Township closes beach stairs due to safety issues

The wooden stairs from Lake Michigan up the dune at Laketown Township Beach are now closed due to safety concerns. The beach remains open, and the stairs up from the parking area remain open (but are buried in sand blown over it over the winter). Getting back up the dune from the beach to get home will be even more challenging than ever.

The township closed the stairs on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, after a task force recommended options including closure and replacement, and the Laketown Township Parks and Recreation Commission voted to remove the stairs at its March 19 meeting as well as add snow fencing to try to keep people off the fragile dune.

Community Development Director Michelle Sall and Deputy Clerk Zoey Hallam affixed yellow “caution” tape at the bottom of the stairs at the Lake Michigan shoreline and along landing areas up the walkway on Wednesday.

Signs warning beach visitors of the unsafe steps will be installed soon, according to Interim Township Manager Steven Ringelberg, and the stairs will be removed, hopefully by the end of April.

“We all remain committed to making Laketown Beach accessible to residents of Laketown Township, and we will be working to replace the stairs that are removed as quickly as possible,” he said.

Residents need to stay off the western steps that descend to the beach.

Safety concerns

On Wednesday, March 19, the Laketown Township Parks and Recreation voted to remove the stairs, and safety is the main concern.

“In the short term, anything dangerous should be taken down,” said Commissioner Tom Hoekman.

A report by Dune Restoration Services noted the disrepair. The wooden steps have deteriorated, support structures have been weakened, and some sections are unstable.

The township board approved the parks commission budget on March 12. It includes $10,600 for engineering work for the removal of the stairs and replacement of the stairs in compliance with Michigan Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy requirements for work in Critical Dunes Act protected areas.  The board also allocated $20,000 for possible beach stair repairs and/or removal.

On March 17, the parks commission heard three presentations on repair, replacement and/or removal of the steps. A fourth company presented the month before.

Estimates range from $4,800 to remove the stairs to $117,000 to remove and replace the stairs.

The parks commission did not make any decisions on replacement, though the group has discussed changing the current direction of the stairs to make a straight-line trail from the parking lot to the shore, eliminating the right-angle turn that has been the path for decades.

How to get to the shore

There are two main sets of stairs at the beach at the west end of 142^nd Avenue.

The first set is from the parking lot up the dune. These remain open, though they are often covered with sand.

The second set of steps to the south (left if facing Lake Michigan) is what is now closed. Stay off these steps.

To get to the water, take the first set of stairs from the parking lot. Follow the marked path, staying on the trail so as not to damage the dune. Go down the path through what is called “the bowl,” a steep drop with a flat bottom. Stay off the edges and do not disturb the dune grass. Once at the bottom of “the bowl,” you’ll see another small hill. Go up and head to the lake.

Heed the no trespassing signs and follow other rules of the beach, including no fires.

To get back up the dune, stairs are no longer an option. Visitors must walk back up through “the bowl.” It is a difficult walk because of the soft sand. There are no handrails or any assistance to get back up.

History

The beach is the township’s oldest park.

The original land came from Mimi H. Gareache and Ann O. Watt of St. Louis, Mo., in 1926. They were founders of Camp Halcyon, an all-girls camp on the lakeshore, according to a history from Jeremy Van Hoven, a Laketown Township resident and former chairperson of the parks commission.

The steps were installed in the early 1990s with the combination of local funds and state grants. At the time, the township did not own “the bowl” property so the stairs had to go around the area. The township has since acquired that land.

The parks commission set up a special task force in March 2024 to study the steps.

The Beach Access Task Force led by Commissioner Mary Jo Bertolino submitted a report to the parks group in December. In the report, the group cited the continuing erosion on the north side of the park with a deeper bowl being formed and dune grass being lost.

“The sand deposited from the wind has covered the top of the stairs, the stairway from the boardwalk to the top of the stairs and the boardwalk,” the report says. “Because of the sand covering the top of the stairs, people have been exiting from the last usable steps toward the top and descending through the dune to the ‘official path.’ This is creating wide paths where the plantings have been displaced in multiple areas.”

The stairs are also identified as being in disrepair.

The report recommends repair and replacement of the current stairs and restoration of vegetation on the dune as well as the addition of fencing to keep visitors on the trails and off the sensitive dune areas.