Make Saugatuck/Douglas Your Next Midwest Road Trip Stop
Free this weekend and beyond? Fill up the gas tank, throw a few essentials in the trunk (don’t forget a swimsuit!), hit play on your favorite tunes, and head out on the highway for a Midwest summer road trip. Trade record-breaking TSA lines, hours-long flight delays, and irreplaceable lost luggage with flexibility, lower costs, and leisurely travel. Who’s stopping you from pulling over for ice cream? That’s right: No one! And when you need a place that’s actually worth the stop, Saugatuck/Douglas makes it easy to turn a quick detour into something more.
Just 2.5 hours from Chicago, 3 hours from Detroit, 3.5 hours from Toledo, and 3.75 hours from Indianapolis, Saugatuck/Douglas is an easy pit stop right where the Kalamazoo River meets Lake Michigan. Known as the Art Coast® of Michigan, you’ll find this to be the ideal Midwest road trip destination filled with everything from beautiful beaches and award-winning wineries to unique dining and endless recreation.
But once you’ve reached the Art Coast, consider ditching the car for a while, and embrace Saugatuck/Douglas’ other modes of transport to really experience the area:
By Boat
Cruise the Kalamazoo River in a vintage pink, yellow, or blue vessel with Retro Boat Rentals (they have cute names like Doris and Ruby!), which operates a fleet of rare, classic fiberglass runabout boats from the jet-age era that are retrofitted with electric motors.
Want to be hands-off? Hop aboard the last remaining Chain Ferry in the United States. It takes five to 10 minutes for the ferry to be hand-cranked along a 400-foot chain across the Kalamazoo River. It’s a short ride, but one of those experiences you won’t find anywhere else—and one you’ll definitely remember.
For another memorable option, an excursion on the 51-ton Star of Saugatuck paddlewheel boat is the ideal way to enjoy a Lake Michigan sunset.
By Wheels
Take the road less traveled–literally–with Saugatuck Dune Rides, which offers open-roof dune adventures that’ll take you on a 40-minute thrill ride across private sand dunes overlooking Lake Michigan. “Part nature tour, part comedy routine, and part history lesson,” this scenic journey will make you an expert in “the lost town of Singapore, Michigan’s version of Pompeii,” says Midwest Living.
Book a private wine tour with Coastal Tours’ 14-passenger bus or 10-passenger van, both of which will take you to all the Art Coast craft beverage hot spots. Sample a host of flavorful craft beers with a visit to Saugatuck Brewing Company, Noble Twist Taphouse, and the Mitten Brewing Company. Or spend an entire day sampling different red, white, sparkling, and fruit wines unique to our region at Michigan Wine Co., Crane’s Winery, Fenn Valley Vineyards & Winery, and Modales Wines.
Stretch your legs a bit by renting bicycles from Big Lake Outfitters or Blue Star Barns Coffee & Bikes. From just outside downtown, you can hop on the (paved!) Blue Star Trail and ride north toward Holland, or venture south toward South Haven along a mix of trail and roadway. It’s an easy way to explore beyond downtown without ever getting back in your car.
By Foot
Take a hike. No, really. Climb the 303 steps to the summit of Mount Baldhead, a giant sand dune with great views of Saugatuck, Douglas, and the Kalamazoo River below, then run down the west side of the mountain to Oval Beach. It was named one of Condé Nast Traveler’s ‘Top 25 Beaches in the World.’ Prefer something less strenuous? Nature enthusiasts and bird watchers love Saugatuck Dunes State Park, which is also home to a beautiful 2.5-mile beach.
A stroll will do, too. Walk end-to-end on Butler Street in Saugatuck for a little retail therapy. And there is no shortage of galleries, studios, exhibitions, and public art installations to feast your eyes upon in downtown Saugatuck and Douglas. Hey, we’re known as the Art Coast for a reason.
Start at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts for public art installations like Kickstart, an abstract form in polished aluminum by Brooklyn-based sculptor Kevin Barrett, and then head to Wicks Park to see Seurat in Saugatuck, a mural recreation by Carol Miron of Georges Seurat’s famous Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
Further down Water Street, you’ll find Saugatuck’s famous Smile! mural on the Dockside Marketplace building. In Douglas, check out Sea Gulls II by Cynthia McKean, a sculptural group of gulls at the top of the stairs leading to Douglas Beach. Outside the visitor’s center is Big Fish by Stephen Rubinkam, Jeff Blandford, and Josh Russell, a 12-by-8-foot sculpture featuring vivid rainbow hues.
With rainbows in mind, walk across the famed rainbow crosswalk in Saugatuck at the intersection of Butler and Culver Streets. It’s the perfect spot for a “shoefie.”
Looking for places to stay and things to eat? Check out here and here. Don’t forget to stock up on snacks for the drive home!
