Memorial Day weekend brings the start of the swimming season at Presque Isle State Park whether Mother Nature realizes it or not.
This year’s holiday weekend might not be as great for swimming and sunbathing as some years, with air and Lake Erie water temperatures hovering around the 50s. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be other stuff to see and do now and throughout the summer of 2025.
Popular attractions, including bicycle rentals and pontoon rides, will be back, along with a new water taxi option and beach umbrella rentals.
Here’s what you have to look forward to at the peninsula in 2025.
Swimming at Presque Isle
The 2025 swimming season at Presque Isle State Park starts May 24 at noon.
While beaches are open for recreational use all year, swimming is only allowed between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day, with the exception of a few later September weekends in some years.
This year, swimming will start May 24. Beaches will be guarded from noon to 7:15 p.m. that day as well as May 25 and 26.
Park Operations Manager Matt Greene said at least three beaches ― 6, 8 and 11 ― will be open and guarded for swimming on the holiday weekend. A fourth beach, either 3 or 10, could possibly also open for swimming, he said.
Greene said he is expecting Presque Isle to have more beaches open more days for swimming this summer as the park was successful at recruiting new lifeguards.
Lifeguard shortages in some recent years have prevented park officials from allowing swimming at additional beaches.
Sand work on beaches
Work to replenish sand on Presque Isle’s beaches will get a later than normal start because officials were awaiting word on federal funding. They found out in the middle of May that the park isn’t in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work plan for this year. That means that instead of about $3 million in combined federal and state funds, the park will only have about $1.5 million from Pennsylvania to spend on sand placement for 2025.
Greene said sand work could start in mid- to late-June. He thinks the majority of it will involve removing tombolos, which are bars of sand and sediment that develop between beaches and breakwaters. That sand will be relocated to places where erosion has occurred.
The work isn’t likely to have much effect on swimming operations because most of the tombolos aren’t located near swimming areas, he said.
Earlier this week, Greene still didn’t have an explanation from the Corps of Engineers for why the Presque Isle sand project wasn’t federally funded this year.
Food on the peninsula
Concession stands at the park will remain shuttered but food trucks will return for a third year, starting May 23.
Greene didn’t have a complete list as they were in the process of getting certified and permitted, but he said the number of trucks on the park this year could reach the maximum allowed of eight. In 2024, the park had six spots available for vendors and there were five trucks.
This year, there will be two parking spots for food trucks at Beach 6 and two at Beach 8. Beaches 1 and 11, Vista 3 and the Perry Monument will each have one spot for a truck. Trucks can move from spot to spot and don’t have to spend all day every day at the park.
However, all of the food vendors are requested to be on the StreetFoodFinder website and app, which allow visitors to see when and where a food truck will be parked on the peninsula, Greene said.
Chair and umbrella rentals
A new offering anticipated to start Memorial Day weekend will be beach chair and umbrella rentals at Beaches 8 and 11.
Greene said it would especially benefit people who travel to the park using a new water taxi service and don’t want to carry chairs and umbrellas with them.
“This will be an interesting first year to see how it goes,” he said.
Water taxi service
The Presque Isle Water Taxi will restore a service that hasn’t been offered since 2019. The “aquabus” will travel on Wednesdays through Sundays, and a few Mondays, between Dobbins Landing on Erie’s waterfront and the state park’s ferry dock in the Waterworks Area. Various ticket options went on sale before the service was to start May 23.
Bus service
The Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Route 33, also known as the Presque Isle Express, will be running this year but not until June 7.
The free bus route route departs from downtown Erie, crosses through Millcreek Township, and makes stops at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, 301 Peninsula Drive, and around the state park. The Presque Isle Expresswill operate Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Bikes and boats
Visitors to Presque Isle State Park can take their own bicycles or rent a bike or even a surrey.
Bicycles, tricycles, surreys and water trikes will again be available to rent in the park’s Waterworks Area.
Canoes, kayaks, paddle boards, motor boats, pontoons and row boats will be offered for rent at the boat livery near the lagoons.
The park’s free Lagoon by Pontoon boat rides will begin May 23.
Beach wheelchairs
ADA beach wheelchairs will continue to be available for free on a first-come, first-served basis at the public safety building. Presque Isle has both sand-only models and those with floats that can go in the water.
Know before you go: Do’s and don’ts for an enjoyable visit to Presque Isle State Park beaches
Beach ambassadors
For those who love Presque Isle and want to give a helping hand, Greene said there is a program that needs more volunteers.
“If people want to get involved, we are looking to expand our Beach Ambassador Program,” he said.
Ambassadors talk to park visitors, provide directions, hand out park maps and trash bags, and help in other ways.
For more information on becoming a Presque Isle ambassador, call the park office at 814-833-7424.
Dana Massing can be reached at dmassing@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Presque Isle State Park PA swimming, summer seasons ready to start