fees — $ 6/​day. We then hiked north through the Nordhouse Dunes with the intention of ending up at the Magoon Creek Natural Area.
Unfortunately, north of Cooper Creek (north of Lake Mich. Rec Area) the beach got very narrow and eventually it was impossible to walk on the beach anymore. There were railroad ties in the water for a long stretch, perhaps for boats to be docked, making walking in the shallow water pretty close to impossible. So our only option was to walk up on the land, in the brush. For a short distance it seemed as if there was a narrow trail some people had previously used, although it was obviously not maintained. Eventually though the «trail» disappeared into the steep bluffs and we were basically thrashing through the weeds and trees. It was dangerous as you couldn’t tell where the ground was; the weeds were deceptive in tricking you that there was a solid spot to put your foot when there wasn’t. After about ½ a mile of this, with no end in sight, we climbed someone’s stairs to end up in their backyard. The neighbors notified us that we were still about 2 miles from our car at Magoon Creek, which we just walked to along the road.
Despite the end of our adventure, the rest of the hike through the Nordhouse Wilderness was great. I’m not sure if the State of Michigan has not maintained a trail where we were or if the landscape has simply changed since the book we were using was written (2007), but no worries, I did drop a line to the author to notify him!
For future hikers, I’d probably suggest either hiking between the Lake Michigan Rec. Area (crowded) and Ludington State Park, camping in the Nordhouse Wilderness (pretty isolated) along the way. Or else just go in and out from Ludington State Park. The backcountry is great — you basically can just pitch your tent anywhere in the dunes, as long as you’re far enough away from the water (400ft, I believe). Firewood is easy to come by in the woods and the sunsets are not too shabby sitting on the dunes! We had minimal problems with bugs or wildlife, although hiking 16 miles through sand was a bit harder than I envisioned! Check in at Ludington State Park for car permits and to register as Nordhouse Dunes Campers — they’ll mark down your emergency contact info.
BOTTOM LINE: Beautiful stretches of beach, isolated shoreline in the Nordhouse area, too populated in the Lake Michigan Rec. Area. Prepare your calves for hiking through the sand and you’ll be a-​okay. Just don’t try to do the hike from Ludington to Manistee (Magoon Creek) because, as of now, it doesn’t exist!