I have watched this trail around 60 times in the past few months, and have no intention of…read morestopping. It's a small walk, but such a gem to discover. If you enjoy animals, especially birds, you see and hear more than in any other park.

Really well kept up trails! I saw a lot of wildlife. There is not parking near the entrance of the…read morepreserve, but I parked in Oakwood Plaza and walked over, it was under a half mile. There were benches sporadically for resting or birdwatching. If you stick to the main trail (it's a loop), it's just over a mile.

Beautiful day for a walk with nature at Asylum Park. Even had a few deer friends with us.read more

Great park for walking on trails. Some are paved, some are grass, and some are dirt. We saw many…read moredeer in our walk! There are serval lakes along the paths too. We weren't brave enough to try the wild berries but there are plenty if you're up for it.

Even on a cloudy day in November, Chipman Preserve is beautiful…read more This was our first time to visit Chipman Preserve. I recently joined the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy and my goal is to visit all 19 of the public preserves. Chipman Preserve is located in between Comstock and Galesburg on E. Main St. There is a gravel parking lot, which probably holds 10-15 cars. Chipman Preserve is nearly 230 acres that take you through savanna, forest, and grassland habitats. There are six miles of trails. The main loop takes you around the perimeter, but there are lots of smaller twisting trails that take you off the beaten path. The dense forest area is so peaceful. I'm anxious to return in the spring so I can see the beautiful wild flowers. I've always been loved the beauty of nature and Chipman checks all the right boxes. The paths are easy to follow and there is not a lot of elevation. It only took us a little over an hour to traverse most of it. Besides hiking, you can cross-country ski, snowshoe, and it is also used for trail-running. And it is dog friendly. If you want to get away from it all, this is the place to do it.

This out-of-the-way hiking spot is a good go-to if you want to avoid the crowds (although they're…read morepretty adamant about no off-leash puppers, which is one of our top reasons to seek out lesser traveled trails). Really enjoyed a short lunchtime hike here recently and love that they have lots of kiosks where you can learn a bit about the area and its wildlife.

We biked directly from our camp site at Fort Custer State Recreation Area to the Battle Creek…read moreLinear Park (aka trail). The trail largely runs along the Kalamazoo River which provides some nice scenery. The trail passes through the Leila Arboretum. My favorite spot was the Verona Dam, which has a nice deck with picnic tables and a great view of the water. The dam is like a man made waterfall. The trail runs through the campus of the Kellog Community College and through downtown Battle Creek right past the gorgeous old train station. There's a significant monument to the Underground Railroad near downtown. The sights along the trail are all pretty great! The trail itself is unfortunately poorly maintained. It's the roughest trail surface I've ever ridden in several spots. Not being from the area we found the trail poorly marked and we missed a number of turns and had to stop to search for where does the trail go in several areas. Navigation challenges for us included Bedford Rd Bridge, 20th St, and Washington Ave near Washington School. The trail makes several unconventional street crossings in mid-block such as along Capitol Ave near Bailey Park. Capitol is a busy 4 lane road so we chose to cross at the stop light rather than the marked crossing mid-block.

I ride the Battle Creek Linear Park Trail quite regularly. Usually several times a week. There are…read moreseveral different legs of the trail, but my favorite is the stretch along the river from Bailey Park to River Road. The scenery along this stretch is very nice and I usually see a variety of wildlife. My reason for only a 3 star rating is the condition of the trail. Many areas are very bumpy from tree root damage and the amount of glass on the trail is the most I've seen on any linear trail or rail trail. They have a clean up every year where locals volunteer to pick up various trash along the trail and river, but unfortunately, this does not include a thorough sweeping of the glass. If the city would just repair a few of the worst rough areas and run a lawn tractor with a sweeper down the trail just once a month, this trail could be a 5 star trail. It could also use a few more bathroom areas and watering areas along the route. There is a port a potty at Bailey Park and another at the boat launch near Helmer Road. But areas to get a drink or refill a water bottle are scarce. There is a water fountain near Claras downtown, but for some reason the last couple of years, the city has not turned the water back on in the spring, so it's useless. The city is always wanting to add more parks and facilities around the city, but they really need to maintain what they already have now. Kalamazoo River Valey Trail has 90% less glass and less chance of a flat, for cyclists.

