The beach at Pilgrim Haven this year has been filled with rocks by Lake Michigan waves.
Visiting Pilgrim Haven
Last week, I visited Pilgrim Haven Natural Area near South Haven for a day hike. The Pilgrim Haven Natural Area is part of the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy (SWMLC), having been set aside through a generous donation by a local philanthropist Suzanne Upjohn Parish. After decades of sitting idle, this special property that had been a summer camp for several generations was gifted to SWMLC to care for and develop into a public park.
The History
I had attended church camp there for several years in the early 1980s, along with some of my best friends. It closed as a camp in the mid-80s and I visited once in ’89 when it was vacant. For a long time, although I knew it had been sold, I had assumed that the Lake Michigan shoreline real estate had been developed. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I became aware it was still mostly untouched. This was just around the time when SWMLC began to publicize their plans, and when I began visiting the site again. Read about my first visit here.
Since then, I have visited several times. When the camp was first sold many of the buildings were immediately removed. At the time there were more than a dozen camper cabins, a bathhouse, staff cabins, a small auditorium, a dinning hall, a museum, a year-round residence, and other maintenance buildings. When I was there in ’89, the dinning hall and some cabins were still there.
Pilgrim Haven Today
What stands today includes the stone fireplace from the dinning hall and a small water feature meditation area. The dining hall was demolished, but SWMLC was able to raise funds to stabilize and preserve the large two sided chimney as a memorial to the camp years. There is also an original wooden camp sign that is prominently displayed near the entrance. There are remnants of the old roadway through the camp and some of the paths. On this visit, I also found a cellar foundation in the hillside that I had not seen before.
In the few years that SWMLC has managed the Pilgrim Haven property, they have added hiking trails, a paved parking lot, paved beach access, vault toilets, a footbridge over the creek, and interpretive signage. It is a hidden gem, a small beach park with no entrance fee and short walking distance to the shore. The natural area hasn’t been overly crowded the times I have been there, but there’s always a steady flow of people enjoying the park. Pilgrim Haven has been repurposed from being a cherished and beloved summer camp to a beach access nature area for new generations.
Enjoying the sand and scenery for writing.
Pilgrimage
This visit was one of pilgrimage. As the name Pilgrim Haven correctly implies, this is a place of deep rest and reflection. It is one of the Thin Places I have found, a place where the boundary between heaven and earth is thin. For the first time this year, I went alone to enjoy a day of prayer, mediation, and solitude. I hiked all of the trails, listened to the wind in the trees, and sat near the shore. It is truly a beautiful spot.
Memories of the Past
Walking the grounds of camp also involved some time travel, as the memories hang thick in the air and visions of the past fade in and out. As I stand near the old chimney of the dining hall, which is now a free-standing structure, I can imagine the wall filled back in behind and above it.
The dining hall chimney, once inside, now is all that’s left of the building.
The scene changes. Doors on each side lead to another room behind it where the other side of the chimney faces. Banners with camp themes and Bible verses hang on the walls, and the room is filled with noisy middle schoolers, ready for dinner. The round tables are full of campers with counselors spread out among the kids to keep the peace. It doesn’t work so well, since this is a rowdy group – all hot and stinky from games in the side yard, hungry and eager to eat. But first, called to attention by a lead counselor, we sing the blessing. The Johnny Appleseed song:
“Oh the Lord’s been good to me,
and so I thank the Lord,
for giving me the things I need,
the sun and the rain and the apple seed.
The Lord’s been good to me!”
I am brought back to the present as two women walk up, hiking out of the woods. The song quiets and the building dissolves again into the grassy field with a lone chimney standing in the middle. “Hello!” I greet them, “This was my summer camp as a kid.” They are from out of town, first time visitors they tell me, and don’t know what Pilgrim Haven was.
Sharing the Story
They patiently listen (and seem interested enough) as I tell them about camp as it was, and what it means to me now. I didn’t talk too long, I promise. It is a Thin Place after all, and I am confident that they will be able to feel the rest of the story as they walk around. I direct them to Vesper Point, to the trail that overlooks Lake Michigan, where I first learned to worship God over the water and sky of a Lake Michigan sunset. “Eco Divina,” I explain to them about vesper services, “worshiping God through nature.” But, I risk saying too much, and leave them to go on their way.
I quietly turn back to my own path and walk down what once was the road in front of the dining hall, past the large old trees that remember me from my youth. Humming, I touch their trunks in greeting as I pass them, “the Lord’s been good to me.”
The trees in front of the dining hall.
Trip Gallery
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- This vintage sign was preserved from camp days.
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- Map of the Pilgrim Haven Natural Area.
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- Interpretive signage with a map of the grounds as a summer camp..
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- The beach at Pilgrim Haven this year has been filled with rocks by Lake Michigan waves. The lake is at a high level, similar to the 80s when I was a camper.
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- This lily pond water feature at one time had goldfish. It is tuck away behind the kiosk, and probably goes unnoticed by most visitors. It includes daylilies and myrtle growing in and around it now, with steps leading down to the pond and over a path with the mini bridge. It’s a lovely spot for meditation.
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- These steps are to the side of the lily pond, connecting with a path over the mini bridge.
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- This “fire lane” was the entrance we used when we drove in to camp. The other entrance became the parking area that is now paved, on the other side of the property. It was exciting as a kid to arrive at camp and see this lane!
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- This bridge is new, and spans the creek in an area that was wooded and not used when I was a camper. New trails line this area near the beach.
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- Dyckman Creek winds though camp and empties out into Lake Michigan.
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- O Thou, by whom we come to God, The Life, the Truth, the Way, The path of prayer Thyself hast trod— Lord, teach us how to pray.
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- When the building was demolished, funds were raised to preserve and stabilize the two sided chimney from the dining hall. The other side faced into a smaller room, so most of the chimney was not exposed to the weather.
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- Throughout the site there are flowers blooming, evidence of past buildings and garden areas.
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- View toward the dining hall.
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- Dyckman Creek, where the footbridge between cabins and the dining hall used to be.
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- These trees were along the road that came into camp and turned in front of the dining hall. These trees were there when I was a camper.
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- A row of white pines that stood along the road.
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- Iris growing wild on the property.
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- The area near the location of a year round home still features landscaping and flowers.
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- Flowers mixed in with the wild growth.
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- The area near the location of a year round home still features landscaping and flowers.
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- A house once sat here. It was the care takers residence, I was told. It was yellow with white trim, very pretty.
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- The path to the bluff where we had nightly prayer services.
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- At the top of the trail to Vesper Point, the trail turns and goes along the edge. The top of the bluff has eroded quite a bit since the 80s. High water then caused several nearby cottages on private property to fall into the Lake.
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- The North end of the property has a high bluff. This was where nightly Vesper prayer services were held, overlooking the Lake at sunset.
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- High water in Lake Michigan is eroding the bluff.
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- This structure was in the woods near the northern edge of the property. I don’t remember seeing it in the past, and especially not as a camper.
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- This vintage sign was preserved from camp days.
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- This year the beach is featuring a lot of rocks that have been tossed up by the waves.
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- My best friend Ginger and I always attended camp together. This was taken in 1980.