35 miles from our house is Mac Point Beach on Lake Ocoee. It takes about 40 minutes to get there. I'm always nervous to try out a new beach. But we didn't need to be too nervous! We actually really enjoyed it.
From Cleveland you head east on highway 64 until you see it on your right. There are signs. The cost is $3 to park. It is on National Park land and so if you have a National Park pass, you can use that. The beach is fairly narrow, but it accommodated quite a few people. There are picnic tables and benches. There is some shade. There is a small pavilion with about 5 picnic tables. There are grills. There is a sand beach.
And my favorite: FLUSH TOILETS! Anyone who knows me knows I hate to rough it. I hate vault toilets or port-a-potties or anything like that. So I was happy. But no hand soap so bring some hand sanitizer.
Although there was shade, we brought our canopy and was glad we did.
The beach is really close to the woods and at one point I got bit 5 times in just a few minutes. But otherwise bugs were not a problem. There is a swimming area with no lifeguards. BUT, I was surprised that this is not a zero-depth entry to the lake. There is a concrete wall bordering this area and when you enter the lake you are immediately in 3 feet of water. Little children could not just play at the edge of the water. All our kids had life jackets and played fine in the water. We brought our paddle boards and it was fun to cruise around on those.
Parking is limited. Maybe about 25 spots. If it is full, there is overflow parking down the road but then you have to walk that busy 2 lane highway to get to the beach.
Saturdays will be crowded so get there early if you want to find parking. I was pleased to see a ranger come by and actually asked some people to leave who were not following the rules (they had a dog and no dogs are allowed - it is clearly posted).
There is no boat launching at this beach/park, but paddle boards or kayaks are welcome. The kids had fun.
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