This is a nice little nature park with parking and bicycle parking. You can walk the nature trails…read moredown to the creek or take the paved bicycle trail to the Indiana State Line. About 3 miles. This trail goes right by South Firemans Park as well.

The park is being updated. There are new bridges and cabins...of you look on the parks website…read moretheres a blueprint of planned upgrades and new features.

Miles of great hiking trails and numerous scenic views…read more Skiing and biking also encouraged.

Moving back to southwest Michigan I've missed going to the park- I'd picnic or take a book in the…read moreevenings or walk/run with my dog on the weekends- this one has a good mix of flat and elevated hiking terrain along with creek and marsh areas. Pretty good signage but make sure you take a map for your first hike or two. my dog likes it too. $3 residents and $5 for non. I haven't spent any time in the nature center but it looks nice. Downside no dogs in the winter.

A beautiful place for a stroll in nature! They have a great mix of curated gardens, prairie trails,…read moreand forest trails that wind around ponds, streams, and the St. Joseph river. It was a perfect way to spend a couple hours and it's only 10 minutes outside of Niles. They also have a small art gallery, gift shop, and cafe inside the main building. I grabbed a small pie to go! It was clear everyone who worked there really loved their job and they were excited to share it with visitors.

Definitely a hidden gem. My wife and I stayed in New Buffalo, MI. On a whim, we drove to Fernwood…read moreon a Sunday morning. It's not in a spot you'd ever expect considering a lot of farmland surrounding the area. The front desk was very helpful. Despite it being mid-October, the gardens were still very interesting; peaceful. It's very well kept. Take your time and enjoy the place. The small cafe had some tasty lunch sandwiches and soups. Sweets too!!

We have been going y shamrock campground since 1997. We have met so many people there. I was taking…read moremy grandkids every fall break and the youth fair every year until my husband couldn't go because he has Alzheimer's. The kids love it. It's a very special place for me and my family.

We camped on the river. Beautiful primitive site for $30. Great location and great to book a spot…read moreone day out. Bathrooms are fine but not great.

My nieces + nephews and I decided to go on a hike on Saturday. Well, when we got there, they…read morechanged their minds and wanted to go home and get cozy. Not happening. So I took them out into the woods kicking and screaming ;) Auntie of the year! We compromised and made it a shorter hike but I enjoyed it! The trail we went on stayed mostly on the river and just slightly into the woods. Next time we'll go all in! The trails are well maintained and entry is only $4.

Reserved a shelter for our 30 year high school reunion. Best decision ever. There were plenty of…read moretables for us to feel comfortable. Group of about 50 people. We were close to a playground in Berta Shelter and restrooms were directly behind us. Restrooms were clean. Very pleased!

The highlight of this pleasant, accessible sculpture park is the masterful and haunting, 27 foot…read moresculpture, titled Griffon, by American modern master David Hayes. The photo -- with the backdrop of a parking lot -- fails to do justice to this magnificent work -- one of Hayes' very best, or the setting, which Hayes -- who "created graceful sculptures abstracted from organic forms" -- would likely have appreciated. Hayes's early sculptures were accepted at shows at New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum's inaugural exhibition. His work appears in 100 institutional collections, including additional pieces in the ND Sculpture Park and the courtyard of the Snite Museum on Notre Dame's campus. Since his passing in 2013, interest in his work has remained strong, with many, often overlapping museum exhibitions featuring his work each year.

What was once a landfill for about 100 years has been reclaimed in phases and turned into this…read morewonderful sculpture park! In the latest phase (2017), a pond was added in the middle of the eight acre park and numerous trees and native wild grasses were planted. I wish I had known about this before because the website includes a map with information about the pieces as well as video interviews with some of the artists. I pulled up along the Walsh Family Hall of Architecture and entered from the northwest corner of the park. Note that the map starts numbering on the far west side and works around clockwise so that the first piece I encountered was #2. But to keep things simple, I will go with the numbering system of the map so that everything is tied out. 1. Tale Teller VI by Jaume Plensa is a stainless steel and stone piece created in 2014. The steel is cut into random letters/characters and shaped to create the image of a seated figure on a stone. 2. Little Seed by Peter Randall-Page is made from granite (2007). The bumpy almost egg-shaped seed is gray in tone and the bumps are uniform and placed in an orderly fashion. 3. Many Glacier by Deborah Butterfield was one I missed. 4. Fern Temple IV was created by Rev Austin Collins in 2012 from painted steel that appears to be a bright yellow green. The column rises with fern-like leaves extended from the core. 5. Two Lines Oblique by George Rickey is one I really wish I had seen. Rickey was a kinetic artist and I love watching the wind move stainless steel. 6. Griffon is a mammoth painted steel sculpture on the northeast corner of the park. Created by David Hayes, my first thought was of the Picasso in Chicago in size and form. 2-D plates are cut and placed together to create this giant mythological creature. 7. Hanging Screen Sculpture #18 also by David Hayes, is a much smaller work, but also done in the black painted steel. This one is suspended from a tree limb, so look carefully or you will miss it. 8. Single Winged Figure on Plinth by Stephen De Staebler (2010) is a tall, slender interpretation of the human form anchored to a heavy base (plinth). 9. Maquette for Wing Generator by Richard Hunt (1982) is made from Cor-ten steel and has been allowed to rust, giving it a reddish brown patina on this abstract form. 10. Life of Christ: Cycle of Life by Philip Rickey was crafted in Minnesota and then installed in 2017 at the park. Rickey, whose father created #5, was honored to be asked to create the most expansive installation of the park. Starting with a trail on the east side, Rickey has places stone columns that wind up the hill and around to the center of the park where they form a bit of plaza that could be used for performances. The stones are places so that a visitor might use their imagination to envision Christ's journey. 11. Tracery by Deborah Butterfield is a horse that appears to be made from branches. I saw it but didn't see a path to it while there and did not get a good photo. 12. Red Throne by David Nash (1991) is a columnar bronze that seems to have layers. The finish of the piece looks like red stone. I really enjoyed wandering through the naturalized park. There are signs asking visitors to have patience as the new park's plantings grow to fully realize the designer's plans. Review #3103

Pinhook finally got an update. They added a very nice blacktop path for walking, some dog…read moreamenities, a new boat launch, and some new fishing piers. New playground equipment as well. Theres been a little bit better landscaping/ lawncare, and they have added new signage for handicapped access/ parking.

Clean park. I was there for a wedding and it was a beautiful day. The park was clean. The river…read morewas delightful and peaceful. There was a small playground. There was also a building on the premise, but I did not go into the building.

Nice large park...a little bit under the radar in South Bend/ Roseland…read more There are quite a few things to do. soccer fields, many baseball/softball fields,disc golf, Hiking trails and the St. Joseph river borders the west side. Bathrooms are limited to temporary kind. First time here and jave been to most parks in St Joe county.