Van Buren State Park

Van Buren State Park now has a great off-​leash dog beach!
Recreational State Park pass required for parking
Easy to get to, just take W. Main out of Kalamazoo. Two trails to get to beach, both say Dog Beach. Seven minute hike up sandy hills then down to the beach. Bring decent sandals since it’s a rocky trail/​beach. Long beach to play on, plenty of room. Park rangers want dogs to stay away from swimming buoys.

Van Buren State Park is probably the nicest park within a 3 hour radius of Chicago. My husband is from Michigan, so he’s always happy to have an excuse to go back to his home state, and since I strongly prefer MI state parks to IL, we wind up camping in Michigan at least a couple times every summer.
I planned a group trip with friends to Van Buren a few weeks ago, and we were impressed by the park. The campground hosts were very welcoming, and the sites are spacious and semi private due to the trees that separate them. We needed two sites because we had a larger group, and this was one of the few places with two adjacent sites free over a weekend on about two months notice.
The beach here is lovely and not too far of a walk (less than 10 minutes). We were not able to take advantage of any hiking because it rained almost the whole time we were there. I’d love to come back and experience the park when the weather is nicer.

This is a beautiful state park. I camped here for one night and have no complaints. The area is very pretty and the beach is fantastic. There were also some great informational displays up by the beach. The campsites have nice showers and a small playground, and sites were separated by trees for a bit of privacy. It was quite and clean and the office staff was friendly. Great experience — would definitely recommend!

I don’t know where to start. I love and hate this park. We are on our second night here and I’m ready to leave. The noise level of car/​RV doors slamming, people talking and kids yelling make it hard to relax at 10pm MI time. No one is considerate of their noise level or barking dogs thus far. Not a place for families with little ones — it’s a miracle my 3^rd old is still asleep. Oh and I96 can be heard all night long. I really don’t know how people say this place is not busy or is «well known» — campground is 100% full per the Host.
Bathrooms are dated and need repair, but are functional. I enjoyed the shower, plenty of warm water and water pressure. The playground is disappointing and dated as well.
As for what I love about this park — the sites are plenty big and semi private. We have two tents and an SUV on our lot. We are staying in site #188 and like it a lot. The bundles of firewood are generous for what you pay.
We love South Haven and St Joseph and each are easy to get to via a scenic drive on Blue Star Hwy.
If the bathroom facilities were nicer I’d probably give this 4 stars. I don’t know if we will be back due to noise level and lack of updated facilities :-(