Find the top rated birding trails in Kalamazoo, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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It's a great round trip, and it can open up to the sun & wind and other times plant life closes in for some shade.
While smooth, most of the trail is ballast & crushed stone, which for me made it very hard to keep my speed up.
I might consider skipping this one and looking elsewhere.
Traveled from Pennsylvania to ride this trail since we found out about it on TrailLink. We stayed at a local hotel. Trail is paved the entire length from Goshen to Shipshewana. A local told me they just finished paving the last crushed stone section. Trail goes through a few small towns which offers services. We ate lunch in Middlebury. Shipshewana offers many great shops and restaurants. This is in an Amish community. Small hill at mile 2.5. Most of the scenery is flat and open through farms but there are a few wooded sections of the trail as well. Worth driving 5 hours to get to and making it a getaway. Trail was busy for a Saturday but not crowded. Friendly folks along the way. We were lucky to have such great weather too!
A good that's slightly marred by a brief urban stint, you'll thankfully spend most of your time in a nature setting with this route.
Mostly flat, you'll get both sun & shade with this trail, though sights are few.
You can also use this trail to link up with multiple other trails in Portage, including Millennium Trail, Lovers Lane Bikeway, Romence Road Bikeway, Shaver Road Bikeway, and Northwest Portage Bikeway.
This one should be avoided, as with frequent road crossings and nothing to see, you are going to spend almost all of your time in a urban, neighborhood setting.
BCT is a great experience for anyone looking for a worthwhile trail.
Buck Creek river runs alongside most of the trail, providing a comforting susurrus.
Nature is in abundance throughout the entire trail, with some urban popping up here and there. Bird poop is everywhere in the Wedgwood Park section, so check shoes/bike tires.
Pavement is mostly smooth, with the exception of Wedgwood Park, where it can be a little bumpy.
I would recommend this trail to anyone looking.
The first section is very rough with potholes and bumps everywhere, the path itself is very narrow with no scenery to speak of.
The second section is a vast improvement of the first, as the path is wider and free from cracks and holes but with nothing to see except power lines, and road crossings are very common in this part.
I might consider skipping this one.
EWT is a good round trip experience for any locals and visitors looking for a good trail.
It's not very scenic, with power lines, water streams and community gardens making up most of the landscape.
Busy road crossings are somewhat common.
It's not too hilly, and the pavement is in very good shape.
The parts of the trail not on Ravine Rd seem great. Sure, the downtown route is a bit tricky but they have center lines to mark the bike path now along arcadia creek and the festival site, etc. My real complaint is they were not able to find a solution for nearly a couple of miles along Ravine Rd, other than a small segment on the property of Kalamazoo Public School Transportation, where someone on inline skates or a small bike could enjoy a small break from a narrow bike lane. Is that what they hoped they would be able to do all along that side, but only the Kalamazoo owned public transportation would agree to it, and the rest, you have to use a fairly narrow bike lane. The exception is that the last quarter mile or so, on the south side of Ravine before Douglas Ave, there is a really nice bike lane, with extra shoulder on the right of it. Why couldn't that have been extended further up? I have even used that against traffic when coming back before crossing over to the right side of the rd, because it is such a wider area than the bike lane on the north side of Ravine at that point. After all this time, it would have been nice if they found some options to improve that segment. The rest of it, I really like though!
This is such a lovely trail with beautiful views of farms, but also places to stop for snacks if you're into a more leisurely rides. You can make it longer by adding miles on the Greenway. Something for everyone!
Love that this trail is close to home for me. It’s a little bumpy in places but my husband and I really enjoy it.
We rode from Bailey Park west on the Linear trail to the end. While the surface was pretty good, the fact that there are several busy road crossings, no signs or maps, no water or restrooms, made this trail undesirable. What a shame that the city of Battle Creek doesn't spend a few bucks to make this trail top-notch.
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