Detroit's Milliken State Park is located along the River Front is the first urban park in Michigan, providing a 31-acre green oasis in the midst of downtown Detroit.
The first phase of the park - the harbor - opened to the public in 2004 and offers several covered picnic areas, shoreline fishing and a 52-slip harbor. A 63-foot light tower that is a scaled down replica of the Tawas Point lighthouse marks the harbor entrance.
The second phase of the park opened on December 1, 2009 and includes a wetlands demonstration area that shows how wetlands act as nature's water filtration system. Interpretative signs explain how the wetland naturally cleans the water and then returns it to the Detroit River as clean water - without going to a wastewater treatment plant.
The RiverWalk passes through the park in the area closest to the Detroit River, along fishing platforms and a memorial to Peter Stroh, a noted conservationist who was a tireless advocate for the opening Detroit's waterfront the public.
There is a very nice 3.5 mile bike path that laces through the the wetland and waterfront, linking the park to Atwater Street or back to Rivard Plaza.
After riding north up the River Front, we headed towards the bridge to Belle Isle.
Belle Isle is a 982-acre island park in the Detroit River, between the United States and Canada. It is connected to Detroit by the MacArthur Bridge and is the largest city-owned island park in the United States, however, the park is currently leased to the State of Michigan for use as a State Park.
Not only is the park a great place to spend the day riding your bike, there are also a lot of sights to take in. The island is home to the Belle Isle Aquarium, the Belle Isle Conservatory, the Belle Isle Nature Zoo, the Detroit Yacht Club, the James Scott Memorial Fountain, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, a Coast Guard station, a municipal golf course and numerous monuments as well as a swimming beach.
In good weather, Belle Isle is the perfect place to spend a quiet Saturday away from the city! However today it was a windy autumn day, in the low 40s so we breezed through and spent most of our time on the island inside the buildings and staying warm.
This will be our last group tour of the season, due to the weather, but I'll keep biking all year-round!
Similar tours can be booked through The Wheelhouse Detroit, located on the Detroit River Front.
