MLive says: “At sunset on South Beach, looking out on the big, red, South Haven Light, true magic happens. Sure, you'll share that magic with lots of others visitors, since this is a busy beach. But with true beauty, the more the merrier, right? You can walk out on the pier to get a close-up view of the lighthouse, an attraction that is photographed constantly. For a different and equally magnificent sight, check out the beach on a really windy day when the waves are crashing into the lighthouse. But keep your distance! Those waves are dangerous.”
June 8-9, 2019
They weren’t wrong, South Haven is a magical little lakefront town. It’s bursting with local shops, unique restaurants, and ample waterfront viewing options. Not to mention, South Beach.
I arrived in South Haven in the late afternoon on June 8, and walked around downtown looking for a place to get a tasty drink. I settled on a wine bar that had a delicious house-made red sangria, and chatted with the bar tenders, as I was the only one sitting at the bar. They gave me lots of pointers of things to do around town, and gave me a pile of brochures to look through. I snacked on some delicious spring rolls and sipped my sangria, enjoying the quiet, when a larger group of friends made their way in to sit at the bar.
Turns out, this large group was collection of individuals in Michigan for a Department of Defense conference, and they were from all over the country and had just met. We chatted, and I clicked with a few of them. They invited me to hang out with them, and I accepted the invitation not really knowing what to expect. I was really enjoying my conversations with some of the women and figured it could be a fun night. As we made our way from the wine bar to an actual restaurant, and real conversation started flowing, I got really irritated with one of the men in the group who was being sexist and overall terribly annoying. I politely excused myself before anyone had gotten food at the table, and walked myself down to the beach. Figured it was best to save myself the stress and spend the rest of my night on my own.
South Beach was extremely busy when I arrived, but I had a little buzz going so I stripped down to my bathing suit and launched myself into Lake Michigan. The water was a balmy 56F that weekend. I sat on the beach reading and writing, waiting for the sunset, which was quickly getting very cloudy. I watched boats go by, laughed at parents trying to corral their children, laughed at children making absolute messes of their parents’ stuff, and loved that I was traveling alone without a single care for anyone else.
I realized the sunset wasn’t going to clear up very much, so I enjoyed some time watching the waves on the beach and then made my way to my car, and drove back to my campsite. I was staying at Black River Trails Campground, which is a lovely little privately owned campground RIGHT ON Black River (Black River is a heritage water trail, which means it’s left entirely natural - great kayaking and canoeing along this route). My site was 5 feet from the river bank! I made a fire, cooked up a few s’mores, snacked on some hummus, and got cozy in my tent.
Unfortunately, camping at Black River was even worse than camping at a fully booked campground at Warren Dunes the night before: the company was terrible. What happened to people having camping etiquette? I didn’t get to sleep until almost 3 am because of the music, yelling, and people locking/unlocking/driving in their cars. It was extremely frustrating.
In the morning, I woke up to a nearly empty campground. I ate a muffin in my hammock, watched the river flow by for a while, and then packed up camp due to some incoming rain. Just across the road from the campground was Black River Nature Preserve, with a couple miles of trails. I hiked until the rain started picking up, and the mosquitoes all came out making the trails way too buggy to enjoy. It was a really lovely preserve though: ample signage, well-marked trails, and well maintained walkways. I would strongly recommend visiting the preserve if you’re ever in the area. The biodiversity of the floodplain is really impressive!
Once I’d accumulated a dozen mosquito bites (despite the application of repellant) I decided to hit the road for my next stop. Van Buren County had a lot of unique experiences to offer, including Three Blonde’s brewery which was only 1.5 miles from my campground, but I didn’t get to visit; beautiful lakefront beaches, nature preserves, water trails, and biking trails. It seems like there’s still a lot I have to go back and explore, but maybe on a less rainy weekend.