Beaches along the Lake Erie shores and islands, part 1

Pebble Beach Catawba

The aptly named Pebble Beach on Catawba Island

Living so close to the water, I’ve searched for the perfect swimming spot. Now, perfect in my mind was formed by many years along Lake Michigan’s eastern shores, full of sandy beaches. But that’s a different lake.

Lake Michigan beach

Now that’s a (Lake Michigan) beach

So, I’ll be exploring different beaches up here and letting you know what I find.

Pebble Beach on Catawba Island

Untitled

Kickin back on Pebble Beach … you can just see the edges of Kelley’s Island in the upper right of the photo

Locals had told me about Pebble Beach (aptly named), said the water was cleaner up there. So hubby and I went for a dip yesterday. It’s a small beach alongside the main road out to the Miller Ferry. It was pebbly, even a few feet into the water, but from there the bottom is nice and sandy.

Untitled

Pebble Beach … with pebbles

There’s just a tiny little pulloff alongside Sloan road (just before it turns left towards the Miller Ferry or Catawba Inn, which often has great bands by the way).

Untitled

See the rainbow peeking thru?

Head over to the Diary Dock for another kind of dip

Untitled

We went for another kind of dip at the Dairy Dock

After a refreshing swim (the water was chilly!), we went for another kind a dip, an ice cream cone from the Dairy Dock, not far away. Although I’m not a big fan of Tofts ice cream (sorry, but I’m not!), I love getting a cone from the Dairy Dock then heading down to a little path by the Miller Ferry parking lot and sitting on the cliffs, watching the sunset. (Be careful getting out to the cliffs, there may be poison ivy growing nearby … and though I’m quite susceptible, it doesn’t bother me as long as I don’t brush up against it.)

Untitled

Head towards the lake just beyond the Miller Ferry parking lot

Untitled

Sneak thru the path onto the cliffs (watch out for poison ivy!)

Cliffs at Catawba Island

Then pose for a photo with your ice cream cone

Untitled

Finally, kick back and enjoy the scenery

We had a great time … and it was a cheap date (four bucks)!

Port Clinton Beach

Port Clinton Beach

View of the Port Clinton beach from the sandbar … Lake Erie is quite shallow and often there are sandbar islands where birds, dogs and people hang out

You may be wondering about the beach where I walk the dogs every day. It’s just a block from our house and it’s wonderful to be so near the water. But this beach, although there is a “public” area for swimming, is really more for wildlife than for beaching. For the most part, locals don’t go swimming there, I’m not sure why.

Port Clinton Beach

The beach along this strip is kept wild for migratory birds … don’t be surprised if you come upon a dead fish or two

Plus, for some reason up here, they don’t clean the dead fish off the beach … and that can be a little offputting for tourists (dogs, though are another matter  … Max loves to roll in them if I don’t catch him in time!)

Port Clinton Beach

Our neighbors dogs storming the birds

Port Clinton Beach

In late summer, we just walk through the water along the sandbars

So, the Port Clinton beach and pier are great for walking and there is a nice sandy area for beaching … and lots of people do swim there. Because the lake is shallow, you can walk way out into the water.

Coming up: My favorite area beach!

2 comments Write a comment

Leave a Reply