Michigan State Park Has Cool Winter Sand Formations (and a Dinosaur)

While Michigan beaches get a whole lot less traffic in the wintertime, they're still lovely! A Michigan State Park has shared photos of neat winter sand formations - and a dinosaur friend!

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Holland State Park Winter Sand Formations

Holland State Park is best known for its sugar sand beaches, beautiful sunsets, and views of the iconic “Big Red” lighthouse.

The park is home to two large campgrounds, an accessible playground, opportunities for paddling and fishing, connections to nonmotorized trails - and cool-looking sand formations in the wintertime!

Dec. 1, 2022, Holland State Park shared photos to Facebook, saying,

Temperatures have dropped and the beach winds are doing their thing. In fact, we are currently able to see some neat sand formations as well as our pesky Apatosaurus resident. It took some time but the Rangers were able to direct it to a safer area of the park.

It really does look like a prehistoric scene!

How do Winter Sand Sculptures form on Lake Michigan Beaches?

Michigan's freezing winter temperatures help to set the stage for  the formation of the sand sculptures, sometimes called hoodoos.

According to Holland State Park, the sand pillars "are formed from a combination of wind and freezing temps. The wind erodes away the dry sand leaving these frozen sculptures in place. Once temperatures rise, they too, will blow away."

What's With the Dinosaur at Holland State Park?

Holland State Park has been having some fun with a toy dinosaur let behind on the beach.

The blue Apatosaurus first showed up in Holland State Park Facebook posts Sept. 12, 2022. (The beach looked a lot different a few months ago!)

They captioned the picture,

"We have rare appearance of a blue Apatosaurus on our beach this morning, don’t worry, it was safely removed from the area."