![]() A bike route leads into town where you can see the South Pier Lighthouse, dating back to the early 1870s, standing over the mouth of the Black River. Head uphill to the South Haven staging area alongside the Black River. Just 2 miles past Grand Junction, you’ll cross the Camelback Bridge, named for its unique midspan hump that was a structural support common in the 1920s.Īnother bridge, this one covered, about 9 miles past Grand Junction signals that you are nearing the end of the trail. Look for signs for “pick yourself” blueberry farms around Grand Junction and west to South Haven, which hosts the annual National Blueberry Festival in August. Here, the blueberry industry is going strong. An adjacent bridle trail starts about 5 miles past Bloomingdale, at the trail intersection with 52½ Street, and runs for 7.5 miles to 68th Street, a mile beyond the town of Kibbie. You’ll pass the south edge of Gobles, which has services, before you arrive at the restored Bloomingdale Depot that houses a museum filled with railroad and local history at about mile 18. Almost nothing remains of the old Mentha Plantation, which built this area’s reputation for producing the world’s finest peppermint oil in the early 20th century. The majority of the route is crushed slag and limestone and slopes gently down toward the lake note that while the trail can accommodate road bikes, the crushed stone may prove challenging in a few sections.īeginning on the outskirts of Kalamazoo, where the trail meets the western endpoint for the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail, you’ll pass through 7 miles of tree shade before entering the open fields of Mentha. Old depots serve as trailside visitor centers in Bloomingdale and South Haven, and an old red caboose offers trailhead services on the outskirts of Kalamazoo. Opened in 1991, the trail is one of the oldest conversions in Michigan. ![]() The New York Central Railroad took over the line in 1950 and ran trains on it until a 1968 merger to create the Penn Central led to the line becoming disused in 1970. The trail follows the rail bed laid down in 1870 for the Kalamazoo & South Haven Railroad, which was almost immediately purchased by the Michigan Central Railroad. The 34-mile crushed-limestone rail-trail links these towns as it rolls across the bucolic landscape of southwestern Michigan, from the outskirts of the bustling city to the resort town on Lake Michigan. ![]() More than a half-dozen old railroad towns between Kalamazoo and South Haven offer rest and replenishment to travelers using the Kal-Haven Trail. ![]()
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