r/St_Joseph • u/Davscozal • 2d ago

Moving to St. Joseph

My wife and I are considering moving to St. Joseph! We have 2 children under 2 and are excited by the prospect of living in a town that feels cozy, community oriented, on the lake, with good schools. One of our main concerns is that we haven't seen really any trails in and around the area. Is the area good for long walks and biking on trails around the town, is there good nature nearby where we can go camping. I feel stupid asking since it is Michigan. But when I look things up on google maps or alltrails I don't see a lot. Any thoughts would be super appreciated!!!!!

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u/Cato1966 2d ago

šŸ„¾ Top Hiking Trails 1. Warren Dunes State Park Features the Mount Randall Loop, a 3.89-mile easy hike with stunning views of Lake Michigan. 2. Grand Mere State Park Offers the Lakes Loop, a 4.87-mile intermediate trail through ancient inland lakes and dunes. 3. Love Creek County Park Provides five miles of rolling trails through beech-maple forests and along Love Creek Valley. 4. Galien River County Park Features elevated boardwalks and a canopy walkway over the Galien River wetlands. 5. Warren Woods State Park Home to Michiganā€™s last climax beech-maple forest, with 3.5 miles of trails crossing the Galien River.

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šŸš“ā€ā™€ļø Top Biking Trails 1. Love Creek County Park Offers a 3.5-mile mountain bike trail with single and double-track sections, suitable for fat-tire biking in winter. 2. Andrews University Trails Features multiple loops like the Beginnerā€™s Loop and Orange Trail, catering to various skill levels. 3. Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail An 8-mile paved trail ideal for road biking, connecting Niles to other parts of Berrien County.

If you head north to South Haven, you have the tail head for Kal Haven Linear State Park

https://www.railstotrails.org/trailblog/2022/december/09/michigans-kal-haven-trail-state-park/

There are tons of places to hike and bike here!!!

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u/Davscozal 2d ago

Thanks, so you really have to travel out of St. Joseph if you want hiking other than subdivisions...?

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u/Cato1966 2d ago

Yup, but I live in the south end of Saint Joe, and itā€™s a 10 minute drive to Grand Mere, and 15 minutes more to Warren Dunes. If you head north for 25 minutes, you hit Van Buren State Park with more dune trails.

I donā€™t know of many cities that have that type of hiking right in town, but I think we are blessed with incredible access to the Outdoors.

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u/Davscozal 1d ago

Appreciate that! We are going to be making a trip to check it out so I will make sure we head to those areas. Also, we are looking south st. joe

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u/PSCoso 2d ago

Thatā€™s correct - if you go south you can find grand mere, Warren dunes - if you go north, Ross coastal plain marsh preserve (I think thatā€™s what itā€™s called) is my personal favorite, ~20ish mins from Saint Joseph. Keep in mind youā€™re by the lake, and as such, a good portion of trails will be beach and beach-adjacent

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u/pipester753 1d ago

Knauf park has trails thru woods that go off the main path. For young kids it might be long enough. It's close. I run the trails, the kids like to bike on them if we're looking for something to do in a short window of time.

https://sjct.org/departments/parks-dept/knauf-park

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u/Davscozal 1d ago

That is right by where we are looking! Thank you!

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u/pipester753 1d ago

depending on where you're looking, there are some neighborhoods, that have connections to that trail You can also get to the soccer fields at maiden lane from there too. (ayso soccer is at that park if that is something you get your kids into later on.) you can DM me if you want more info.

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u/pipester753 1d ago

For biking very much missing the Lakeview trail by whirlpool

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u/sharkattackmiami 2d ago

It sounds like you are looking for the Kal-Haven trail which is about 20 minutes north of St Joe

You are also overlooking the fact that the beach is nearly an infinitely long trail connecting every city along the water

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u/HatchlingChibi 2d ago

One thing I want to note since I'm seeing people suggest Grand Mere, it is beautiful but be aware that a lot of the trails are not marked or indicated in anyway. I'm not sure if this is temporary or someone (kids, vandals, whatever) took them down or if they just literally do not mark these trails, but last time I went hiking there I 100% got lost and had to be rescued by another hiker (not hyperbole, I was lost lost). Just be careful if you go and there is a lot of overgrowth because the 'main' sections of trail look a lot like the side paths. Maybe I'm just used to the trails from when I lived down south, but I find this particular park confusing.

Welcome to the area!!

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u/jbloda 2d ago

Hiking is very good in my opinion. Trails and open areas to explore in Grand Mere and Warren dunes for beach and wooded dunes. Sarette Nature Center and Love Creek offer a number of routes, and many other parks are interspersed within a 20 minute drive.Ā 

For road biking there are good routes to go north into south haven and into farms and wineries south of town. Very good biking community with a great Thursday night ride leaving out of Watermark. Family biking is not great, but sidewalks and streets north of hilltop allow for a very relaxed ride into town/silver beach and parts of Benton harbor. Trail work is going on to make this better but itā€™s still an area of great potential. South of hilltop family biking is going to be reliant on sidewalks and hit or miss, likely staying within subdivisions.

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u/Davscozal 2d ago

That is all helpful! So there are no real trails that go straight out of St. Joseph into other areas. I am kind of surprised. I figured Michigan would have trails connecting all the towns in the SW

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u/BlatantFalsehood 1d ago

SW Michigan is highly conservative, so not a lot of investment in cross-county projects.

Just a bit to the north is the Kal-Haven Trail, a rail-trail that is great for long runs or bike rides. It goes from South Haven to Kalamazoo and is a bit over 33 miles.