The 606 and the Kal-Haven: Fun places to run

The theme here is cool running trails on old railroad lines.

Chicago's 606 trail: New trail

Recently I ran the new 606 trail in Chicago, a former freight railroad that runs through several old neighborhoods on the city's Near Northwest Side. (For non-Chicagoans, 606 is the prefix for our city's zip codes).

The history behind this trail is so interesting. After the Chicago fire in 1871, the City Council approved building the rail line (at grade level at the time) to spur development in the devastated city. Years later, after apparently too many incidents with trains and pedestrians, the line was elevated. 

In the 1990s, railroad service stopped and the Bloomingdale trail, as it was known, stood, with plants and trees growing. I'd heard that parts of it were runnable, though I never went over there. I've never been to the High Line in Brooklyn, but am told that the 606 is similar.

A few days after the June 6 opening (get it, it opened on 6-06), a couple of running buddies and I hit the trail for a 5 a.m. weekday run. Naturally, at that hour we had the trail to ourselves for the first part of our run. (Though we were glad to see a police officer patrolling it).

Opening day, on the western side of the trail. Photo courtesy of the 606.

The 2.7-mile trail is smoothly paved and has a very polished and unspoiled feeling. It's a little bit like the Crate and Barrel of trails. It's slightly rolling in parts, which was a nice little surprise, considering you don't expect of an old railroad bed. It was lined with young trees and shrubbery, though some of  the landscaping hadn't been done yet. 

We began our run near Kedzie and headed west through old, quiet neighborhoods and industrial buildings on the far western end. We then circled back east, eager for a water fountain on the warm morning. There are two, in the center part of the trail, rather close together. As we ran east, the neighborhood gets noticably more affluent, with more new construction and fancy rooftop patios.

The trail is getting some more improvements, including more landscaping and emergency call boxes.

Running something so cool in the middle of the city was a really cool gift. I hope to be able to run there once a week. 

Kal -Haven State Park trail: New to me!

We just spent a week in southwest Michigan, our third year of vacationing there. So fun.

Each time we've gone, we always plot out fun family stuff of course. But I always have to plot my runs, too, naturally. That is a normal part of vacation planning.

Right?

Kal-Haven is a lovely, mostly unpaved trail linking Kalamazoo and South Haven. The map I picked up at the South Haven trailhead stated the trail was 33 miles. Just a smidge more than 50K, hmmm. Looks like there's an ultra race there. Hmmm.

Covered bridge less than a mile onto the Kal-Haven

The trail runs pretty much due east from South Haven through lush forests, farmland and country roads. The morning I ran it, I could count on one hand the number of humans I encountered. The solitude was soothing.

And despite the ridiculous amount of rain the Midwest has received this spring, the trail was in great condition with very little mud.

Like the 606, the Kal-Haven is also built on an old railroad line. It runs through what used to be small towns, as you can see on this map.

I turned around near Kibbie, at the four mile mark. Kibbie is just a few homes and a church with a sign in front that says "Jesus matters above all." Back in the 1800s, it apparently had a pickle factory, a post office and store and was connected to the New York Central Telegraph network. I pictured an old-timey prospector, even though that made no sense.

I wished I'd had more time and energy to keep going. There are other "towns" and historic spots no longer along the route with fun history, like the peppermint farm that used to supply more than half of the world's,  mint oil for candy and medicines. There were at one point stockyards, lumber mills, hotels and dance halls.

The railroad operated for a century until 1970, and the trail opened in 1991. Such a great place. Definitely run, walk or bike it if you can.

I also checked out the 14-mile Van Buren trail running south out of South Haven. It's runnable, though well-suited for mountain bikes. Also pretty deserted, it runs south through a light industrial area, so at one point you'll be running alongside wild flowers and high piles of concrete blocks. It's also a nice run, though Kal-Haven is my favorite.

Note: I found a lot of the background info on these trails from the 606 web site and the Trust for Public Land, one of the entities behind the 606, and the Friends of the Kal-Haven Trail, both 501(c)3 organizations. Each welcomes donations.