Parks and Trail Improvements – Past, Present, and Future

The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund is important in Southeast Michigan because the investments our parks need can’t be made alone. We recently welcomed the MNRTF Board and DNR staff on a tour of parks and trails in Detroit and Dearborn – highlighting successful projects, new connections, and future opportunities. Since this year’s tour focused on a distinctly urban environment, it provided a firsthand experience for major funders with the challenges we face around access to parks, and the direct impact that improvements have on quality of life – aligning well with SEMCOG’s priorities for the New Future of Parks and Recreation.

With so many outdoor destinations that highlight the strength of our regional partnerships and the value of enhanced connections, it was difficult to pick just a few tour stops. Fortunately, we worked with a great team of partners and had beautiful fall weather to showcase a bit of what our region has to offer. Follow along with this video, and learn more about each stop below.

• Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park – formerly known as Detroit’s West Riverfront Park, and envisioned as a unique regional destination to open in 2023 with the Delta Dental Play Garden, an expansive lawn for programs and special events, basketball courts in the Sport House and a large Water Garden.
• Joe Louis Greenway – a proposed 27-mile greenway to unify Detroit’s neighborhoods, people, and parks, with connections to existing paths like the Dequindre Cut and the RiverWalk, it will provide a safe loop around the city and access to outdoor activities for all Detroiters.
• Rogell Park – Detroit’s newest addition of significant park land at the site of the former Rogell Golf Course in the city’s Old Redford neighborhood, where there are plans to restore nearly 100 acres as natural, passive recreation space.
• Brennan Pool at Rouge Park – Detroit’s historic and only outdoor pool, where a new partnership with the Huron-Clinton Metroparks provided free swimming lessons to the City’s youth last summer.
• Scout Hollow at Rouge Park – Detroit’s only campground, where the Detroit Outdoors program provides training, gear rental and programming for youth groups, scout troops and school classes to have an overnight camping experience right in their own city.
• Parkland Recreation Area – part Wayne County’s 17-mile Hines Park system connecting residents from Northville to Dearborn, and the location of a planned greenway connection to Rouge Park.
• Rouge Gateway Trailhead – a scenic bike path along the Rouge River, through densely forested woodland and the campus of UM-Dearborn, connecting to Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum.
• Romanowski Park – a future funding proposal and community destination along the Joe Louis Greenway.
• Patton Park – a 93-acre park in Southwest Detroit featuring recent MNRTF-sponsored improvements and a large community center.
• Riverside Park – A 29-acre park on Detroit’s southwest riverfront, at the foot of West Grand Boulevard and west of the Ambassador Bridge – featuring a 20,000 square-foot skate park, athletic facilities, a Detroit River boat launch, and the city’s largest dog park on the site of a former city-owned dog pound.
• Robert C. Valade Park – the newest park on Detroit’s East Riverfront, featuring an expansive, sandy beach with chairs and umbrellas, a children’s musical garden, colorful playscapes, a community barbecue pavilion, two restaurants, and Bob’s Barge – Detroit’s only floating bar.

Thanks to our host committee partners for your commitment to enhancing recreation in Southeast Michigan – including the City of Detroit and Wayne County Parks Departments, Belle Isle Conservancy, Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Detroit Parks Coalition, Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Heart of the Lakes, Henry Ford Health System, Huron-Clinton Metroparks, Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, and Six Rivers Land Conservancy.

To learn more about DNR grant opportunities like the Trust Fund, join us for this upcoming webinar!