Muskegon Lake Marinas and Public Boat Launches

The Launch Ramps on Muskegon Lake, and What Each Is Best For

Every city ramp handles the same size boat: up to 30 feet, on single or double-axle trailers. The city sets that as one spec for all of them, so capacity is not what tells them apart. What matters is where you launch, depending on whether you are heading up the river end of the lake, staying on open water, or running out the channel toward Lake Michigan. The table compares the six trailer launches on the open lake - the four city ramps plus the two channel-end options, Snug Harbor and Harbour Towne Marina's paid ramp, each covered in its own section further down. The river end adds smaller options - Richards Park, a private causeway ramp, and the Muskegon Conservation Club's launch at the river mouth - toward the bottom of the page. Before you trailer down, it is worth checking the day's water and boat traffic on the live Muskegon Lake webcam.

Of the four city ramps, Fisherman's Landing is the one I point newcomers to first. It carries the most ramps and the fullest set of facilities of any city site, and it sits at the quieter, river end of the lake, well away from the Lake Michigan channel. Here is the launch on an ordinary June evening.

When someone wants room to maneuver, I send them to Grand Trunk on the south shore. The paved lot is large and was freshly striped on my June 2026 visit, with marked accessible parking right by the ramp. That makes it an easy place to rig a trailer or drop a kayak in without jockeying for space.

The fourth city ramp, Jaycees, is back in business - it was coned off for repairs on my June 2026 visit, and by my early July 2026 visit it had reopened. Here is the ramp back open and in use.

Snug Harbor: A State-Park Launch Right by the Channel

Not every launch on the lake is a city ramp. Snug Harbor sits in Muskegon State Park on the north shore, right where Muskegon Lake narrows into the channel out to Lake Michigan. To be clear on geography, it is in the state park on the north side near the channel, not within the city of North Muskegon.

What Snug Harbor buys you is time. Put in here and you are already at the west end of the lake, minutes from the channel and Lake Michigan, instead of trailering to a ramp at the river end and running the full length of Muskegon Lake to get out. For anyone whose plan is the big lake, that is the difference between a short hop and a long crossing.

One thing to sort out before you go: because Snug Harbor is in a Michigan state park, entry is by Recreation Passport rather than the city launch pass below. The board photographed in June 2026 listed the passport at $20 for Michigan-registered vehicles, and $42 annual or $12 daily for out-of-state vehicles. Those are state prices, and the state does revise them; check the Recreation Passport price and rules with the Michigan DNR before you rely on the numbers here.

And if the reason you are launching is fish, the Muskegon Lake fishing guide covers the species, the local spots and seasons - Snug Harbor itself shows up in the perch rotation - and where to check current reports before a trip.

Harbour Towne Marina: A Paid Public Ramp on the Channel's South Side

The channel's south side has a launch of its own, and it belongs to a private marina. Harbour Towne Marina, the dockominium marina at 3429 Fulton Avenue whose community story is covered in the Harbour Towne guide, answers the access question plainly on its own FAQ: "We do have a public boat launch." Two launch bays sit at the west end of the marina, with the same 30-foot maximum the city ramps carry.

The ramp runs self-serve: fee in the envelope at the launch, daily permit on the dashboard. As of July 2026 the marina's posted rates are $20 a day for a trailer up to two axles, $30 for three axles, and $200 for a seasonal permit, with posted hours running from the start of May to mid-October and seasonal kayak storage offered at $50 a boat. Those are the marina's numbers to set and change, so check its launch page before you trailer over.

What you are buying is the same head start Snug Harbor sells across the water: you start at the channel end of Muskegon Lake instead of running its length. The marina's own site calls it the closest marina to Lake Michigan, and the geography agrees with the spirit of the claim - from these bays, the big lake is a short run away. Between the state launch on the channel's north side and this one on its south, a trailer boater bound for Lake Michigan has two ways to skip the crossing.

Hartshorn Marina: Slips and Moorings

Hartshorn Marina is the city's marina on Muskegon Lake, next to downtown, and the only public marina on the lake. The city reports it has over 150 slips and 50 moorings available seasonally, and the operator's site notes it accommodates vessels up to 65 feet. One point worth being precise about: although the marina is city-owned, it is privately contracted, so day-to-day operation, availability, and booking run through an outside operator rather than a city desk.

Location

Mid-lake, next to downtown Muskegon

Slips & moorings

Over 150 slips and 50 moorings, seasonal

Largest vessel

Up to 65 feet (per the operator)

Operated by

Outside operator under city contract

For buyers, the practical point is that a seasonal slip or mooring is a realistic alternative to owning private dockage, but it is seasonal and finite, so it should not be assumed. If a slip is part of your plan, check current availability with the marina operator and review the city's slip rental process.

An Alternative: A Private Launch by the Causeway

There is another option that is not a city ramp at all. On N. Causeway Street (M-120), on the North Branch of the Muskegon River and directly across from Putters Creek, a private launch lets you put in for $10 for the day, paid on site. I could not confirm an official name for it, so I am listing it plainly as an unnamed private launch rather than inventing one.

The catch is size. To get from this launch to the open lake you have to pass under the causeway bridge, so it only works for small boats. In my experience that means roughly a fishing boat and under; when the river runs high, you can end up ducking down even on a jet ski to clear it. Anything tall is out.

The upside is real, though. It is a quiet way to skip the crowds and trailer traffic that build up at the four city ramps on a summer weekend. Because it is privately run, treat the fee and access as subject to change, and read the posted instructions when you get there.

Richards Park: A Free Launch for Kayaks and Small Boats

A second causeway option, and this one is free and city-owned. Richards Park, officially Richards Charter Park, is a small, rustic City of Muskegon park at 95 N. Causeway Street, at the northeast end of Muskegon Lake where the south branch of the Muskegon River comes in. The launch sits at the back of the park, behind the disc golf course, which is part of why it stays a locals' spot. I took the photos below there in June 2026.

There is no launch fee. A short gravel drive takes you to the water, and it is the kind of rustic, hand-launch setup that suits kayaks, canoes, and small fishing boats rather than anything trailered or large. Because the disc golf course shares the park, it makes an easy two-for-one: a paddle and a round of disc golf in the same stop.

It is also a quietly restored spot. The Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership rebuilt the riverbank here with a bioengineered native shoreline, removing concrete debris and invasive brush and planting native trees and shrubs, so the corridor is greener and calmer than it once was. For the official listing and the restoration details, see the City of Muskegon parks page and the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership.

A paddler's route most people never hear about: put in well upstream at the free Mill Iron Road launch and float down the Muskegon River, taking out at Richards Park where the river opens into the lake. Michigan Water Trails describes it as roughly a two-hour downstream paddle to the Muskegon Lake end. Spot a second vehicle at Richards, or run two cars, and it makes an easy one-way trip. See the Mill Iron Road launch on Michigan Water Trails for the put-in.

What This Means If You Are Buying Near the Water

Public access changes the math on a lot of waterfront and water-adjacent homes. If a property does not include a private dock, the launch ramps and a Hartshorn slip can still give you genuine, regular access to the lake, which widens the set of homes worth considering.

A few things to carry into a specific purchase: if you are looking at a condo, dock and slip rights are governed by the HOA and are not a given, so work through the waterfront condo buyer checklist before assuming you will have a place to put a boat. And if you are weighing nearby Bear Lake instead, remember that getting between Bear Lake and Muskegon Lake runs under a channel bridge with a clearance limit, which affects what size boat makes sense there. You can see those channels and the shoreline depths on the local water depth reference. Either way, before committing to a waterfront address, check its flood and high-water history, which a listing rarely shows.

Keep Reading