"The plan prioritizes a safer, more predictable outdoor experience for people enjoying the corridor by limiting vehicle through-traffic," Kent County Parks director Ben Swayze said in the county's Oct. 29 announcement about Indian Mounds Drive.
The headline is about cars. The bigger change for anyone who uses the river south of downtown is about who will be responsible for the road. WOOD-TV describes Indian Mounds Drive as a 4-mile corridor running from Grand Rapids through Wyoming to Grandville. An earlier WOOD report places it between Market Avenue and Wilson Avenue, along the Grand River beside the Grand River Burial Mounds. Three cities own pieces of it. Under the plan, one agency would care for all of it.
Three Owners, Many Complaints
The county calls Indian Mounds Drive a shared recreation lane that runs parallel to the Grand River and I-96. It is also part of the Grand River Greenway, a network of parks and trails meant to link communities along the river from Lowell to the Lakeshore. In practice, it has been a road that everyone used and no single agency managed.
The county's December 2025 community engagement summary shows what that produced. Participants called maintenance inadequate and pointed to trash, dumping, invasive plants, erosion and neglected vegetation. Focus groups described wrong-way and speeding traffic, off-roading, and drivers harassing or threatening cyclists. Survey findings described river access points as informal and worn down, and asked for clearer trailheads, designated parking and safe paths to the water.
These complaints have a common cause. Dumping, erosion and overgrown brush build up on a road that no single agency maintains. The plan addresses that directly. According to WOOD, Grand Rapids, Grandville and Wyoming would keep ownership of their portions, but they would hand maintenance to Kent County Parks, which would become the primary operator. The county's announcement lists more consistent maintenance, routine monitoring, cleanliness, vegetation management and a more visible public safety presence among the plan's main elements.
The public backed this kind of change. The planning process involved more than 2,000 community members, stakeholders and leaders over a year. More than 70% of survey respondents supported converting the road to a nonmotorized greenway trail, and 87% wanted to keep its natural, quiet, wilderness-like feel.
Who Still Gets Through the Gates
Under the plan, the road would close to public through-traffic but would not be sealed off. Access would continue for emergency responders, maintenance crews, adjacent property owners, Indigenous people visiting the Grand River Burial Mounds, and other authorized stewards of the site. WOOD reports that Grand Rapids Public Museum stewards, who protect the prehistoric burial mounds, are among the groups that keep controlled access.
The county describes the Burial Mounds as an ancient cemetery and a sacred place for Indigenous ancestors. Local Tribes will continue to steward the site and have access to it, and authorized Tribal representatives will guide any future trail work near the Mounds. The Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians and the Gun Lake Tribe were partners in the planning, along with the cities of Grand Rapids, Grandville and Wyoming, the Kent County Road Commission and the Grand Rapids Public Museum.
Anglers had concerns of their own. Some focus-group participants worried that ending vehicle access could make fishing harder. The long-term design answers that later, with three "river activation" areas planned to include fishing access, kayak access and other amenities.
What Happens When
The order of the work matters, because the visible improvements come after the pilot.
| Timing | What the plan calls for |
|---|---|
| This winter | No change announced. The pilot does not begin until May 2027. |
| May 2027 to 2029 | A two-year pilot that unifies operations, increases public safety efforts and adds vehicle access gates. Also planned: wayfinding, mile markers, and temporary signs explaining the pilot and its rules. |
| Later phases | A new trailhead where Market Avenue becomes Indian Mounds Drive, with 23 parking spaces and access to I-196. More parking, wayfinding and picnic areas at three existing trailheads. Trail reconstruction and three river activation areas. |
| Long-term | Wetland and stream restoration, riverbank stabilization, and native plantings in disturbed areas. |
The county also says implementation still needs agreements on property rights, access, funding and a formal partnership. During the pilot, partners and stakeholders will meet regularly to review progress and prepare for later phases, including fundraising and grant applications.
Catherine Zietse, Grand River Greenway program manager at Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., said in the county release that community input "resulted in a unified plan for more proactive and focused care of this important Greenway connection."
The Loop You Can Use Now
Indian Mounds Drive matters to people on the Grandville side because of what it connects. The county describes it as a key link between trail systems in Grand Rapids, Wyoming and Grandville, with connections to Kent Trails and Millennium Park.
Kent County's Johnson Park page lays out a loop of nearly 7 miles that uses the road today:
- Start in Johnson Park on the paved multi-use trail along Butterworth Drive.
- Cross the Grand River at 28th Street.
- Head north on Indian Mounds Drive to the Kent Trails bridge, a refurbished trestle over the river.
- Return through the Fred Meijer Millennium Park trail network.
From the same network, Kent Trails continues south to 84th Street in Byron Center. Johnson Park itself is in Walker and runs along almost 1.5 miles of Grand River shoreline. Its main, most developed section sits between Butterworth Drive and Wilson Avenue. Up in the wooded hills, a former road is now a 1.6-mile paved scenic trail. Millennium Park, which extends into Grandville, closes the loop on the other side of the river.
Johnson Park also has new facilities. Kent County Parks and WMMBA held a ribbon cutting on Friday, Oct. 23, and a community mountain-biking jamboree on Saturday, Oct. 24. The county's post-event bulletin lists the improvements it celebrated: a new mountain-bike trail system, expanded parking, a family restroom, a replacement playground and covered gathering spaces.
Parking Off Butterworth, Wilson and Maynard This Winter
Johnson Park has finished its May-through-October season, and November brings winter rules. Johnson Park's off-season hours are 7 a.m. to sunset. Here is how the county lists parking for the loop:
- Johnson Park, weekday plowing: the open shelter lot, the sledding hill lot near the C1 picnic area, the Wilson lot and the disc golf lot. The disc golf lot may be hard to reach on weekends.
- Johnson Park boat launch lots: open and plowed but prone to flooding.
- Johnson Park shelter house lot: closed for the winter.
- Restrooms at Johnson Park: a portable restroom at the disc golf course.
- Millennium Park, weekday plowing: the Butterworth/O'Brien trailhead and the off-season lot on the east side of Maynard Avenue.
- Restrooms at Millennium Park: closed from Nov. 1 through April 30.
You can find the full Indian Mounds Drive study and plan at kentcountymi.gov/IMD. The county's two-year pilot, which includes vehicle access gates, is set to begin in May 2027. Until then, the road and the loop work the way they do now.
If you love the river trails and are thinking about a home closer to them, Cheryl Grant Real Estate Team knows the Grandville side of the Grand River well. Request a Free Home Valuation and we'll show you how your home compares with others near the trailheads.
