The Great Lake to Lake Trail Route 1 is a 275-mile trail route connecting South Haven on the west side of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Port Huron Port Huron is a city in and seat of government of St. Clair County, Michigan, United States. The population was 28,983 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the west by Port Huron Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Por ...

on the east side, forming a route between

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

and

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

for cyclists and hikers. The route incorporates several preexisting

rail trails A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corridor with active railways, lig ...

and, although 78 percent complete, some on-road gaps are present.

History

Originally known as the Airline Trail, the route was discussed in a master plan proposed by the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance in 2007. As of 2011, the

Michigan Department of Transportation The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is a constitutional government principal department of the US state of Michigan. The primary purpose of MDOT is to maintain the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System which includes all Interst ...

and

Michigan Department of Natural Resources The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan founded in 1921, charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appoint ...

were collaborating on planning a trail route between South Haven and Port Huron. The Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, a trail advocacy organization comprised of nonprofit groups, governments, and businesses, also collaborated. Together, they designated five routes in different areas of the state, Route 1 being the southernmost. By 2019, wayfinding signage and trailside kiosks had been installed, and in September of 2019 the trail officially opened with an inaugural bike ride. As of 2025, efforts to close gaps in the trail continued, supported by funding from grants and philanthropic contributions.

Historic railroad corridors

The

Kal-Haven Trail The Kal-Haven Trail, formally known as the Kal-Haven Trail Sesquicentennial State Park, is a rail trail in the US that originally ran between South Haven, Michigan, to a point just west of the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan, where there is a trail ...

West Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

is included in the route. It follows the rail bed of the former

Kalamazoo and South Haven Railroad The Kalamazoo and South Haven Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated in southern Michigan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company incorporated on April 2, 1869 with the intention of constructing a line from Kalamazoo, ...

, later known as the Penn Central Railroad, which was abandoned in 1973. Between

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

and Port Huron, the route follows the path of the

Michigan Air Line Railway The Michigan Air Line Railway was a railroad company in the United States. It was incorporated in 1875 and constructed a line between Richmond, Michigan, and Jackson, Michigan, between 1877 and 1884. It was under the control of the Grand Trunk ...

Route

The trail incorporates several independent trail segments that retain their names and are funded and maintained separately. The segments of the trail include: *

* Kalamazoo River Valley Trail *

Battle Creek Battle Creek is a city in northwestern Calhoun County, Michigan, United States, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a tota ...

Linear Park *

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

Riverwalk *

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

River Trail * Falling Waters Trail *

Lakelands Trail State Park Lakelands Trail State Park, officially the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park since January 20, 2017, is a state park in Michigan that runs east–west from southwest of Munith to Hamburg Township, Michigan. It is a multi-use trail convert ...

* Huron Valley Trail *Michigan Air Line Trail * West Bloomfield Trail * Clinton River Trail * Macomb Orchard Trail *

Bridge to Bay Trail

References

External links

Great Lake to Lake TrailsProposed Great Lake to Lake Trail
{{MichiganTrails Rail trails in Michigan