We came here purely by accident last Saturday, on a gloriously sunny afternoon. Initially, we were…read moreheaded for a walk at the Lillian Anderson Arboretum but the parking lot was overflowing with cars and irritated people vexed with the tiny size of the lot, so we decided to check out a trailhead we had seen before on KL Avenue but had always passed by. The trails were hard packed dirt and clay and sand and rocks and occasional roots protruding to the surface. There were no wood chips or gravel to smooth out the footing on the trail loops. The landscapes were still pretty quiet in mid April. Things probably start growing and flowering later on in the spring. I suppose someone comes through in the summer to mow the paths but otherwise everything remains rather primitive. The parking lot is dirt and gravel. There were no facilities nor any benches that we could find. There were colored markings (green, blue, white, etc) to guide us through the loops. The area is not altogether flat but the walks down or up hills weren't bad. I have to admit I was completely unaware of the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy (SWMLC) and its mission. The walk led us to check out the website (see above), and we learned about what SWMLC does. This particular preserve is a work in progress. The group hopes "to enlarge the scope and depth of the oak barren habitat by clearing brushy invasives and planting the seeds of prairie species." The website gave us information about the location of other preserves in the area, all of which will get visits from us now. And we will revisit this one to see how it changes over the spring and summer.

Wolf Tree Nature Trails is home to two 3/4's of a mile trails that wind through forest and meadow…read morescenery. It's on the westside of Kalamazoo on beautiful KL Ave. There is a good size parking lot and the trails are well marked - green and blue and once you are one of these trails you'll see orange and white loops trails that connect. The trails are perfect place to hike or run. You can even bring your dog but they most be on a leash. We hiked the green trail which lead to an amazing gully where we heard the most unusual sound. I was baffled as to what was making that sound. It sounded like a bunch of geese or ducks. But to my surprise it was a lot frogs in the pond chirping. I've never heard anything so spectacular. The trail is fairly easy but does have some incline. We'll be back to explore more of this beautiful preserve that is owned & operated by the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy.

Great park. The ranger met us and a parking pass ($5). The…read moresite was perfect for the reunion outing with play structure and a volley ball court. Bathrooms close and super cleaned for a park. Very well stocked. Parking was easy.

You can't make reservations on the Weekends, only one tent per site is absolutely ridiculous for…read more$40 a night, also the overflow lot is for "family" only for some reason, you can even stay with your friends, this place doesn't want your money and just like stingy rules, I guess they just hate peoples staying here, would 10000% recommend any other campsites than this dog crap place.

Fair warning -- many of the paths here run on the muddy side (including some of the raised paths…read moreover the bog that have holes in them that let water through). There is lots of lovely hiking to be done here, though ... And because the area tends to be damp it's a great place to spot cool plants and fungi. Recent, an elevated path was added that connects this park and neighboring Elliason. We're loving all the work the city has done to connect it's natural spaces.

Beautiful park with excellent hiking trails. Wear hiking boots if you're planning on walking bog…read moretrail!

The Kellogg Research Forest is an interesting & m as maintained forestry research facility. Like…read morethe USFS, it's a bit too rah rah forestry industry focused but is genuinely educational about the tree species on display in various stands ... there is a surprising number of species showing what goes into commercializing a selected species or figuring out which species will thrive under which environmental conditions...

Hidden nature trail, you never believe this is only 20 min away from Kalamazoo, hiking, house…read moreridding, pretty in summer, great place to ski in winter, part of Kellogg Biological Station, open to public. It is a part of the National Park's North Country National Scenic Trail form NY to North Dakota under construction, longest continuous hiking trail in US! http://www.nps.gov/noco/index.htm After the rainy day all the forest trees smells REFRESHING! Jan/ 2014 About a beautiful swamp board walk: a secret garden Just before the covered bridge and trail entrance gate form the parking lot, go walk left-north, there are rest room, maple syrup log house, picnic area beside the trout creek, keep walking for about 5min. The end of the road with a driving loop, you will see the bridge to cross the creek. Cross the creek walk bridge and you will find the most beautiful little area of this forest, board walk through the swamp with water plants. Best time is in Spring green time. Stay walk along with the creek side trail ( stay with left trails) and cross the high voltage power line. You will see the maple syrup gathering place, start crumbing along with north side syrup correcting tubes you will go back to the north end of main trail. It is about 15min walk. If you like to stay in loop trail, go straight up to the bit steep trail form the main road crossing ( there are two trails go up hill, go right-south hill trail). about 50min you be back to the east side of the covered bridge to the parking lot. This is a great walk including 20 min climbing - cardio, and 15min relaxing gentle down hill, feels like taking exercise class. Have a little great time in nature! Map is available at the ranger station beside the parking lot!