Top Things to do in
Top Hotels in Southwest Michigan
- 1. Yelton Manor Boutique Hotel B&B
- 2. Historic Hotel Nichols
- 3. The Inn at Harbor Shores Resort
- 4. Boulevard Inn
- 5. Tru by Hilton Saint Joseph
- 6. SpringHill Suites by Marriott St. Joseph Benton Harbor
- 7. Hampton Inn South Haven
- 8. Holiday Inn Express & Suites St. Joseph
- 9. Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, South Haven, MI
- 10. Fairfield Inn & Suites New Buffalo
Countries
The 7 Best Nature & Wildlife Areas in , Southwest Michigan
Discover the best top things to do in , United States including Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve, Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery, Mud Lake Bog Nature Preserve, Dowagiac Woods, Sarett Nature Center, Barvick's Sand Dunes, Kesling Nature Preserve.
Restaurants in Southwest Michigan
1. Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 107 reviews
A living museum of delicate ecosystems.
Reviewed By marjieP
There is so much to see and do SAFELY at Fernwood Botanical Gardens! If you're not a member, buy a membership. It's inexpensive for so much PLUS you have reciprocity in many gardens throughout the states. There a Frog Pond. There's a hiking path, formal gardens, a prairie, herb gardens, statuary and sculpture throughout the acreage, water wheel, creeks, nature center, and an education center. The education center has a window wall through which you can view birds feeding, flying, squirrels, etc. PLUS a library, seating area for reading, and a huge meeting room. Fernwood is also an excellent place for weddings, large gatherings with social distancing and masks during COVID times. On Saturdays, 8-10 AM members can walk their dogs, sit at a fire pit. OMG I forgot: There's a RailRoad Garden with trestles, waterfalls, creeks, replicas of local landmarks including Notre Dame , Buchanan Pears Mill, the wonderful old depot in Niles, drawbridge. $ HO gauge trains have tracks that weave in and out of 'mountains'. It's just a good Place to BE, summer and winter ( Cross Country Skiing in Winter !) another oops: the Children's Garden : a mobile huge Elephant sculpture, Giant Daffodil Sculpture, a Captain's prow with a slide, hopscotch, sand box , etc. et. I better stop.. Go see for yourself. I'd say to stay the day, but if you only want to go for an hour... do that.
2. Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 20 reviews
Reviewed By 270mindied
Our family has been here many times for fish related activities, but recently we discovered the amazing birding opportunities the grounds have! My 13 year old son wants to be an ornithologist, so when I saw they were having a birding event we decided to make another trip. While the weather wasn't great (very cold and windy) we had a great time with the staff at the hatchery and members of the Kalamazoo Audubon! The ponds on the property are wonderful for watching migrating waterfowl. We also had the chance to see some shore birds, cranes, an bald eagle, a heron, and many other interesting birds.
3. Mud Lake Bog Nature Preserve
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2 reviews
4. Dowagiac Woods
5. Sarett Nature Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 51 reviews
Reviewed By FrankD834 - South Bend, United States
A coworker had mentioned Sarett to me as a place I should check out for hiking. He has family that lives in that area and had visited many times over the years. I dragged my 16yo daughter out of the house and off we went. The center itself is closed due to the virus, but all the trails are open and the butterfly house is open with reserved time slots. We just hiked. First we headed out to the Tree Top Walkway and checked it out. It is an impressive structure that looks like a railroad trestle. After that, we headed to the low country trails as I wanted to the the River Trail. The River Trail is rugged, but not too difficult. There are a lot of boardwalk and bridges down in the swampy areas. There are parts of the trail that are completely surrounded by tall grass, which feels like you are walking through a tunnel. It is pretty amazing and makes you feel like you are in the wild, even though there is a road 100 yards from the trail. The trail open up as you get close to the Paw Paw river, but watch your step, there is a bunch of poison ivy in the area. We did do a few of the off-shoot trails from River too, like Tamarack and a few small paths to swampy areas. We had a great time and my daughter loved it, which is pretty good since she's too cool for about everything these days. She wants to go back in the fall when the leaves change. I'm all for that.
6. Barvick's Sand Dunes
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2 reviews
7. Kesling Nature Preserve
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
