East Jordan

East Jordan is a small working town at the south tip of Lake Charlevoix, and the reason to come is the Jordan River. Float it in the morning, walk the boardwalk trail along it in the afternoon, and swim at the town beach before dinner. It is a quiet, outdoorsy town rather than a resort. Half a day covers the town; a full day lets you get on the river.

Getting there and getting around

M-66 runs north and south along the west side of town, and M-32 comes in from the east and ends at M-66. By our routing estimates, the drive takes about 3 hours 15 minutes from Grand Rapids, about 4 hours 45 minutes from Detroit and about 6 hours 40 minutes from Chicago.

The closest airline airport is Cherry Capital in Traverse City, about an hour and 15 minutes away by our estimate, with Pellston Regional about an hour and a half. Private pilots can use East Jordan City Airport at the edge of town.

You need a car to get here and for the river put-ins. Downtown, Main Street, the parks and the city marina are close enough to walk between.

Where to eat

East Jordan’s places to eat are few and mostly casual. These are ones the local chamber lists:

• South Arm Cafe. The breakfast and lunch spot, with home-cooked daily specials and a Friday night fish fry.
• Mondays. A family-friendly, alcohol-free downtown stop for smash burgers, broasted chicken, dirty sodas and ice cream, with a deck over the park and marina.
• Marty’s on Main Street (MOM’S). A bar and restaurant with broasted chicken and fish, sandwiches and ice cream, plus a game room.
• Iron Goat Coffee. The downtown coffee shop, open since 2019, pouring Lake Charlevoix Coffee Company beans. The chai latte is the drink it is known for.
• The Landing. A lakeside restaurant and bar up the South Arm by the Ironton Ferry, with indoor and outdoor seating and boat slips for guests. Handy if you are driving the lake loop.

For more choice, drive to Boyne City or Charlevoix.

Where to stay

Our listings do not include lodging in East Jordan yet. The city’s Tourist Park on North Lake Street has a campground next to the beach. Most visitors stay in Boyne City or Charlevoix and come over for the day; both guides have their picks.

Our picks

Float the Jordan River. Michigan’s first designated Natural River, cold, clear and closed to motorboats above the M-32 bridge. Jordan Valley Outfitters in town rents kayaks, canoes, rafts and tubes and lists shorter rafting trips. Book ahead on summer weekends.

The Klein Nature Trail. About two miles along the river from Sportsman’s Park, roughly half a mile of it on boardwalk. It is listed as universally accessible and open all year. Look for eagles, ospreys and trumpeter swans.

Tourist Park beach. The in-town swim on the South Arm of Lake Charlevoix, with a new children’s playground. For a bigger beach, Young State Park near Boyne City needs a Recreation Passport.

Elm Pointe. The former Porter estate on the lake about 1.5 miles from downtown, now a park with a small historical museum. Museum access depends on events and the season, so check first.

The Jordan Art Walk. A self-guided route of sculptures between Memorial Park and Sportsman’s Park; the chamber has a map.

Music in the Park. Summer Friday evenings at the Memorial Park band shell. Bring a chair and dinner to go.

Nine holes. Mallard Golf Club and Ye Nyne Olde Holles, which dates to 1923, are both small public courses.

Half a day, and a full day

Half a day. Coffee downtown, the Klein trail, then lunch and a swim at Tourist Park.

A full day. Float the Jordan in the morning. In the afternoon, drive the loop around Lake Charlevoix, crossing on the little Ironton Ferry, which runs in the warmer months. On a summer Friday, be back for Music in the Park.

With kids, and on a rainy day

With kids: The Tourist Park playground and beach, a tubing trip on the river, and Raven Hill Discovery Center, a 157-acre science, history and arts center with hands-on activities inside and out.

On a rainy day: Watch glassblowers at Jordan Valley Glassworks, look in at the EJ Visitor Center’s free exhibits on the company’s history, or stop at the historical society’s free museum next to City Hall on weekdays. Check hours first.

Best time to go

Summer is the season. The Freedom Festival in late June is the town’s big week: five days of parades, a carnival and fireworks from a barge on the South Arm. The Portside Art Fair fills Elm Pointe on the first full weekend of August.

Spring brings the steelhead run up the Jordan. Fall is the other good time: Visit Charlevoix’s Jordan River Valley and C-48 Breezeway color routes both pass through East Jordan.

Winter

Winter is quiet, with a few reasons to come. Jordan Valley Outfitters lists winter rafting trips, steelhead stay in the river into winter, and the Klein trail is open all year. Raven Hill lists weekend hours from Labor Day to Memorial Day. Sno-Blast, a long-running February snowmobile festival, has included an antique sled show and a Blessing of the Sleds; check with the chamber for the current year. Boyne Mountain is the nearest downhill skiing.

Hours, menus and schedules change, so check with each place before you go.