Michigan Travel · Tri-Cities of the lakeshore
Pier, channel, then the inland lake
Start in Grand Haven at the channel, not in a parking lot inland. The pier and the boardwalk are the arrival. The river is still a working mouth here, with Lake Michigan straight out from the end of the walk.
Walk the pier only as far as the wind allows. Early October on this shore is not a swimming afternoon. It is a lake light and a concrete path, and the walk back can be colder than the walk out. The boardwalk along the river is the calmer piece if the pier is too much. Both are Grand Haven. Neither requires a second town yet.
Cross when you are done with the big lake, not before. US-31 carries you over the Grand toward Ferrysburg and then Spring Lake. Spring Lake is the second body of water, smaller and inland, with its own town along the shore. That is enough for a Sunday. Holland and Muskegon are other days.
Leave the restaurant list at home. The public route is the pier, the channel, the bridge, and the inland lake. If the wind is hard off Lake Michigan, the Spring Lake side is the place to finish. Two waters, one afternoon, and no third harbor.