10/01/2026
Duel Lake & Lake Michigan - Gould City, MI
This is the location where you can ride to Lake Michigan, canter on the beach, and camp next to the lake. The GPS coordinates for this campground are: 46.0203234, -85.6485819. The camping is dispersed rustic camping, in a large open space next to the lake, first come first served. It is open to the public year-round, but the roads to camp are not plowed in the winter. When we arrive there were only a few other campers parked, so we decided to seize the opportunity to setup camp right next to the beach with our trailers on the outside of the circle with our horses in the middle, and we left the view of the lake visible from the large fire pit so we could enjoy the view during our campfire. This is rustic camping with the only amenity of a pit toilet, but beware it is full and doesn't get pumped out so I would not rely on using it. We all set up portable corrals for our horses near our trailers.
In the afternoon Kelly Gribbell arrived and we all got saddled and ready to go on a ride to Lake Michigan. The trails to get there were mostly gravel 2-track roads. My horse is only shod on the front, and he didn't love walking on this gravel path. I wish I would have had pads on and shod all four. We rode about 2 miles out to the beach, and then we were able to ride 2+ miles down the beach. We stayed on the beach until we reached the river outlet. At the river we jumped back on the trail that was about 4 miles back to camp for a round trip ride of 8 miles. Ultimately the trail makes a large loop around Duel Lake. If I went back, I would have loved to turn around when we reached the river and rode the beach again to double up the amount of time on the beach and spend less time on the trail.
Our trail guide Kelly was extremely helpful at pointing out the sink holes to make sure we rode in a single file line to avoid the muck. She also mentioned that we should avoid the sandbar in the lake because your horse will sink. I was very grateful that she rode with us to show us the ropes and where the trail was because I would have been nervous without her guidance out there. We all rode through the water to avoid a section on the beach, but once we cleared the edge of the peninsula we paused to take some group photos and then confirmed that everyone in our group was comfortable if we cantered the beach, and then we all took off cantering down the beach riding in a picturesque landscape with the wind in our hair and amazing horses carrying us across the beautiful beach sand.
Our whole group was amazed at this experience. We smiled, we laughed, and I think it's safe to say that some of us even shed happy tears. To add to the experience there was a bald eagle that flew over us right after we entered the beach, and then we saw it perched in a tree when we rode down the beach. We also saw a family of swans swimming in the water that took off flying. Our beach experience was straight out of a fairytale.
