Edgewater Beach is the public swimming beach in lower Edgewater Park, the westernmost section of Cleveland Metroparks' Lakefront Reservation on the Lake Erie shore of Cleveland, Ohio. The sand runs about 2,400 feet along the lake below a wooded bluff, and roughly 1,000 feet of that is marked off for swimming. It sits about two and a half miles west of Public Square, so the downtown skyline fills the view to the east. The city bought the land in 1894 and soon added bathhouses, the state ran it as part of Cleveland Lakefront State Park from 1978, and Cleveland Metroparks has managed it since 2013.

The park lies between the Memorial Shoreway (Route 2) and the lake, and is reached from the Shoreway near West 73rd Street. Free surface lots in the lower park sit a short walk from the sand, and more parking is up top along Upper Edgewater Drive, where paths drop down the bluff to the beach. The Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway passes through, and a paved connector tunnels under the Shoreway to the neighborhood south of the park. The park is open daily until dusk all year.

The beach itself is soft sand that continues into the lake, and the water is open Lake Erie, which warms faster than the other Great Lakes and is usually comfortable by July. Waves, wind and longshore currents change from day to day, and rip currents do form here: in late July 2026 lifeguards told people to stay out of the water during a high rip current risk. Lifeguards cover the marked swim area only in the summer season. In 2025 they were on duty June 7 through August 10, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, and the 2026 season began June 6. Many guards are college students who leave in August, so late-summer and off-season swimmers are on their own. Cleveland Metroparks asks people to swim only during guarded hours and posts the day's status on its swimming status page.

There is no admission fee and no charge to park or swim. Rules are posted and enforced by the guards: no swimming when red flags are up, no diving, no swimming outside the marked area, no flotation devices other than Coast Guard approved life jackets, no snorkels or scuba gear, no fishing near the swimmers, no fires or grills on the sand, and stay off the rocks. Dogs are not allowed on the swim beach or in its water; the dog beach is the separate stretch at the west end. Kayaks and paddleboards launch from a paddling access along the rock jetty, inside the buoys, away from the swimmers.

Water quality is the main local issue. Combined sewers discharge into the lake nearby, and after heavy rain the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District can post an advisory against swimming at Edgewater until bacteria samples, taken twice a day in season, fall back below state and federal limits. An overflow of about 280,000 gallons closed the beach to swimming in August 2021. Check the Metroparks status page or the Ohio Nowcast forecast before going in, and skip the day after a big storm.

Beyond the water, the beach has sand volleyball courts, ADA beach wheelchairs, restrooms, picnic tables and grills behind the sand, and the Lindsey Family Play Space up near the upper shelter. The Edgewater Beach House serves food and drinks in season, the Edgewater Nature Shop rents umbrellas, lounge chairs, cabanas and lockers on weekends and holidays, and the Edgewater Fishing Pier just east of the beach is open seasonally for perch, walleye and smallmouth bass.