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Fall foliage in West Michigan: Color tours brought back by popular demand

Posted at 7:01 PM, Oct 25, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-25 20:27:30-04

KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Fall colors are peaking in West Michigan, and if you want to check them out yourself the road commission is making it easier than ever with Fall Color Tour Maps.

Kent County has the second largest county road network in the state, with nearly 2,000 miles of county roads. The road commission is helping Michiganders explore fall from the roadways by releasing their county-wide color tour for the first time in nearly 30 years.

“We went back through the archives and found that back in the ’50s we had some routes that we identified and provided to the people of Kent County through the Grand Rapids Press,” said Steve Warren, Managing Director for the KCRC.

The tour originally started in the ’50s and fizzled out in the ’80s, but it’s being brought back at the request of the state. This year’s tour encompasses 237 miles and is divided into 8 different routes. Each map can be downloaded onto your smart phone and uses Google Maps to guide you through the best fall foliage West Michigan has to offer.

“So instead of just driving around and trying to figure out roads they’re not used to traveling, this provides them a guide,” Warren said.