Care of the Beach

Today I was at The Beach waterpark here in Cincinnnati, and I took a nice look at the sand pits.

I was going through it and found myself thinking, "Holy crap. This sand is like brown gravel to Cedar Point's." I've been to several Lake Erie beaches, and Cedar Point's has been the best.

So I have these question ;)

How is it Cedar Point keeps the beaches so litter free (er, more than other places). Is there a certain way they keep the zebra mussels out of their area. When I visited Marblehead and Kelley's Island, my fingers were literally punctured by those. The beach on Pelee Island was very nice (bigger waves), but it had more of a gravelly texture to it. How is it that Cedar Point is about as near to powder as it gets around Lake Erie? It's so white! I know they have the break wall which keeps the big waves from coming and protects the beach, but so did one of the other beaches I went to. (I forget which)

I know I've heard of nicer sand in the Caribbean, but that's way far away.

So basically, what is the general care process for the beach? It's wonderful. :)

They do a great job grooming and keeping it clean at night. If you walk the boardwalk at night you can see crews out there with tractors going up and down the beach flattening out the sand and cleaning up. As for the white, soft sand, I don't know.

It's easy for any beach to have white, soft sand. It's especially easy if you have the kind of cash flow that CP has. ;)

Cedar Points beach has always had the nice sand it does now. It has been named the finest bathing beach on Lake Erie!;) The sand was not trucked in, its always been there. Why its so nice there and not everywhere, I don’t know.

As for the upkeep, its just general trash picking during the day and then a nice raking at the end of the night. The beach pretty much keeps its self clean.

*** Edited 7/26/2006 4:54:31 AM UTC by 99er***

exactly, that sandy white beach is not a natural feature, as with most resort towns. It costs money and is actually probably a larger draw to the resorts hotels for families than the park itself.

CP beach IS bought- and brought in on dump trucks. You dont get a nice piece of wide square sandy beach and rockier shores elsewhere for no reason. *** Edited 7/26/2006 4:57:05 AM UTC by tonymtdew***

http://resorts.cedarpoint.com/public/beach.cfm

Nature's contribution to the Cedar Point experience is the mile-long Cedar Point Beach

So Tony, you have seen these dump trucks?

Just because it's "natures contribution" doesn't mean that it was always white and sandy.

Nature created the beach, Cedar Point brought in sand to make it better.

Right, but I am saying the nice sand has always been there. Have any of you read the book,"Cedar Point: Queen of American Watering Places"? If you have, then you would know what I am talking about. Cedar Point beach has always had a nice white sandy shore. That is the whole point of why Cedar Point is here today, the beach! There is no way the park would spend that much money on trucking in sand. And if they ever did, when are they doing it? Because I have never seen any trucks on the beach dumping it.

*** Edited 7/26/2006 5:15:02 AM UTC by 99er***

My mother is friends with David Frances, as her company works with his quite a bit. He's from my town. I have every revision of that book available.

I never said the beach was created, but there most likely we cosmetic enhancements.

ALL public beaches use some kind of imported sand. If they never brought any in, the beach would look bare because sand sticks to everyone who uses it and gets carried away and either washed down the drain, or winds up in another location.

Ok, I am sure at some point in the history of the beach, a dump truck has dumped some sand. But to think all the nice white sand you see now was trucked in is ridiculous. The point I am trying to make is that the Cedar Point beach started with nice sand and not a gravel pit. Again, that is why we have Cedar Point today. It started as a bathing beach. And since you have read the book, you know what I am talking about, so I will not go into detail.

In the amount of years I have worked there and before that as a season pass holder, I have never seen sand coming in. They do however push up sand from the shoreline to the boardwalk at the begining and end of the season, and in between as needed. But truck it in, nah. The beach that extends from Breakers Beach to Sandcastle Beach is not used by guests, but still has nice sand. Why would they truck in sand for a beach no one uses? If any of you have had the chance to walk on some of the private beaches on the Chausse(sp), or the beach that extends past Wicked Twister going towards the Chausse, its all nice sand too, for the most part. There are a few areas that are not so great. But its all nice sand like on the Breakers Beach. I don’t think the residents of the Chausse got together and bought good sand.

