Paragon Parks Tour 2016 – Kirk Park #4. Kirk Park is located just a couple miles south of M-45 (Lake Michigan Drive) on Lakeshore Drive. We did a loop and 1/2 to include the grueling stairs (twice). The view is gorgeous, but the wind was whipping and bitter!!  It was 30 degrees out but that wind made it feel like 2!  Yikes!  The full loop around is about 1.25 miles.  And beware of those ice covered trail/stairs. I’m pretty sure my bum will have a bruise on it 🙂

Stretching along Lake Michigan’s shoreline for over 1/3 mile; sandy beach, high bluffs and wooded dunes. Nature trails with wooden stairways wind through the tree lined dunes. A paved path leads to a deck overlooking the beach and Lake Michigan and there is an off leash area for dogs!

Paragon Parks Tour 2016 #3. Paw Paw Park was third on our tour. We’ve had quite a bit of snow fall over the last couple of days so we were running (if you can call it that) through about 6-8″ of sticky thick snow. It was brutal! My suggestion is to bring your cross country skis or snow shoes for your winter activity here. However, in the summer, be sure to check out the disc golf and the waterfowl. Paw Paw Park is a restored wetland and is a wonderful location for birders!  There are benches, boardwalks and bridges that take you next to the river and allow for great scenic views.  We will definitely be back in the Summer!

This now 172-acre park (formerly known as Macatawa Greenspace) is being reintroduced as Paw Paw Park. The park now has two distinct and unique properties connected by a portion of the regional bike path known as the Macatawa Greenway Trail. The portion of non-motorized constructed in 2015 was funded through a “Building Healthy Communities Grant from the Michigan Department of Health in collaboration with the Ottawa County Health Department. The east-122 acres of the park is the site of the former Holland Country Club, a golf course that served the Holland area for many decades.

Paragon Parks Tour 2016… Stop #2 was to Riley Trails located in Park Township. With 300 acres Riley Trails offers a 2.6 mile loop in the woods, open to walkers, joggers, cross country skiers and mountain bikers. It was a brisk 16 degrees out there today and felt like 0 with the windchill. I was secretly wishing it was summer and we were on our bikes yelling out “roots” or “sand”! Ha – I suppose we’ll have plenty of time for that once this snow goes away 🙂

Our first stop on the parks tour brought us to Historic Ottawa Beach Parks in Holland, which includes the stairs at Mt. Pisgah. It was a balmy 40 degrees and we jogged to the end of the pier and back before tackling the 235 stairs and trail system.

The Pisgah stairs/ trail system was designed by Paragon’s own Jim DeWilde in 2008 in his previous career as a landscape architect.

Here’s some information we found on Pisgah and it’s biblical meaning. Many scholars take Pisgah as the name applying to the mountain range in which the Moab plateau terminates to the West, the “top” or “head” of Pisgah being the point in which the ridge running out westward from the main mass culminates. The summit commands a wide view, and looks down upon the desert.

Happy New Year and cheers to 2016! We’d like to share with you our 2016 activity plan. We’re calling it the Paragon Parks Tour. In 2016 we’re challenging ourselves to hit every Ottawa County Park; whether running, biking, hiking or kayaking…we’re going to visit it. Why? #1 – to get out there and be active and #2 – to enjoy our local county parks. This is a fun idea and you’re welcome to join us on the Parks Tour. Maybe get a group together from your own office and start your own tour… Be sure to check in and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly updates and pictures.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/paragon-recruiting

https://www.miottawa.org/Parks/parks.htm