Our community features one of the most active mountain bike and multi-use trail development efforts in Michigan, plus more paved roads — many of them scenic and rural — than in many other areas. In addition to the developed trails, many of the local bike clubs and shops host regular road rides; more information about those routes may be found on their web sites.
Bike Friendly Kalamazoo has facilitated an extensive bike route mapping and implementation effort since 2012. Our participants’ contributions are progressing as the Southwest Michigan Bikeway unfolds.
*Note: Click on “Route Name” in list header on links as noted, to sort routes by name.
Important Safety Notice: Riding a bicycle is not risk-free, and riding hazards and conditions change unpredictably; bicyclists must use their own judgment as to the suitability of any trail, path or road. Bicyclists are asked to remember that simple courtesy goes a long way when sharing the road.)
Al Sabo Land Preserve (mountain biking map)
Art on Public Display (link to a list of many public art works and their addresses – make your own “bike art hop” to visit as many as you can in the time you have, whenever you like!)
Bicycle Touring Routes (outside our community – coming soon)
BFK Participant Suggestions (unofficial Commuter, Shopping, Tourist, Recreational, & Fitness Ideas.* Enjoy these rides ideas, which were considered as great for their various purposes when initially developed!)
BFK: Commuter routes to be reviewed (catalog of almost 400 participant generated round-trip routes between major cities, villages and townships in our MPO prior to their finalization; see Commuter Bike Route Network (Proposed): RWGPS Route List below for the much shorter final list of less than 100 routes that made it into the KATS 2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan. This draft catalog of commuter bike routes represented the work product of our participants’ primary route development focus between 2012 and 2016. More than 70 unique node-node connections and their alternatives are included in this catalog.* Please see these BFK Bike Route Notes for important information concerning these routes. The most recent overview of our development procedure can be found here.)
BFK: Routes to be reviewed (more BFK participant suggestions for Commuter, Shopping, Tourist, Recreational, & Fitness Ideas that were pending further review up to the point that KATS confirmed their preference for the more transportation oriented “commuter” routes* as far as their own transportation plans were concerned. Have fun with these routes; they were considered as nice rides for their various purposes at the time they were designed!)
Commuter Bike Route Network (Proposed) “Map 7” (final PDF map image of “Map 7” on page 148 of the KATS 2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan. The route map has been adopted as “proposed.” Jurisdictions/agencies may use it as a guide to further implementation, knowing it has been vetted by KATS’ staff and its Technical and Policy Committees, after being developed by key community stakeholders in a process documented here.) “Map 7” is now being called the Southwest Michigan Bikeway; plans for its implementation are being prepared (see above).
Commuter Bike Route Network (Proposed): RWGPS Route List (Ride With GPS web site of final set of individual routes that make up “Map 7” as vetted and narrowed down from the catalog of hundreds of BFK Commuter Route alternatives. Routes can be downloaded for further analysis. Comments contain name of route designer and other useful information.)
City of Kalamazoo Bicycle System (2012 – Portions Proposed)
City of Kalamazoo (2019? – Portions Proposed)
Kalamazoo Bicycle Club Ride Routes (current routes may vary)
Kalamazoo-Portage-KRVT Connection (from 2012 – Segment 2 to be completed)
Kal-Haven Trail State Park (crushed limestone trail connecting Kalamazoo County to South Haven)
Kalamazoo River Valley Trail (current and planned)
Fort Custer Recreation Area (updated mountain biking map) Fort Custer Recreation Area (older mountain biking map of possible historic interest)
Map 7 – Proposed Commuter Bike Routes (SWMB) – PDF (static PDF version of routes adopted as “Map 7” proposed inter-community routing in the KATS 2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan; Map 7 is now also being called the Southwest Michigan Bikeway by many local planners)
Maple Hill Trail at Markin Glen Park (mountain biking main web page; plus Maple Hill Trail Map) NEW! Also, check out this video by Nick Newhouse of a short descent on the upper Douglas section in the “Tue, Thur, Sat direction” (added May 2019)
MDOT’s Biking In Michigan (links to maps, training, and other resources) May 2019 Check out this video submitted by Rick Newhouse of the Maple hill trail short descent on upper Douglas section in the Tue, Thur, Sat direction.
MDOT Road and Trail Biking Maps MDOT and its partners have created a series of multi-county regional maps showing road surface type, traffic volume ranges, paved/unpaved shared use paths with regional significance, recreational facilities, points of interest, plus other facilities and amenities which help make cycling across Michigan an enjoyable tourism experience.
Portage Bikeway (more than 17 miles of shared-use trails and more than 35 miles of on-road bike lanes)
Pumpkinvine Nature Trail (noteworthy trail in northern Indiana)
Randonneuring Routes (in SW Michigan; most start in Kalamazoo/Portage; many are in draft form; not all are an official RUSA.org route)
Regional Bike Routes (connecting municipalities on the border of our metropolitan planning organization with their nearest cities and villages)
ROR21 Map – Ride Our Routes 2021 (many popular routes in and around Kalamazoo County created to support the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club’s Ride Our Routes 2021 summertime event)
Ride With GPS Heatmap (illustrates trips ridden within the last two years uploaded into the Ride With GPS web site and set for public viewing; updated once a week; color indicates frequency ridden)
Southwest Michigan Bikeway – PDF (static PDF version of routes adopted as “Map 7” proposed inter-community routing in the KATS 2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan; Map 7 is now also being called the Southwest Michigan Bikeway by many local planners)
Southwest Michigan Bikeway – Google Maps (interactive Google Maps version of routes adopted as “Map 7” proposed inter-community routing in the KATS 2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan; many useful features: clicking on a route highlights the route and pulls up the route name; routes can be selected from a route list; more)
Southwest Michigan Bikeway (Proposed): RWGPS Route List (Ride With GPS web site of individual routes that KATS used to make up the Southwest Michgan Bikeway – aka, KATS Map 7). Hundreds of BFK Commuter Route alternatives were reviewed, vetted, and narrowed down to make up this final list. Routes can be downloaded for further analysis. Comments contain name of route designer and other useful information.)
Southwest Michigan: Road and Trail Bicycle Guide (excellent map of region)
Strava Global Heat Map (interactive map showing where bicyclists who download their ride files into the Strava database have actually ridden; one way to answer the question of where bicyclists are actually riding, color coded to show ride frequency)
Vicksburg Nature Trail (1.8 mile multi-use trail; planned to connect with the Portage Bikeway)
Vicksburg Quilt Trail (map showing locations of barns on which are painted interesting and colorful quilt patterns)
Yankee Springs (mountain biking map)
BFK BONUS! If you want to keep track of how many miles you ride, check out this ready to use example mileage calendar in Excel formatted to print on a handy single page. Update the year and you’re all set.