During the summer months between Memorial Day and Labor Day on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, I have had the privilege of working as a “beach patroller” at Oval Beach in Saugatuck, Michigan. My colleagues and I are asked many questions from visitors and tourists, and an important part of our jobs is to satisfy their curiosity. Below, are a few samples of interesting and commonly asked questions:

What exactly do beach patrollers do? . . . Why is this called Oval Beach? . . . Why can’t we bring our dogs? . . . Is this a nude beach? . . . Are there nature trails? . . . Is this Lake Michigan? . . . Is this a state park? . . . What are those old dock pilings in the lake? . . . Are there bathrooms? . . . Is it okay to swim? . . . How long has this been a public beach? . . . How do you get to Mount Baldhead or Why is it called Mount Baldhead? . . . What is the history of Oval Beach?

We get some real winners sometimes, but you should also know that we receive many nice compliments such as: “This is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen” . . . “Thank you for keeping the beach so clean”!

So, now that I have hopefully sparked your curiosity, I’ll do my best to answer these questions in the paragraphs below . . . plus a little more! The photos truly tell the story of Oval Beach in Saugatuck, Michigan. All the photos were taken by myself, with the exception of the historical photos which came from the archives of the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society.

To answer the question how Oval Beach got its name we need to go back into history. The year 1936, in response to increased automobile traffic and tourism from Chicago, the State of Michigan funded a winding road to make the Saugatuck beach area accessible to the public. After they built the road, a parking lot was paved near the beach in the shape of an oval, and that is simply where the name “Oval Beach” originated. This explanation also answers the question as to how long Oval Beach has been a public beach.

In 1962, the front portion of the iconic oval shaped parking lot was washed out by high waters and erosion. The charming oval figure of the former parking facility remains only in the memories of former tourists and local patrons. Today, there remains a portion of the old parking lot, but no longer in the shape of an oval.

Paved out in the 1980s now lie two separate parking areas which facilitates over 400 slots located north of the old oval-shaped parking lot. Decades in the making, a 25 foot sand dune made its presence between the new forward parking lot and the back overflow parking lot due to the strong and persistent westerly winds continually moving and piling-up the golden sands.

The Oval Beach shoreline area was somewhat different in the early years compared to today. It was long and narrow depending on the annual water levels with a steeper bluff from end to end. When they built the new parking lots, they also flattened part of the dune belt on the northern end of the beach adjacent to the new parking lots in order to facilitate an open and wider beachfront for patrons.

To answer the question if there are nature trails we also need to go back into the history books. Going back hundreds of years before Oval Beach was ever a tourist spot, the region was home to the Ottawa and Potawatomi Native Americans living off the land. Today’s trails meandering along the peaks and valleys of the bordering dunes were first laid down by the natives decades before Europeans settled the area. The local Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society has a map showing Native American burial grounds rumored where one of the parking lots now lie.

Several trails beginning at the northern border of Oval Beach lead up to the dunes and through the Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area for a breathtaking view of the lake and acres of pristine preserved natural habitat with rolling sand dunes covered with shrubbery and windswept beach grass. Beyond the dunebelt, patrons can follow trails through valleys of interdunal wetlands.

Answer to the question that is often brought up by visitors as to why there are abandoned dock pilings in the lake at the north end of the beach! Going back into history at the turn of the century in the early 1900s, the mouth of the Kalamazoo River where it flowed into Lake Michigan was located directly at the northern border of Oval Beach territory. Two docks had been built on each side the rivermouth extending into Lake Michigan to accommodate shipping. Commencing in 1904, construction began to “amazingly” reroute the rivermouth nearly a mile north from its original natural location which bordered Oval Beach leaving behind the old dock pilings. The purpose was to better accommodate a smoother, straighter shipping lane by building a new staighter course away from the existing silt-prone winding river channel. Saugatuck was once a major port for transporting peaches, tourism and lumber; which, by the way, helped rebuild Chicago after the great fire of 1871.

