Orchard Beach State Park is a 201-acre public recreation area on a bluff above Lake Michigan north of Manistee. First opened in 1892 as a privately developed excursion park created by the Manistee, Filer City and Eastlake Railway Company, it later passed to the state in 1921 and became part of Michigan’s park system. Much of its historic character comes from Civilian Conservation Corps work in the 1930s, including limestone buildings and the park layout that still survives. Recognized in 2009 as one of Michigan’s most intact state parks shaped by Depression-era National Park Service design, it remains a scenic destination despite erosion, a relocated CCC pavilion, and beach closures caused by high lake levels.