Kalamazoo and Galesburg, Michigan: Markin Glen Campground, River Valley Trail, Bell's Brewery Production Facility, and more!

May 2019, Weekend, Two nights

Sharing a brief bit of information from our May stay. You can find more information in previous blog posts by clicking on the Kalamazoo label at the end of this post.

Campsite 19 at Markin Glen

Markin Glen campground campsite 19

This is a fabulous county park located less than 5 miles north of downtown. I like that you can request a specific campsite when making a reservation. There was not anything new in the campground from our previous stay, other than we were on a different site this time.  

Sunrise from inside on site 19 at Markin Glen

Campsite 19 is a site along the permitter, which we prefer over the center campsite we had last time. I was surprised how much we could hear traffic on G Ave, as we had not expected the road to be that well-traveled. This was not super bothersome; just surprising.

Kalamazoo River Valley Rail Trail

Kalamazoo River Valley Rail Trail

We bicycled the trail from our Markin Glen campsite to Bell's Comstock Brewery in Galesburg. We stopped downtown Kalamazoo on the way back, and the entire trip was about 24 miles. It is a pretty easy ride, as it mostly runs along the river without many hills. The trail runs alongside Michigan Street for a short distance in Comstock Township, which is still flat, although not a picturesque as the portions along the river. We rode a short distance on the road after we got off the trail on VanBruggen St., and then took Krum Ave. at the very end to get to the brewery. Both of these roads were not busy with vehicles on the Saturday that we made this trip.

Timeline on the wall at Bell's

Bell's Brewery tour, and downtown Kalamazoo

There is no cost to tour Bell's Comstock Production facility. The tour lasts about an hour, and is quite informative. I thought it was more enjoyable than the tour we had done at the Kalamazoo location a year earlier. You can make a reservation at either location on their website.

Arcadia Brewing across the river from Rose Park Veterans Memorial

Downtown, we stopped at Arcadia Brewing and Bell's Eccentric Cafe. The outside setting at Arcadia on the river is fabulous. I took the photo above from the trail on our way to Comstock. Final Gravity Brewing is another great location in town, which we did not get a chance to visit this trip.

Misc. and overall

We enjoy visiting this area for camping and biking. The bicycle trail is well maintained, and the campground has full hookup with concrete pads and tar roads. There are walking trails in town, and the bicycle trail also goes north of the campground past the Kalamazoo Nature Center. The trail looks hillier in that direction, and we plan to make that trip during our next visit.

Let me know if you have any questions!