The Van Buren-controlled portion previously required a trail pass, but as of 2011, the usage fee was dropped.

Currently, the trail passes through the following locations, from east to west: In 1870 the Kalamazoo-South Haven Railroad was built to transport mostly lumber.

[4] One of the main concerns is the responsibility for patrolling and controlling the trail to respect the private property owners rights bordering the small 100 foot wide park.

[7] The hope of the Kal-Haven was labeled 'Dormant Monster' in 1984 with the trail being called an ill-conceived plan that would have included "such evils as rampant theft, vandalism, littering and drug and alcohol abuse.

[11] At the meeting one local resident expressed concerns that they had already experienced an invasion of privacy by people already using the abandoned rail line.

[11] Pine Grove Township passed a resolution against the trail stating "[the] state has made no declaration or commitments to assure safety and tranquility of property owners, and has made no assurances for safety and welfare of users of the park.

[3] To build the trail MDOT had to acquire the abandoned rail bed which was 498 acres of land spread over 200 different parcels of real estate.

[14] To acquire the land from Penn Central would take approval from the Federal Bankruptcy court because in 1970 the company went into bankruptcy and eight years later the court was still dealing with liquidating Penn Central's assets including real estate holdings which included the Kal-Haven Rail bed.

[16] In November 1987, Property Owners United wrote a letter to the editor of The Herald-Palladium laying out 11 areas of concern: invasion of privacy, wasteful use of tax money for the benefit of a few, crime on the trail (thievery, vandalism, illicit sex, drug use, etc.

), cost would be "astronomical", incompatibility of the proposals (how can hikers, bikers, horses, and snowmobiles all use the same path), loss of tax money being paid by Penn Central for property tax, declining property value, and alleged violation of the Public Act No.

[17] On January 13, 1988, a ceremony was held at the Bloomingdale Depot Museum where the State of Michigan handed a check for $428,750 to a representative of Penn Central Corp.[18] The site was chosen as it was the midway point in the trail, and the Friends of the Kal-Haven Trail presented a golden spike symbolizing the completion of the sale to the DNR chief administrative officer.

[19] In 1987, a historic "humpback" wooden bridge in Pine grove township was slated to be taken down and removed from County Road 653.

[21] The group Pine Grove Association was asked if they had any objection to relocating the bridge; not hearing back, the DNR began reconstruction in September.

[21] It was determined after the group asked the DNR to stop work that the Association and not the county owned the bridge.

[3] The Federal Government agreed to pay half the cost of the Kal-Haven trail via grant for $1,012,500 with matching funds provided by the state of Michigan.

[28] The Michigan Land Trust Board received about 1,000 postcards sent from the group Property Owners United.

James Blanchard to employ 27 Michigan Youth Corps workers to clear the 36 1/2 miles of abandoned right-of-way.

[29] A $250,000 grant from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund was awarded for grading and surfacing work on the trail.

[32] In the summer of 2022, it was announced that Michigan Department of Natural Resources had been awarded a $5 million grant to do resurface 17 miles of the trail.

The Build Michigan Together Plan is a $4.8 billion federal funding to invest in roads, water, high-speed internet.