Headlands Beach State Park is a public beach in Mentor and Painesville Township, Ohio, United States. It is the longest natural beach in Ohio[3] and attracts two million visitors annually.[4] The breakwall at the eastern end of the park, frequented by fishermen, is surmounted by the Fairport Harbor West Breakwater Light. The park features a 35-acre beach for sunbathing, swimming, and beach glass hunting along with picnicking facilities and seasonal concessionaire.[3]
Geography
Headlands Beach State Park is at the northern terminus of State Route 44 and the Buckeye Trail.[5] The park is between the Mentor Marsh and the Grand River. It is next to Fairport HarborCoast Guard station and a Morton Salt mine[6] and abuts two other protected areas, Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve to the east and Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve to the west.[7][8]
History
The state began acquiring land for the park during the period 1951-1952. It opened under the name Painesville Beach State Park in 1953, with its name changed to Headlands Beach two years later.[3]
Accolades
In 1995, The Plain Dealer of Cleveland ranked Headlands as Ohio's best beach.[9] In 2013, CNN listed Headlands Beach among the top 20 beaches in the United States per the nomination of readers of “CNN Travel.”[3]
As with other state parks in Ohio, per Ohio Revised Code, both men and women are allowed to wear thong swimwear, and women are allowed to be topless, a practice upheld by Ohio courts in the 1990s, though discouraged by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in the interest of promoting "a wholesome family environment."[10]
^Bruckman, Abraham (April 1, 2019). "LEPF Final Report 529-2018"(PDF). City of Mentor. Retrieved November 14, 2020. ODNR figures show that Headlands Beach S.P. draws two million visits annually—much of that still only from two counties.
