7 Prettiest Small Towns In The Great Lakes

Seven small towns stand out as the prettiest on the Great Lakes. Goderich, Ontario carries the motto Canada's Prettiest Town along its Lake Huron bluff. Grand Sable Dunes climb 300 feet out of Lake Superior beside a second town. A 302-step staircase tops a dune above a third town's river. They spread across Ontario and four US states. All seven make their case below, one standout feature at a time.

Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Chagrin Falls keeps its prettiest feature downtown. A 20-foot waterfall drops over a dam on Main Street. The Chagrin Falls Historical Society stands beside it. The same river powered nine mills in the 1800s. The town lies 25 miles east of Cleveland. Craftsmen from Massachusetts settled here in 1833. The village incorporated in March 1844.

Three more cascades step down the river a short walk away. The Popcorn Shop overhangs the upper falls. It has sold popcorn and ice cream since 1949. Blossom Time fills the Memorial Day weekend with a carnival and a parade. The festival dates to the 1950s. The Chagrin Valley Little Theatre opened in 1930. It ranks among the oldest community theaters in the country. The company stages a full season of plays and musicals.

Chesterton, Indiana

Chesterton borrows its scenery from the lake. Indiana Dunes National Park wraps the edge of town. It covers 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 50 miles of trails. The dunes hold one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the eastern United States. Chesterton stands two miles inland in Porter County. Residents reach the sand by bike.

The Westchester History Museum fills the 1885 Brown Mansion on Porter Avenue. Its exhibits cover Duneland railroads and the early steel belt. Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve protects 167 acres of restored prairie and forest. Boardwalk trails cross it. The Little Calumet River Trail makes a 3.9-mile loop through forest and wetland. The Hopkins Park splash pad keeps families busy downtown. Duneland Pottery on Broadway opens its wheels to beginners.

Goderich, Ontario

Goderich backs up its prettiest-town name at the water. The Goderich Lighthouse has stood on the bluff since 1847. It was the first light station on the Canadian side of Lake Huron. It remains the oldest in service there. Surveyors laid out the octagonal grid in 1827. Courthouse Park forms its center. The Huron County Courthouse stands in the middle.

Rotary Cove Beach lies at the southern end. It stays the quietest of the town's three beaches. Picnic shelters and paved access line it. The Huron Historic Gaol was completed in 1842. Its cellblock takes an octagonal form. The jail held prisoners until 1972. It reopened as a museum. The design follows Jeremy Bentham's panopticon.

Grand Marais, Michigan

Grand Marais saves its best view for the dunes. Grand Sable rises more than 300 feet out of Lake Superior just west of town. The dunes lie inside Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The Log Slide Overlook gives the sharpest view down to the water. The town marks the eastern gateway to the lakeshore. Its harbor curves along Superior's southern shore. The year-round count stays near 230 and swells in summer.

The Sable Falls Trail drops down a wooden staircase. It reaches a 75-foot waterfall over sandstone ledges. The path continues to Sable Beach. Agate Beach lies north of town. Rockhounds find Lake Superior agates there after storms. The Pickle Barrel House Museum looks like a giant pickle barrel. A 1920s comic-strip promotion inspired the two-story cottage. It opens as a small museum each summer.

Munising, Michigan

Munising owes its looks to the rock. The painted sandstone cliffs of Pictured Rocks stretch 42 miles east of town. Boat tours leave the harbor daily. Pictured Rocks Cruises offers narrated three-hour trips. The route passes Miners Castle, Chapel Rock, and Battleship Row. The cliffs top out near 200 feet.

Munising Falls drops 50 feet over a sandstone amphitheater. A short boardwalk reaches it from downtown. The East Channel Lighthouse stands on Grand Island offshore. Visitors see it from the public docks. A summer ferry reaches the island. Hiawatha National Forest spreads inland with hundreds of miles of trail. Spray Falls lies along the same corridor. Glass Bottom Boat Tours floats over the shipwrecks of the Munising Bay Underwater Preserve.

Sackets Harbor, New York

Sackets Harbor wears its good looks alongside its history. The battlefield site holds the ground of two War of 1812 battles. The first came in July 1812. The second came in May 1813. Restored officers' quarters and a navy yard line the bluff above Lake Ontario. The yard built warships fast. Its largest was the USS New Orleans. Workers began the ship-of-the-line in 1814. Peace arrived first. The ship never launched. The hull stayed on the stocks for decades.

Madison Barracks held a US Army post from 1816 to 1944. Its stone buildings now hold homes and offices. The Pickering-Beach Museum opens seasonally in an 1817 house. Its exhibits show 19th-century village life. The town carries a New York State Heritage Area designation on Black River Bay. Water routes link it to the Thousand Islands.

Saugatuck, Michigan

Saugatuck shows off best on the river. The Saugatuck Chain Ferry has crossed the Kalamazoo by hand crank since 1838. People believe it is the last hand-cranked chain ferry working in the United States. It carries foot traffic to the dunes each warm season. The town stands between Lake Michigan and Kalamazoo Lake. The river mouth divides them. Oval Beach draws the crowds. Its dune-backed sand lines the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Mount Baldhead Park climbs 282 feet above the river. A staircase of 302 wooden steps reaches the top. A former World War II radar station stands there. The far side descends to Oval Beach. Saugatuck Dunes State Park lies north of town. It covers 1,000 acres of designated wilderness with 2.5 miles of shoreline. Butler Street holds more than 30 art galleries downtown. They include the long-running J. Petter Galleries and Uncommon Coffee Roasters.

Pretty Down to the Particulars

The prettiest Great Lakes towns hold up at close range. Chagrin Falls drops a waterfall over a dam in the middle of Main Street. Munising sends boat tours under 200 feet of painted sandstone cliff. Sackets Harbor still shelters a warship that never left the stocks. Chesterton opens onto 15 miles of Indiana Dunes shoreline. The lakes hold a fifth of the world's surface fresh water along more than 9,000 miles of coast. These towns claim the sharpest stretches of it.