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If there’s a bicycle, kayak or dog in your life, that’s a good thing. If you live close to Lake Michigan, that’s also a good thing. But if you know where to go to take full advantage of the lake scenery with your bikes, boats and boxers — or whatever the breed — that’s the best thing.
We’ve found some of the nicest places to play any of these ways. So grab your helmet, life vest or leash and head out to explore.
Bike trails, quiet riverways and sandy beaches abound with scenic surprises for man and beast — those who love to get outside during the summer around Lake Michigan.
HIKES ON BIKES
The countryside is laced with bike routes — both the official kind with signage, and the unofficial kind that you just know because it’s a pretty road that begs to be bicycled. Here are three among them that are especially nice.
In 1991, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources re-opened the abandoned right-of-way of the old South Haven and Kalamazoo Railroad as Kal-Haven Trail State Park a “linear” state park enjoyed by thousands of bicyclists and other outdoor enthusiasts each year.
The 34.5-mile trail goes from South Haven, Mich., to the northwest suburbs of Kalamazoo, passing through the towns of Grand Junction, Bloomingdale, Gobles and Kendall, where bicyclists can grab a bite to eat and rest. The 10-foot-wide trail is surfaced with crushed slag and limestone. As bicyclists head west from Kalamazoo, they come across seven bridges — former railroad trestles — and a hilly area with wildflowers.
Said Carl Christensen, president of the Friends of the Kal-Haven Trail, “it’s a lovely bike ride through the countryside — the woods, fields, and orchards of Van Buren and Kalamazoo counties.”
Parking is available at the South Haven trailhead at Wells Street and Bailey Avenue; the DNR lot in Grand Junction; the restored depot in Bloomingdale; and at the 10th Street trailhead in Kalamazoo, a couple of miles north of West Main Street.
Another ribbon of park beckons bicyclists to come explore the rural communities, forests and farmlands along western Michigan’s mid-north shore. Opened the same year as Kal-Haven, the 21-mile Hart-Montague Bicycle Trail State Park has few intersections with streets and driveways to make the ride safer for bicyclists.
You’ll pass asparagus fields, orchards, and densely forested areas. The paved trail brings you to several scenic overlooks and picnic spots as it roams from Hart south through Mears, Shelby, New Era and Rothbury before it ends at Montague on the White Lake inlet of Lake Michigan.
Linking the Michigan towns of Marne and Muskegon is the 26-mile Musketawa Trail, which passes through wetlands and farmlands, over creeks and through small towns like Conklin and Ravenna, with restaurants and water stations near the trail at each.
If you’re attentive, you may spot abundant wildlife as you glide through open countryside in Muskegon and Ottawa counties (the trail’s name is a hybrid of those two). Deer, wild turkey and snakes are common, but volunteers have even documented sightings of a bear and cubs — and even an escaped emu. The trail has a 12-foot-wide paved surface and a 4- to 8-foot-wide gravel shoulder.
FLOAT ON THE WATER
You won’t find any whitewater rapids sandwiched between deep canyons and gorges around southern Lake Michigan, but kayakers still have plenty of places to paddle. We’ve found three ways to go — on the big lake, and on two quieter rivers — any one of which will make for a lovely exploratory day.
Kayakers in northwest Indiana can access the lake by parking in Washington Park in Michigan City, Ind., which affords a great view of the lighthouse and has a 50- to 150-yard portage. (Keep in mind that most of nearby Lake Shore Drive parking is private, so you will be hard-pressed to find a spot there. But you can drop off your kayak at a public access site, drive to the downtown area and walk back. Whether you want to go to all this trouble depends on your energy level.)
After you put in, head east and get a shoreline view of the beautiful homes along Lake Shore Drive as well as their private beaches. On a clear day, you can see the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago.
The bigger the waves, the bigger the rip currents, so kayakers are advised not to overdo it and stay with their boats and wait for the current to subside, both expert paddlers and lake rescue officials say. The Great Lake, with its size, does have its share of challenges, especially during rough weather when the water can be more than a bit choppy. So, don your life jackets.
One more thing: The invasive zebra mussels — miniature clams that are wreaking havoc with the Great Lakes food web — attach themselves to boats with a vengeance. So rinse your kayak to remove all the mussels before entering another body of water, to prevent delivering the unwelcome mussels to another home.
Canoeists and inland kayakers will both enjoy exploring the tranquil Galien River, in New Buffalo, Mich. The public access is just north of town on Red Arrow Highway near the intersection of I-94 and US-12. The trip downstream from there winds slowly toward New Buffalo and Lake Michigan, past open lands, farm fields and neighborhoods. The harbor in New Buffalo is quite developed with new condominiums with slips, so be prepared to share the water with other, and often bigger, boats.
For a more remote experience, travel upstream where downed trees are some of your major challenges.
Start your trip on the Kalamazoo River at Old Allegan Canoe, a livery in Fennville, Mich. The serene river passes through the Allegan State Forest, which provides lots of photo ops for wildlife photographers.
Take I-94 East to I-196 North (South Haven), and then go to Exit 34 M-89 East (Fennville). Travel through Fennville, go two more miles, and turn left on 52nd Street. Go one mile and take the bend to the left, which is Old Allegan Road. Another mile will bring you to the livery on the left.
THE RUFFHOUSING ZONES
There’s nothing like taking Rover to the beach to scamper among the surf and play Frisbee in the sand. There’s one hitch, though: There are hardly any places you can do it, at least along Lake Michigan, without the risk of getting a ticket. The ever-present “No Dogs Allowed” signs definitely make it difficult for owner and dog to play catch in the surf, and it’s a long throw from the water’s edge to the parking lot.
Fortunately for water-loving dogs and people, there are a few places that still allow visitors of the canine variety. What’s more, none of the parks listed here require dog permits.
The 52.3-acre Norman F. Kruse Park in Muskegon, Mich., is one such accommodating place, with a dog beach along the northern side of the park. The sizeable portion that allows dogs is a great place for owners to let their dogs test their sea legs — or rather, lake legs — without having to worry about them being tethered to a confining leash, a feature that sets it apart from other spots that allow dogs. (Remember, please, to pick up after your dog to keep sand and surf as pristine as possible.)
Take US-31 to downtown Muskegon, then head west on Sherman Boulevard, a street that dead ends right into Kruse Park, which also has picnic pavilions, grassy areas and wooded trails. A boardwalk leads dogs and their owners directly to the dog beach, which is immediately on the right.
Want your dog to be king of the hill? Bring him to Mount Baldy, an aptly named, 123-foot sand dune located about two miles west of Michigan City on US-12. The giant sand hill is within the boundaries of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. All park personnel ask is that dogs be kept on a six-foot leash.
It helps if your dog is in reasonably good physical condition. An older, overweight or simply lazy dog might not want make it to the top, and there is no ski lift for the trip back down. (Actually, the same thing could be said for the owner.)
The roadside park at Hagar Shore is another way to get your dog’s feet wet in Lake Michigan, although its leash will get wet, too, as pets must be kept on leashes here, too. Take Exit 7 off I-196 to Hagar Shore Road, and then head west to Blue Star Highway and go north a quarter of a mile.
If your dog doesn’t mind the sounds of the heavy Lake Shore Drive traffic, take it to the only official beach within the Chicago city limits: Montrose Beach. This dog-friendly stretch is a fenced-off area at the beach’s north end. Therefore, keep your dog on a leash until you’re actually on the beach in the safe zone. Otherwise you could get a $75 ticket.
Because Lake Michigan is so huge, some people recommend playing fetch with a tennis ball, which is much less expensive to replace than a fancy retrieving ball that might float away toward Wisconsin.
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