Beach 11 is the last of the numbered swimming beaches on Presque Isle, and its position on the peninsula is the reason people drive the whole loop to reach it. Presque Isle arcs north out of Erie and then bends hard to the east, and Beach 11 sits on the inside of that bend, just north of the Coast Guard Station, facing east toward the Gull Point sand spit. Beaches 1 through 10 line the outer shore and take the open lake fetch head on. Beach 11 does not. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which runs the park, calls it the most sheltered beach on the peninsula, and the layout on the map backs that up.

DCNR lists it as Beach 11 (Kohler Beach) and describes shallow water and a large sandy beach. The bottom is lake sand, the same fine gray-tan grit that makes up the whole peninsula, and it shelves out slowly enough that small kids can stand a long way from shore. There is a beach house at the top of the sand with changing areas and restrooms, and the beach backs onto picnic areas, playground equipment and a picnic pavilion. It is a designated smoke-free beach. Worth noting for anyone picturing waves: Presque Isle is the only place in Pennsylvania with true surf swimming, but that surf lives on the outer beaches, not here.

Getting there is simple and free. The park is reached by PA 832 north from Erie, and the road system inside is a loop of about 13 miles. Beach 11 is near the far end of it, past the Coast Guard Station, with parking lots right at the sand and a marked bus stop at the entrance road. Pennsylvania state parks do not charge an entrance fee, and there is no parking charge either. The park itself is open every day of the year from 5:00 A.M. to sunset, with day use areas closing at dusk.

Swimming season and swimming rules are narrower than park hours, and this catches people out. The beaches are open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day unless otherwise posted, and the guarded hours are 12:00 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. Outside a designated guarded zone, or outside those hours, you may wade only to your knees and no more than 10 feet from shore. That is the rule as DCNR writes it, and it is enforced. Leashed dogs are allowed on the sand and in the water outside guarded zones, but inside a guarded zone they are restricted to the tree line.

Presque Isle draws more than four million visitors a year, more than any other state park in the state, so midsummer weekends fill the lots at every beach. Beach 11 being at the end of the loop helps a little on timing but not on capacity. Beyond crowds, the things to watch are the posted signs and the offshore rubble breakwaters, which are marked off limits and are not a place to swim out to. A beach can be closed on short notice, and the sign at the entrance is the authority, not anything you read ahead of time. The park office answers at 814-833-7424.