Worldwide Parks and Recreation Areas with Swimming

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore encompasses a 60 km stretch of Lake Michigan's eastern coastline, as well as North and South Manitou Islands. The park was established primarily for its outstanding natural features, including forests, beaches, dune formations, and ancient glacial phenomena. read more...

Phone: 231-326-5134   Price Range: $5 - $20   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No  
Nearest Popular City: Empire   Nearest Lake/River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Fishing, Hiking, Hunting and Shooting, Backpacking, Cross Country Skiing, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Kayaking, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Snowshoeing, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Contrasting spectacularly with its surroundings, Lake Meredith lies on the dry and windswept High Plains of the Texas Panhandle. The lake itself was created by Sanford Dam on the Canadian River; it now fills many breaks whose walls are crowned with white limestone caprock, scenic buttes, pinnacles, and red-brown, wind-eroded coves. Lake Meredith's shores are dotted with mesquite, prickly pear, yucca, and grasses of arid plains. Up the sheltered creek beds stand cottonwoods, soapberry, and sandbar willows. By Public Law 101-628 on November 28, 1990, Congress renamed Lake Meredith Recreation Area as a National Recreation Area, “to provide for public outdoor recreation use and enjoyment of the lands and waters associated with Lake Meredith in the State of Texas, and to protect the scenic, scientific, cultural, and other values contributing to the public enjoyment of such lands and waters. The 50,000-acre national recreation area includes a 10,000-acre reservoir where visitors can enjoy a variety of recreational opportunities for a day or an entire vacation. read more...

Phone: (806) 857-3151   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes  
Nearest Popular City: Fritch   Nearest Lake/River: N/A   Park Type: Recreation Area   Activities: Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Fishing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Hunting and Shooting, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Camping   Details Provided By: Lake Meredith National Recreation Area

Glacier capped mountains, wild Pacific coast and magnificent stands of old-growth forests, including temperate rain forests -- at Olympic National Park, you can find all three. About 95% of the park is designated wilderness, which further protects these diverse and spectacular ecosystems. Olympic is also known for its biological diversity. Isolated for eons by glacial ice, and later the waters of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Olympic Peninsula has developed its own distinct array of plants and animals. Eight kinds of plants and 15 kinds of animals are found on the peninsula but no where else on Earth. read more...

Phone: (360) 565-3130   Price Range: $5 - $10   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes  
Nearest Popular City: Port Angeles   Nearest Lake/River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Biking / Bicycling, Fishing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Backpacking, Cross Country Skiing, Downhill Skiing, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Rock Climbing, Whitewater Rafting, Kayaking, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Snowshoeing, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: Olympic National Park