Location:
Mail To - Palmer Lake Lodges 59270 Burr Oak Rd. Colon, Michigan 49040
Phone - April thru October (269) 432-2825
November thru May (941) 505-6680 Off Season
Directions: SR 86 - 1 mile East of Colon, turn South on Burr Oak Rd., go 1 mile to the entrance of Palmer Lake Lodge.
State Route 86 is accessible from I-69, exit 13...go 16 mile West to Burr Oak Rd, turn South
From the Indiana Turnpike...exit 121, 18 miles North on SR 9, to SR 66, the SR 86, thru Colon, South on Burr Oak Rd.
On SR 86, east of Colon...watch for the Public Access Boat Launch sign...we are next door.
We are easily accessed from all directions using M-86, US-12, M-66, M-131, I-69, I-94 and many, many other highways in both Michigan and Indiana. In fact, you can get here from anywhere in the WORLD.
We are within a 3 hour drive from - Grand Rapids, Detroit, Toledo, Columbus, Indianapolis and Chicago...AND a days drive from Mackinac, Cleveland, Pittsburg, Lexington, Springfield, Peoria, Davenport and other cities.
Come Visit Us Soon!
The Colon, Michigan Area;
Southwestern Michigan offers a multitude of "Shopping, Eating and Recreation Experiences". Shopping includes Malls, Specialty Shops, Crafts, Antiques, and more. Restaurants cover everything from ast Food to Fine Dining.
Within a short drive, you will find such cities as Coldwater, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and Jackson, Michigan. I Indiana there's South Bend, Elkhart, Angola, Goshen, Shipshewana, and many others. Explore the area and find your favorite places.
Colon, Michigan - "The Magic Capital Of The World"
This typical small rural town just happens to be "The Magic Center Of The World"...The renowned Harry Balckstone visited Colon frequently and is buried here.
To celebrate this, Abbot Magic hosts MAGIC WEEK the second week end in August every year. The "whos who" of the magic world attends and participates in the festivities. Why don't you come and join in the fun?
If magic is not your interest, spend time with us fishing, boating, swimming, or just plain relaxing. All of this and more is available at Palmer Lake Lodges, located on the waterfront of Palmer Lake.
St. Joseph County
St. Joseph County, named after a river, is a region of rivers. Here, gather the many waters that give to the famed St. Joseph its size, its power and its beauty. Entering the county from the east, the historic stream is only an over-grown creek. Flowing out of the county to the southwest it is a rushing, picturesque river. On the way it gathers to itself Swan Creek, Bear Creek, Portage River, Rocky River, Prairie River, Fawn River and the White Pigeon River, as well as minor tributaries. Lakes, themselves spring-fed and creek-fed, are among the headwaters of these contributing streams. Lakes in strings, connected by adventure-inviting channels: lakes in clusters; lakes set solitaire; all allure the fisherman, the nature reveler and the seeker after cool quietude. Still and running waters combine in furnishing outing pleasures.
These rivers and lakes of St. Joseph County lured the Native Americans years ago.
Legends passed on by the Native Americans to the pioneers, and by the pioneers to their children tell of desperate battles fought for the possession of these ancient Happy Hunting Grounds.
The last battle was fought in 1801 - so the legends say - just before the coming of the first Yankee settlers from beyond the Alleghenies. At that time, St. Joseph County was at the edge of the vast Michigan forest which stretched from the Indiana plains to the shore of Lake Superior. This borderland was broken with oak openings and with woods-enclosed patches of prairie land.
The combination of woods, lakes, rivers and rich open lands made this an ideal place for game, fish and fowl. Here the Native Americans could hunt deer; fish; and go adventuring in their canoes. Here they could idle amid the luxuriousness of nature while their squaws planted and harvested the crops of maize which grew generously on the fertile soil.
The Pottawatomie long held possession. They lived in peace with their neighbors, the Ottawa's of the Kalamazoo Valley and with the most distant Ottawa's of the Grand River Valley.
Then came the Shawnees from the Wabash Valley. They coveted the pleasant and plentiful land. Under the leadership of Chief Elkhart, they crept through the wilderness and fell suddenly upon the unsuspecting Pottawatomie. In the surprise battle that followed, the Pottawatomie were defeated and driven from their homes.