What happened to the former natural river mouth and its lighthouse after the new river mouth was completed in 1906? The river water was filled in by human intervention and nature has taken its course since then rebuilding a new sand dune where the winding river once emptied into the lake. Remnants of the river seen in the background is now called Oxbow Lake (photo below).

The old lighthouse, which was built in 1859, ceased operations as a lighthouse in 1914 after the shipping channel to the Kalamazoo River was moved. The deactivated Kalamazoo River Lighthouse was rented to Frederick Fursman, co-founder of the nearby Ox-Bow Summer School of Art, from about 1915 to 1935. Arthur F. Deam, an architecture professor, bought the 10.8-acre dune property, buildings and old lighthouse in 1937 for $1,500 from the U.S. government. He made it into a “lighthouse-style” summer home. It was later destroyed by a tornado in April 1956 and the Deams built a new home on the property accessed only by boat.

View from Oval Beach showing the former Kalamazoo Rivermouth located between the two rows of abandoned dock pilings. ENLARGE to see reconstructed channel in the background with two pier heads.

Whenever people asked us beach patrollers about Mount Baldhead, it also involved learning about the history, but first, the answers to why it’s a major attraction. When someone mentions Oval Beach, Mount Baldhead comes to mind as this towering sand dune overlooks our beloved beach! It’s part of the largest assemblage of fresh water dunes in the world extending three hundred miles of eastern Lake Michigan coastline, first sculpted around 12,000 years ago during the receding glacial Ice Age. Later, prevailing westerly winds continually pushed sand further inland creating the elaborate network of sand dunes stabilized particularly by dune-grasses and trees.

View of Mount Baldhead from Oval Beach and from the city-side ice covered Kalamazoo Lake

The big dune called Mount Baldhead, towers 230-250 feet at an elevation of 804 feet above sea level located directly west of Oval Beach and directly south of the Kalamazoo River. Sitting at its peak is a decommissioned radar tower left over from WWII. During the cold war era between 1956-68, it was constructed onto the big dune to screen planes coming across the lake from Wisconsin for potential threats.

Mount Baldhead today, with its curious looking metal structure, simply provides an irresistible tourist destination. From the town’s side of the dune, there is a park where 300 stair steps begin at the base leading to the top of the dune. Take the challenge and be rewarded with a breathtaking view of Saugatuck. Feast your eyes on the town’s marina and shops which leads your eye out to a panorama of the encircling countryside.

After taking in the view of the countryside, take a walk through forest trails along the dune peak originally paved hundreds of years ago by Pottawatomie and Ottawa Native Americans. While trailing through the forested dunes, look to the west for the view of golden sandy beaches and beautiful Lake Michigan. Afterwards, dash down Mount Baldhead’s sandy path to Oval Beach, free of charge.

Answer to the question why the dune is called Mount Baldhead – The big dune wasn’t always covered with trees like it is today; hence the name “Mount Baldhead”. The trees were planted on the bare sand hill to help stabilize it. The town’s people had learned a hard lesson from it’s original settlement of Singapore (1837-1880), an old lumber and ship-building town located near to the Kalamazoo Rivermouth. Through clear cutting to rebuild Chicago, Holland, and other cities after the great fires of 1871, Singapore suffered the ill fate of wind blown sand completely burying the town. Several Singapore buildings and homes were rescued and moved downstream to what has grown into the tourist town of Saugatuck, Michigan.

Singapore, Michigan 1869 Ship Building Town near Kalamazoo Rivermouth which was completely buried by windswept sands in the 1880’s after widespread clear-cutting in the region.

The next question that comes up quite a bit addresses the no dogs allowed issue. I love dogs, but unfortunately not everyone is a responsible pet owner! Dog waste left on beaches creates health hazards. People will try to cover their dog’s waste with sand and expect it to disappear, but the sand moves all the time by wind and foot traffic! Then there’s the problem of dogs kicking sand on neighbors and barking during a crowded beach day. Everyone’s there to relax and take in the joy and serenity the beach provides. From Labor Day to Memorial Day people get away with bringing their dogs to the beach by taking advantage when no one is there to enforce the rule. Most people pick up after their dogs, but then there are those few.

