Fifth Avenue Beach
Fifth Street Beach is the largest of the beaches in Manistee, located on the north side of the Manistee River by the Coast Guard Station and North Pierhead Light. The beach itself is quite beautiful, but if beaches are not your thing the park also offers a playground, volleyball, a snack shop, and tennis courts. The water was too cold for swimming when we visited, but there were buoys marking the swimming area. The beach itself extends quite some ways north, offering access to the private beaches north of town, and is stopped to the south by the pier. The playground has old equipment but the kids had a lot of fun, the pinnacle being the huge slide. It might just be the biggest stand-alone slide I have ever seen and is a ton of fun for kids and adults alike. The snack shop was not open when we visited, but online reviews show it to be more than just warmed-up snacks. I can imagine the beach would be quite crowded in the summer, but on our visit in late September, we were just about the only ones there. The beach at Fifth Avenue’s access to miles of beach and proximity to the pierhead make it a great place to spend an hour or a whole day.
