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DOWAGIAC — The City of Dowagiac and the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce have partnered once again to offer community members a way to stay active and connected this summer while exploring what the area has to offer.

The two entities kicked off the second annual Dowagiac Walking Challenge on Monday. The free challenge consists of completing seven designated walks – ranging from one mile to almost five miles in length – before December 1. While last year’s inaugural challenge ended on Labor Day, Crouse decided to extend it to give participants more opportunities to walk.

“The weather’s so great in the fall and people were saying ‘hey, I haven’t quite completed the walk yet,’ ‘Can I still do it,’”  said Eileen Crouse of the Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce. “This year, I just took it all the way till December 1 so people can walk all the way through the fall and get the patch.”

Once a walk is completed, participants are asked to post a photo of themselves with the hashtag #DowagiacChallenge, with those who complete the challenge receiving a commemorative Dowagiac Walking Challenge patch.

“The city is proud to partner on this project,” said Bobbie Jo Hartline with the City of Dowagiac. “We are lucky to have so many natural resources in Dowagiac. Each park has a different flavor. The walking challenge encourages us to get out and try them all. The challenge adds another level of satisfaction and pride and it’s always more fun when you invite your friends to explore with you.I love the patch design; I’m sure it will become a tradition.”

Registration is free and can be done by clicking the registration link located on the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce Facebook page or online at cityofdowagiac.com. Detailed information on the designated walks in the challenge and information on how to receive your free patch on completion will be shared once registered.

The idea for a challenge was hatched last year after speaking with city officials about how to motivate people to enjoy the greater Dowagiac area. Last year, 238 community members signed up for the challenge and 68 have registered for the 2025 challenge.

New to this year’s challenge are “park-to-park” walks. Crouse, who is a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board, created the park-to-park walks in an effort to help participants get to know about some of the great outdoor resources in and around Dowagiac.

“One of the big ‘wow’ moments was the number of people who said that they were not familiar with certain parks,” Crouse said. “‘Where is that?’ ‘I’ve never heard of it.’ I thought I should do some park-to-parks. The new Elks Trail was a great opportunity to get people out there to see a really cool trail right in the middle of town that runs along the Dowagiac Creek along the Elks golf course and it’s just a really fun short walk that you can bring your dog and do pretty quickly. The park-to-parks will get people to learn about the parks in Dowagiac.”

The designated walks are:

Elks Trail – 1 mile out and back .5 miles each way

Laylin Park to Rotary Park – 2.4 mile out and back 1.2 miles each way

Huston Park to James E. Burke Park – 2.4 mile out and back 1.2 miles each way

James E. Heddon Park to Farr Park – 2.4 mile out and back 1.2 miles each way

T.K. Lawless Park – 2.6mile loop

Fred Russ State Forest – 3mile loop

Love Creek Nature Center – 4.5 mile loop