Augusta was established in northeastern Kalamazoo County (Mich.) in 1832.
With a population of around 900, the village is located where Augusta Creek joins the Kalamazoo River. You will pass over the creek several times during your local hikes. As you enter Augusta you can’t help but be impressed with one local business: Knappen Milling Company. This fourth generation, family-owned flour and wheat processing facility dates back to 1929. At its start, it provided bran products for the cereal industry in nearby Battle Creek, but now is organic certified and mills soft white, red wheat, and hard red wheat.
The Augusta Prairie is a showpiece of the National Park Service (NPS), and the first NPS-purchased property along the North Country National Scenic Trail. The hillside hike offers great vistas of the river valley as you walk through a reborn native prairie that is teeming with native plants, bees, and butterflies when in bloom. The prairie has an improved pathway designed to increase accessibility leading to the top of the hill, where a gorgeous view awaits.
Just east of downtown is a unique, 2+ miles of trail that travel through the Fort Custer National Cemetery. While the cemetery isn’t visible from the Trail, it does go through the 770-acre parcel that was the former training grounds during World War II, and acted as the mobilization and demobilization site for the military before and after World War I.
The NCTA Chief Noonday Chapter is responsible for the North Country Trail section through Augusta.
Additional Resources
There are several locally owned restaurants and businesses on or near the Trail.
- Dollar General
- Augusta McKay Library
- Shell gas station
- Player’s Grill
- Dig-In Cafe and Catering
- Nina’s Taqueria
Header photo provided by Eric Longman