The bike trail that shadows M-6 across southern Kent County

M-6 was built to move cars around the south side of Grand Rapids. The trail beside it quietly does the same job for bikes and walkers. The Fred Meijer M-6 Trail runs about ten miles from Kent Trails on the Wyoming side to the Paul Henry-Thornapple Trail in Kentwood, passing Byron and Gaines townships in between.

Most of the route is its own paved path, with open stretches beside the highway and wooded pieces near parks and neighborhoods. The middle section uses sidewalks between Clyde Park and Division avenues, so this is a connector rather than a secluded nature trail. That connection is the point: head west and Kent Trails can carry you toward Millennium Park and Grand Rapids; head east and the Paul Henry trail continues through Kentwood toward Caledonia.

For Wyoming and Kentwood, it turns a freeway corridor into part of a much larger trail network. Creekside Park, East Kentwood schools, and neighborhood paths all plug into the same east-west spine.