Next question answered – Oval Beach is not a nude beach. Although, when the now renowned, city owned, 400 acre Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area bordering Oval Beach was owned by the Frank Denison family between 1954 to 2006, the Denisons indeed reserved a section of their beachfront property for the free-spirited for a number of years; and therein lies the confusion. These days, families can safetly walk from Oval Beach about a mile to the inlet channel without fear of exposing young eyes. And this also answers the question; is Oval Beach a state park.

Next question we have been asked at the entrance gate is if there are bathrooms. Yes there are; and with changing rooms, plus outdoor showers and a concession stand to serve the hungry and thirsty.

Is it safe to swim in Lake Michigan? This is the most important question we are asked. During the summer “most of the time” it is safe to swim in Lake Michigan! But, it is important to know when to enter the lake with caution. Lake Michigan takes more lives than all four other Great Lakes combined. We’ve been lucky here at Oval Beach, only a few close calls. First time visitors and people that are visiting from farther-out communities away from the lake are often simply not aware of the dangers when the lake kicks-up a high surf. The bigger the waves, the more powerful the rip currents. A recent non-profit organization has begun advocating the “Flip, Float and Follow” method, developed by Michigan State University. If a swimmer feels themself being pulled out by a current, the method recommends for a swimmer to flip over onto their back, float instead of fight and flow with the current until it weakens enough so that the swimmer can escape by swimming parallel to the current along the shoreline. Fighting a current is like running on a treadmill and will quickly exhaust a swimmer.

Warning to parents: I’ve observed parents sitting on the beach watching their kids unassisted or without a floating device during high waves. Parents or another adult need to be in the water with young children when strong waves steadily come into shore, even a two foot wave can have a strong rip current or overtake a person.

And last, What do beach patrollers do? First, we are not trained lifeguards and are not instructed on water rescue procedures. We are on foot available to patrons who may need us or have questions. We regularly walk the beach and patrol it to make sure people are using safe practices or following the few rules such as no drinking, smoking, campfires or dogs. We carry walky-talkies to communicate with one another and to the front gate which has access to a phone. Oval Beach is in an isolated location and cellphones do not work well, sometimes texting works.

The types of emergencies we have dealt with include missing children and health emergecies such as heatstroke or heart failure. We are trained in missing child procedures, CPR and minor injuries. One year, from a nearby beach, a man drown trying to rescue his son who drown during a high-surf event. One of the bodies washed up just north of our shore to which we needed to clear the beach until the other body was found by the coastguard. It was extremely sad and deeply affected us all!

We manage the front gate and the parking availability which is most important during busy holiday weekends when there is heavy traffic and the parking lot fills to full capacity.

We help keep the beach clean regularly picking up trash left behind and we are also responsible for keeping the bathrooms clean.

Best and most fun, we regularly talk with patrons and answer questions as well as possible. Just for fun, sometimes we go around the parking lots and check license plates to see where people are from. We get a lot of visitors from out of state including Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, California and more. I have talked to patrons from England, Iraq, India and France who share their surprise how Lake Michigan is more like an ocean.

I must mention that Oval Beach has received many prestigious accolades in recent years ranked as one of Michigan’s favorite vacation spots great for families and kids!

• MTV Top 5 beaches in the country!
• Conde Naste’s Travel Magazine rated it in the top 25 shorelines worldwide!
• National Geographic Traveler Magazine says it’s one of two top fresh water beaches worldwide!
• Chicago Tribune recommends it as one of the best places for Chicagoans to take a day trip away from the everyday grind!
• Smarter Travel, a major national travel publication listed Oval Beach as one of the top ten idyllic end-of-summer beach vacations in the USA.
• Top 10 USA Today readers choice