Trail Benefits

The Kalamazoo River Valley Trail can enrich your life and your community through the following areas:

• Health and recreation: The trail provides a safe place for recreation, while making existing parks more accessible and viable. By engaging in an active lifestyle, citizens can improve their health and impact overall healthcare costs in our community.

• Education: The trail will provide natural classrooms where we can promote conservation, natural habitats and local history. Its proximity to several schools, youth centers and neighborhood business districts will enable outreach activities for young people.

• Economic development: Trail usage will support recreation-oriented businesses and local merchants. The Kalamazoo River Valley Trail will link users to shops and restaurants in downtown Kalamazoo, Parchment, Galesburg, and Augusta. This supports our local economy while making Kalamazoo more attractive to employers and employees.

• Transportation: The trail provides a safe means of transportation to work, school or play on a paved surface with scenic bridges and even a pass-through under U.S. 131.Several local schools are along the trail as are businesses, cultural attractions and neighborhoods. A well-developed non-motorized trail encourages citizens to leave their car at home and seek more environmentally-friendly means of transportation. The trail is also close to many Metro Transit stops, making it convenient to take the bus in conjunction with biking or walking the trail.

• Preservation: The trail gives our community a chance to highlight and protect the flood plain and natural habitats along the Kalamazoo River, ensuring access for generations