Petoskey State Park is a 303-acre public recreation area on Lake Michigan along Little Traverse Bay, valued for its mile-long sand beach, heavily vegetated parabolic dunes, and occasional Petoskey stones along the shore. The site began as an industrial waterfront when William Wirt Rice built a tannery there in 1885; it grew into a large operation before closing in 1952, and its buildings were demolished in 1963. Recreation began on part of the former tannery land in 1934, and the modern state park was created in the 1960s. Today it joins beach, dunes, trails, and campground facilities on a former industrial shoreline.