South Haven, Michigan: Van Buren State Park, Van Buren Trail Connector, Downtown area

 August 2020, 3-nights, Weeknight-Weekend

Campsite 162 at Van Buren State Park. 
Photo taken from edge of site next to fire ring.

Van Buren State Park campsite 162

This is a nice large campsite with trees around most of the perimeter. The only opening is at the back corner, between this campsite and site 156. The site is level with a bit of grass. I am surprised that this site is often available when many around it are reserved. I think it is a better site than many near it. It is a 50 amp site, which we did not need. We had made the reservation before selling our fifth wheel, and downsizing to our current camper. 

Campsite 162 at Van Buren State Park.
Click on photo to enlarge it and see details.

The only downfall about this site during this hot weekend, is that the site is quite sunny for most of the day. We walked around this park a few times during our stay, and that seemed to be the case for many of the campsites, even with all the trees around the edges. 

Another view from campsite 162 at Van Buren State Park. 

I am including another campsite photo, since there is often not enough information on the DNR reservation site. I also want to share a note about campsite 160. Online, this appears to be a spacious secluded site, and the state website says that it can accommodate a camper up to 40'. It is quite tight on this site between the trees. We did not think the large camper that arrived during our stay was going to fit. It took him quite a while to park, and the back of his trailer was butted up to the tree at the back of the site, almost touching it. We did not think site 160 was more secluded than site 162.

View from the top of the hill by the dog walk beach area
at Van Buren State Park.

Beach, sanitation station, misc.

Due to the high water levels and beach erosion, the main beach area, and one of the visitor parking lots, were closed during our stay. Guests were rerouted to the dog walk area behind the pavilion to access the beach. There is a HUGE hill to climb up from the water when leaving this area, and many people just walked around the caution tape at the main beach instead. Additionally, people walking from the campground had to walk around the fenced off parking lot to get to the pavilion and trail to the beach. Seems like an access gate for walkers through the closed parking lot would have encouraged people to go the correct way. Or, maybe they should have closed the parking lot directly in front of the main beach instead of this one. Then, people in vehicles would have also been closer to the rerouted beach trail. 

Beach sunset at Van Buren State Park.

We like to hike, so this was not too much of a problem for us; however, it was about a half mile hilly hike from the campground access to the top of the hill at the beach. I imagine that would not be too enjoyable with a cooler or kid's belongings in tow. 

There are only two lanes at the sanitation station. This campground has over 200 campsites, and none of them are full hookup. There were times in the morning when the wait line was down the road. We left around 11:00 AM, and the wait was not too long. There were two campers waiting before us, and the campground host was directing traffic.

Bicycle trail and downtown South Haven

We rode our bikes downtown one day. The trail is paved from the campground, and it is a fairly easy ride. Information says it is 4½ miles to town; however, it is more like 5½ miles to get to the actual downtown area. The bicycle trail ends at the outskirts of town, and then there is a bike lane on the edge of the road. There were no benches or stopping points between town and the state park. The ride was about 50% sunshine, and 50% shade. 

We found a bike rack on the northeast corner of Center and Huron streets, and then walked around town. We visited Harbor Light Brewery and South Haven Brewpub. We all liked the beers and atmosphere better at Harbor Light. South Haven Brewpub is pretty much on the river and they have outside seating, which seems like it would be a nicer choice. It did not have a good atmosphere, however. Outside tables were crowded, the entire place was busy/crowded, and it was not as clean as Harbor Light Brewery. The beers were also better tasting at Harbor Light, where we filled a howler when we stopped back after visiting the brewpub.

Beach area just south of South Beach in South Haven.

We drove to South Beach area downtown one day to see how it compared to the beach in the campground. With the high water levels and erosion, there are very high sand cliffs along the water's edge. The situation is the same downtown as at the campground. We sat at the top of a hill, and then walked up and down the hill to go swimming. You could sit at the bottom of the hills, if you did not mind being partially (or mostly) in the water. There were many small smooth stones along the shoreline in the water (at both beaches), which is not usually common on the east side of Lake Michigan. We wondered if South Haven had stones brought in to help with the erosion. The main beach area and parking lot for South Beach was extremely crowded, so we parked on a side road south of the area. We parked by St. Joseph and Van Buren streets, and then got to the beach area via Van Buren Street Overlook and Beach Access.

Let me know if you have any questions! Happy travels, and stay safe ~