*** Edited 7/26/2006 5:33:14 AM UTC by 99er***

The next time you're at the beach, take a handful of sand from the edge of the swimming area and bring it to the dry sand. Set it on top and when it dries, it'll blend right in. ;)

Last year I was there after a big storm and apparently the storm had stirred up some silt of the bottom of the lake. It was...how should I put, mulchy.

Anyway, it's still puzzling that it's so perfected and many other beaches aren't. Cedar Point was even visible from Kelleys Island and the zebra mussels hurt!

...Is it possible to have a tractor attachment for the offseason that sifts out chunks that are bigger than they should be?

I hope you guys don't think that the beach stays in immaculate shape all by itself. The beach lifeguards get out a tractor every night after the beach closes to the public and plows the beach so that it's "brand new" for the next morning.

Technically, hasn't the beach grown in area over the past few decades? I think I've seen pictures of the beach from a couple decades ago and the water was much closer to the boardwalk in front of Breakers.

The Beach Guards do a great job with the general upkeep of the beach. Once the season starts, its stays somewhat clean. With the exception of a few busy days and of course the 4th of July. The real work is done pre-season and during the month of May when all of Challenge Park cleans the beach everyday getting it ready to open. Like I said and CP_Bound just said, the beach is raked every night and sometimes in the morning too. As for a sifter to filter out larger chunks like CP Tay Tay said, they just use a rake. Nothing special. It would be nice to see them get a sifter like larger public beaches have. Cleans and rakes the sand all at once. Picks up the smallest of garbage. Those are nice!

And I think you are right CP_Bound. I always thought it was just my imagination, but I have always wondered if the beach has grown a little bit.

Yeah, they don't truck all that sand into the lake floor either out from the beach. It's all nat-u-ral.

The beach is natural, as is the sand on the lake bottom. To think they bring sand in is ridiculous and it just doesn't happen. The beach extends past the parking lot, down the residential street, though it gets narrower. It's all the same soft white sand.

Yes, the beach is wider today then it was during the eighties, that's because the lake level dropped. It's a natural process that runs in cycles. It was like it is today during the sixties, the lake level rose and the beach was narrower during the eighties and became wide again as the lake dropped.

CP has a great natural asset, and the resort started as a beach and bathhouse, the amusement area came later. The CP beach has played a key role in the history of Cedar Point, and that's because it is, and always was, a great natural beach.

I'm not an expert on the subject, but i have to agree with the side of "it sure is ridiculous to think that the sand is brought in". And i would wager that the beach would look pretty darn good if CP didn't do anything to keep it sharp.

Look at the other beaches on the lake. It all has to do with the location of the beach along the coast line and its situation on the lake. On the east side of Cleveland out to the PA line the beaches have big errosion issues. The Euclid Beach is just about gone. On the other hand Edgewater on the near west side of Cleveland is a wide sandy beach. It seems to me that the beaches facing east fair very well while those exposed (like on the islands) or facing west tend to have all sorts of issues in comparision. I haven't been to Toledo but i would wager that there are some nice beaches in that area.

Phhht! Metro Beach trumps them all.

;)

*Looks out window*

The sand here is pure white. :) Then again, the water is practically clear too, so I know I'm not on Lake Erie.

Sorry guys, had to rub it in a little bit since you're mostly all around the Point and I'm REALLY far away.

Toledo does not have any beaches. Maumee Bay is nearby, but I've never been out to their beach, so I don't know of it's condition. I still plan to spend a nice day at the CP beach sometime before summer is over. Laying around, maybe playing some frisbee. Sounds like a good time.

I seriously doubt CP has ever brought in sand. If they have it is one truck. (CP is technically an island, proof be found on Live Local Images. And through the maps at East Sandusky Bay metro park on RT6 in Huron also known as the original CP entrance)

With that side blurb, The oringinal CP peninsula was and is primarily Sand with Bed rock not far underneath. There is even a "sand dune" partion of the peninsula. I'm not sure of the exact location of it, but since it's not visible to me, I'd assume CP sits right on top of leveled dunes. Evidence is given through little hills in the park, especially by the Magnum entrance area.

With all this sand, it's very unlikely it was ever trucked in. Where did the dirt come from? CP has compost piles, and the natural vegetation through out the years, decayed into dirt.

Every spring CP drives a bulldozer into the lake to retreive run out sand. When there was a beach web cam there was a lot of talk on here about the bulldozer in the water.

The CP beach is real geologically. Slightly transformed and preserved by CP.