Memorial Day weekend is about here, kicking off the summer season for the Berrien County Parks Department.
Berrien County Parks Director Jill Adams tells us the rangers have been out at Silver Beach County Park since early May and have the attraction ready to welcome the crowds. She notes starting Friday, there will be a charge to park at Silver Beach each day and for the rest of the summer. The fee is collected upon entry to the park. The cost is $8 per vehicle for Berrien County residents, and $15 per vehicle for out of county residents.
Adams has a bit of advice for those seeking seamless entry into the park.
“The swiftest way to conduct that parking fee transaction at the entrance is to buy an annual county park permit and keep it handy and keep it in your vehicle and use that when you come in,” Adams said.
Those annual permits are available for $40 at the county admin building in St. Joseph.
Adams says the parks department has been working with the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department and St. Joseph Public Safety to ensure there’s adequate police coverage at the beach.
“We start that process pretty much at the end of the previous year. We review how the summer went. We had a great summer last year. We were very, very happy, very excited to have been able to serve so many people and welcome so many people.”
Adams adds the county’s 17 lifeguards will be out at Silver Beach training this weekend, although they may not be stationed in their chairs on regular duty just yet.
Last summer, Silver Beach County Park recorded 73,500 vehicles entering, and it’s estimated the park gets a total of about 718,000 visitors each year, most of them in the summer months.
As for other county parks, Adams says the second most popular is Madeline Bertrand in Niles, with its 18-hole disc golf course.
“We have people playing all year long and as long as we’re not cross-country skiing there, we have disc golfers every day. Even when it is snowing, even when it is cold.”
And Adams says that course is being expanded by another 18 holes soon now that the county’s acquired 35 additional acres of land for the attraction. Stay tuned for more on that project later.
She told us Berrien County’s parks system offers recreational opportunities of all kinds throughout the summer.
“All seven properties are currently open and ready to bring people out, hike the trails, see the beautiful views. My happy place, my favorite park to go and just relax and kind of clear my mind and take a good hike is Love Creek County Park out in Berrien Center.”
That’s where the county maintains a nature center that she says everyone should check out.
