Things to Do in Saugatuck, Michigan

This is the headliner. Oval Beach sits among tall dunes where the Kalamazoo River winds toward Lake Michigan, and Condé Nast Traveler has rated it one of the 25 best shorelines in the world. The park is open year-round.

★ Good to know There are no lifeguards and no dogs, and the lot fills on peak summer days, so walk over from the chain ferry or call the Interurban bus when parking is full.

Across the river from downtown, 303 wooden steps climb 250 feet to an observation deck on top of the Mount Baldhead dune. From the top you look over the Kalamazoo River valley and out to Lake Michigan. Winding paths then lead down the far side to Oval Beach.

★ Good to know The stairs were rebuilt in 2010; if you’d rather skip them, the John Woollam Trail also reaches the beach.

The ferry, named Diane, is the only hand-cranked chain ferry of its kind left in the United States. An operator cranks it across the river along a chain fixed to both banks, and it has run here since 1857, though the current boat dates to the 1960s. It leaves from the downtown side on Water Street, by Wick’s Park.

★ Good to know Bikes, dogs and strollers ride free, and it departs every 10 to 15 minutes in season, but it shuts down for high wind, fog, lightning and heavy rain.

North of town, this state park has 2.5 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, coastal dunes, woods and 13 miles of trails. The 300-acre Patty Birkholz Natural Area protects a dune system with three endangered plant species. It’s quieter than Oval Beach because every route to the water is on foot.

★ Good to know The Beach Trail, marked in yellow, is the shortest way to the lake at 0.75 mile one way, and a Michigan Recreation Passport is required for your car.

This paddle-wheel boat runs cruises of about 90 minutes down the Kalamazoo River and, weather permitting, out onto Lake Michigan. There are daytime and sunset cruises, two bars aboard and a wheelchair-accessible lower deck. The same company operates the chain ferry.

★ Good to know Concessions on board are cash only, and the captain decides on the day whether the boat goes out onto the lake.

The museum is in the 1904 Saugatuck Pump House at the foot of Mount Baldhead, at 735 Park St. Its exhibits cover the lumber port, the steamship era and the art colony. The Saugatuck-Douglas History Center also runs galleries in Douglas’s 1866 schoolhouse and has put interpretive panels around both towns.

★ Good to know Hours shrink to weekends in fall, so check the History Center site before you cross on the ferry.

In 2001, locals bought an abandoned pie factory at 400 Culver St. and turned it into the town’s arts center. Today it hosts theater, concerts, gallery exhibitions and classes year-round. It carries on a tradition that includes the Ox-Bow School of Art, the century-old artist colony across the river.

★ Good to know Exhibitions change through the year, so look at the SCA calendar for what’s on during your trip.