Chain O Lakes #2

— and that's the thing about living this close to Lake Michigan: you wake up to water views and the sound of waves instead of traffic. This stretch sits practically on the shoreline, separated by just a tenth of a mile, which means beachcombing isn't a weekend plan—it's a Tuesday afternoon decision. A five-minute walk puts you at Manistee National Forest's White Cloud Unit, where the dunes roll back from the water and the hiking actually goes somewhere.