Big Shoal Beach (the tourism association also calls it Big Shoal Bay Beach) is a small day-use park owned by Drummond Township on the southeastern end of Drummond Island, Michigan. It sits at the head of Big Shoal Bay, a sheltered cove of Lake Huron dotted with small wooded islands, and it offers soft sand on an island better known for limestone shelves and fossil-studded shorelines. The park is a strip of narrow sandy beach backed by woods, with private cottages along the shore on either side.

From the Four Corners in the middle of the island, take Johnswood Road southeast for about 6.5 miles, then turn right onto Big Shoal Bay Road. The township says the beach is roughly a mile down that unpaved road on the right. The parking lot sits just off the road, a short walk from the sand, and the park has an outdoor public toilet and picnic tables. Reaching the island itself means taking the car ferry across the DeTour Passage from DeTour Village, so check the ferry schedule before you plan a day here. Overnight camping is not allowed at the beach; the township campground is a separate park off M-134.

The swim area is the reason families come. The bottom is mostly sand with some smooth, rounded pebbles, and the water stays shallow a long way out, so small children can wade without reaching deep water quickly. Four large, flat limestone slabs sit along the waterline, pitted from weathering, and kids tend to spend as much time climbing on them as swimming. This is northern Lake Huron, so the water is cold in June and only becomes comfortable in the shallows by midsummer. There is no lifeguard and no marked swim area, so adults need to watch children themselves.

Drummond Township's recreation page lists the beach as a public park with no entry fee or permit mentioned, and the tourism association describes it as open for day use. No posted hours are published, so treat it as a daytime spot and do not plan to stay after dark. The cove faces south, and the tourism association warns that the area is exposed to the prevailing south winds. On a windy day that means waves rolling straight onto the beach and choppy water for anyone paddling out of the bay. The private homes on both sides start close to the park boundary, so stay on the public stretch of sand by the parking lot.

Two short loops of the Big Shoal Bay Trail start from the beach parking lot, one about half a mile and one about a mile, winding through quiet woods. The beach is also a launch spot for kayaks and canoes. Intermediate paddlers can follow the shore about 3.5 miles one way around the point to Scammon Cove, where the lower hull of the schooner barge Troy lies in 5 to 10 feet of water. The 187-foot lumber carrier was built in 1872 and abandoned near the Kreetan Company mill at Scammon Cove around 1920, and her timbers are visible from a kayak or with a snorkel on a calm day.