Whether you are here for only a summer visit, or live here year round, you are in the right place to reach out to all the happenings in the Tri-City Area of Coloma, Watervliet and Hartford. Each of the three towns is unique with the feel of the surrounding community. The differences make for interesting shopping and dining out with the variety of places available for your pleasure.
Finding activities that will keep the whole family entertained is not an easy thing to do, especially when only visiting an area. Below are some suggestions and locations that the whole family will enjoy.
Water!
Now that made the kids’ ears perk up! The whole western border of Berrien County is Lake Michigan which offers a multitude of opportunities for fun. The sandy beaches invite visitors to take a dip in the lake and sun dry on the beach. The huge sand dunes beg to be climbed by young and old. There are also plenty of inland lakes that have public beaches, such as Paw Paw Lake and Van Auken Lake to name a couple.
Exercise and fitness
For those who are into a physical fitness routine and want to continue it while on vacation, there are several businesses between Watervliet and Coloma that should work for that.
Behind Corewell Health Watervliet Hospital is the George & Janet Lane Parcourse open daily from dawn until dusk. The Parcourse is a free community fitness track which features two quarter-mile asphalt loops to accommodate individuals with disabilities that may need to use wheelchairs or other mobility aids. Each loop also features four stations with different types of professional grade exercise equipment offering varying degrees of difficulty for all fitness levels.
The Sarett Nature Center at 2300 N. Benton Center Road is located along the Paw Paw River Valley and has eight miles of walking trails over 1,000 acres. The trails are open from dawn to dusk every day. No pets allowed.
Sarett also has a visitor’s education center, live native animals and a tree top walkway. The center puts on programs over the summer. To get open hours for the visitor’s center and Butterfly House or a list of programs, phone 269-927-4832 or visit www.sarett.com.
To the east a few miles of the Tri-Cities is the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery located at 34270 CR 652 and M-43 in Mattawan. Visitors can take a self guided walk along the trails that take approximately one hour. Please contact the visitor center directly for hatchery tour times and availability and for programs scheduled and times; call 269-668-2696 or visit www.michigan.gov/dnr for more information on the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery.
Trails to walk
There are many trails to walk and explore in the Tri-City Area and one that leads you all the way to Kalamazoo by way of South Haven. The Paw Paw River County Park in Watervliet is close by for a nice stroll along the river. It is approximately 14 acres of wilderness and peaceful tranquility near downtown. The park is designed for people of all abilities and encourages the public to experience a natural river area in a beautiful Southwest Michigan setting.
The largest inland lake in Berrien County is Paw Paw Lake, 857 acres, that stretches across the northern edges of Coloma and Watervliet. This lake has a trail you can follow from the City of Coloma to the City of Watervliet and is eight and a half miles long. Part of it follows the Paw Paw River that is the source of both Paw Paw and Little Paw Paw lakes.
The Van Buren Trail State Park starts in Hartford on Prospect St. / 57th Avenue and ends at Lovejoy Avenue in South Haven. It is considered a rail-trail and used for activities of walking, mountain biking, horseback riding and in the winter cross country skiing and snowmobiling. The trail is fourteen miles long.
The Van Buren Trail Spur is also a rail-trail but is surfaced with asphalt and is wheelchair accessible. The trail end points are Van Buren State Park to 16th Avenue. Other trail activities are walking, inline skating, biking and in winter cross country skiing.
Once in South Haven, at Bailey Avenue the Kal-Haven Trail Sesquicentennial State Park begins and ends 34.5 miles to the east at Kalamazoo River Valley Trail in Kalamazoo. It is also considered a rail-trail and offers fishing, walking, biking, and in the winter snowmobiling and cross country skiing.
The City of South Haven is a resort town and harbor. They have a Harborwalk that is marked with the north and south lighthouses as end points. The Harborwalk begins at the north pierhead lighthouse, follows the Black River up to the drawbridge, and then back around the harbor towards the south pierhead lighthouse.
Along the walk are the Riverfront Park, Stanley Johnson Park, and both the North and South Beaches. It passes through the Michigan Maritime Museum campus which makes it a perfect opportunity to tour historic vessels, and even book a seat on the Friends Goodwill, South Haven’s famous tall ship.
Fishing
This is a fisherman’s dream place! Fishing is a great activity for the whole family to take part in. There is access to Lake Michigan big fish, Coho, lake trout, salmon and perch from the piers in South Haven or St. Joseph, surf casting anywhere or on a fishing charter out of South Haven or St. Joseph.
The inland lakes have bluegills, crappie, largemouth and smallmouth bass, pike and walleye to name a few. Little Paw Paw Lake is well known for its bass. In Van Buren County, Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has more than 35 lakes mapped to help anyone find the best spot for their targeted kind of fish.
The DNR has a wonderful website that will help someone with their first time fishing, or answer questions experienced anglers might have. Go to Michigan DNR on line and then click on Fishing. It answers questions like; Where can I fish? Where to get a license; rules and regulations. It gives a weekly fishing report and they now have a Trout Trail Application to help fish for Trout.
Michigan is nationally known as a trout fishing destination with nearly 20,000 miles of cold, quality trout streams and hundreds of trout lakes accessible to anglers. With all these sites to visit, use the help of the new Trout Trails Application. The waters are biologist-verified great trout waters that are often lesser know. The website includes detailed descriptions and photos for each site, as well as information for area lodging, restaurants and guide services to assist with your trip planning.
One well known stream for brown trout is Mill Creek; it is accessible in Watervliet on the side of East Saint Joseph Street. Brandywine Creek is another well known one that is located near South Haven.
There are four good size rivers in the area to fish also, and all are accessible in several places. In the area is the Paw Paw River that runs through Watervliet to Coloma and on to join the Saint Joseph River that flows to Lake Michigan. The Black River in South Haven and the Kalamazoo River that flows to the Allegan Dam in Allegan County always seems to be busy.
Other items of interest
There is golf available also at the Paw Paw Lake Golf Club at 4548 Forest Beach Road in Watervliet Township. It is a scenic, par 70, 18 hole public course situated on the shores of Paw Paw Lake. For more information call 269-463-3831.
A little farther north, the Lake Michigan Hills Golf Club is located at 2520 Kerlikowske Road in Hagar Township. Phone 269-849-2722 for more information. North of South Haven is the HawksHead Links at 523 HawksNest Drive. For more information, phone 269-639-2121.
Another treat is the South Haven Farm Market that is held 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday and during the summer months on Wednesdays, too. They have tables and tables of fresh fruit, vegetables, and plenty of home baked items from the local produce for purchase. They also have handmade crafts, flowers, antiques and much, much more.
Time to be mellow
Now, after all that swimming, walking climbing and buying; it’s time to take a comfortable lawn chair to enjoy a Concert in the Park in Hartford. Every Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. the Hartford’s Lions Club will be sponsoring a free concert in Hartford’s Ely Park in the middle of downtown and provides free popcorn.
The music is different each week starting with the Black River Band on June 1. Each week there is different music such as variety, classic country, modern jazz, and Motown to mention a few. August 6 will be an Elvis Tribute by Tim Dudley. You do not need to bring a thing, just your lawn chair.
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