“You are never more than six miles from a lake, river or stream, no matter where you may be standing in St. Joseph County, Michigan,” boasts a tourism brochure. The county is awfully watery, with seven rivers and 55 lakes in a tabletop-shaped area that’s about 12 miles by 11 miles. Its name derives from its largest river, the Saint Joseph, which runs diagonally across the county northeast to southeast. La Salle paddled the rivers and its tributaries in the mid-17th century for his French employers. In 1796 the English took title, and in 1827 the area was ceded to the U.S. Settlers headed in from the east, especially from New York and Pennsylvania, chasing out the Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Chippewa Indians along the way. One of the major old Indian trails is still a main thoroughfare, U.S. 12, stretching west to east across the southern portion of the county and beyond. Visitors from Chicago can aim for this highway via I-90 through Gary and then I-94. The trip clocks in at about two and a half hours and covers a distance of about 130 miles.
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Small towns dot the county. Some have old-fashioned Victorian homes, some have smallish industrial plants, and some have both. Sturgis, in the southeast part of the county, ranks as the number-one metropolis, with a population topping 10,000. Next comes Three Rivers in the west-central area, with about 7,000 residents. Centreville, White Pigeon, Mendon, and Colon have a thousand or two residents each. The county offers a good dose of touristy activities, from the county fair in Centreville to the annual Magic Get-Together in Colon, self-professed “Magic Capital of the World.”
An unusual local attraction is the Heartlight Center, a non- denominational Christian community of about a dozen residents that has been here for about 20 years. A bright white archway emblazoned with the words “Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God” beckons from the road. Visitors are welcome to walk around the 117 wooded acres, participate in weekend spiritual retreats or the Sunday-evening Global Peace Meditation (6:15 to 6:45 PM), or even spend a night for the price of a freewill donation. The center is at 67138 Shimmel Road about six miles northwest of Sturgis proper (616-651-2234).
The town also hosts the annual Three Rivers Water Festival, which runs June 13 through 15 this year. It includes midway rides, food, beer, and entertainment, an arts-and-crafts flea market, a demolition derby, and a climactic nighttime fireworks display and parade of lighted boats. For information call 616-278-8193.
A real find for families is YMCA Camp Eberhart (616-244-5125), which has 128 acres of woods and shoreline on Corey Lake due west of Three Rivers. While booked by organized kids’ camp groups during most of the summer, the camp invites families and individuals for Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends that keep them busy with everything from environmental education to campfire marshmallow roasts. Winter family weekends and a week-long camp between Christmas and New Year include cross-country skiing, hill tubing, and downhill skiing at nearby Swiss Valley. Group accommodations are in rustic lodges and all meals are provided for about $34 per kid, $56 per adult for a three-day weekend. Make reservations for these popular events about two months in advance.
A pleasant place to stay is the nearby Mendon Country Inn overlooking the Saint Joseph River (440 W. Main, Mendon; 616- 496-8132). Built as a hotel in the 1840s, the inn has 11 rooms plus 7 VIP suites with fireplace and Jacuzzis, a rooftop garden for sunbathing, and complimentary continental breakfast. Nightly rates run $45 to $125.
