Miles of New Trails Coming to Grand Rapids Millennium Park

Twenty miles of new trail will be built at Millennium Park over the next three years. Construction will begin this spring.

The new Fred Meijer Millennium Trail Network will connect with the existing Kent Trails at John Ball Zoo which extend to Byron Center on the east. To the North there will be a connection to the city of Walker's Standale Trail, and to the west it eventually will link to a planned Ottawa County system all the way to Lake Michigan,

The plan includes bike and walking paths, nature trails, a tunnel and stone bridges. 12-foot wide paved paths will be open to bicycles and roller blades. 6-foot wide natural surface paths will cater to hikers and cross-country skiers.

An eastern trailhead, near Butterworth Street SW, will offer a parking lot, restrooms and a shelter. There will be a tunnel beneath Maynard Avenue SW, which divides park in two, and four other stone bridges.

The $8.9 million dollars required for the project has been raised. Fred and Lena Meijer are the major donors. Kent County chipped in $1.1 million to buy a central property which previosuly split the park in two halves.

The 1500-acre park has been reclaimed from former gravel pits, and already includes a swimming area with a sandy beach, a playground, basketball and volleyball courts, wetlands and fishing ponds. Follow the link below to see a map of the planned trails.

from the Grand Rapids Press, "Millennium Park gets trail network", by Ken Kolker, Jan 9, 2008
See Millennium Park
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