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Sterling State Park, Monroe, MI

Photo: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & OutdoorsOutdoor AdventureFamily Favorite

Sterling State Park

Swim, fish for walleye and perch, or walk the Marsh Trail to a viewing tower at Michigan's only state park on Lake Erie, near Monroe.

2800 State Park Road, Monroe, MI 48162 · Monroe, MI

About Sterling State Park

William C. Sterling State Park is the only Michigan state park on Lake Erie, a few miles from the Ohio line and about an hour from Detroit. It has a mile of sandy beach, a modern campground and cottages, and more than 500 acres of Great Lakes marsh and restored prairie. The Marsh Trail passes an observation platform and viewing tower, and a one-mile connector joins the River Raisin Heritage Trail toward downtown Monroe and River Raisin National Battlefield Park. Anglers come for walleye and perch. Cars need a Recreation Passport: $12 a day or $42 a year for out-of-state vehicles, or $15 a year added to a Michigan plate renewal.

  • #state park
  • #lake erie
  • #beach
  • #fishing
  • #camping

What's around here?

The closest stops to Sterling State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sightseeing

    River Raisin National Battlefield Park

    No admission fee

    National Park Service site in Monroe, Michigan, commemorating the January 1813 Frenchtown battles of the War of 1812.

    2.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Family Favorite

    Maumee Bay State Park

    Check prices

    Swim at two sand beaches, bike paved paths and watch for some of 300 bird species from a wetland boardwalk on the Lake Erie shore east of Toledo.

    16 mi awayMore like this

  • Shopping

    Southland Center

    Check prices

    An enclosed shopping center in Taylor, Michigan, serving the southern Detroit suburbs and Downriver communities.

    20 mi awaySwitch it up: Shopping

  • Museums

    National Museum of the Great Lakes

    Under $25

    Toledo museum on Great Lakes history, with galleries plus two historic vessels you can board.

    20 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Local Gem

    Wildwood Preserve Metropark

    No admission fee

    Hike wooded trails along the Ottawa River, then take a free tour of the 1938 Stranahan family manor house and its formal garden.

    24 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Rolling Hills County Park

    Check prices

    A Washtenaw County park that includes a water park, pavilion rentals, a summer day camp, and winter activities.

    24 mi awayMore like this

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