4 of the Largest City Parks in Michigan

City parks offer urban green space and access to recreational facilities for residents of large cities. Thanks to city parks, states like Michigan can improve people’s mental health and wellness in large cities like Detroit and Grand Rapids. Discover some of Michigan’s largest city parks and what exciting sights and facilities they offer residents and visitors.

1. Millennium Park – 1,400 acres

The largest city park in Michigan is also one of the largest in the nation. With around 1,400 acres of land, Millennium Park is a diverse urban park. The park borders the Grand River on the southwest side of Grand Rapids, MI. Most of the park is in Walker, part of the Grand Rapids Metropolitan area. The park connects three other major cities – Grand Rapids, Wyoming, and Grandville. It stretches between Johnson Park in Grandville and John Ball Park in Grand Rapids.

Millennium Park is a relatively new park compared to other large city parks in Michigan. Planning began in 1998 to honor the new millennium, and the grand opening occurred in July 2004. This park sits on the location of former gypsum mines and gravel pits, which means park developers reclaimed much of the land for recreational use.

The park intersperses fun recreational facilities in between beautiful, natural habitats. A six-acre beach with a big splash pad brings the fun of a beach day to the Grand Rapids area from Memorial Day until the end of August. In addition to the beach, visitors can access basketball courts, volleyball courts, fishing, and playgrounds. A variety of natural trails 18 miles long lets hikers experience the beauty of Michigan wildlife, including forests, fields, and wetlands. The park’s trails connect to other local trails, including Kent County trails and the city of Grand Rapids trails.

The park also features cross-country skiing and more for winter recreation. Winter trails are maintained to allow snowshoe hikers, bikers, and snow runners an excellent place for outdoor winter exercise.

2. Rouge Park – 1,184 acres

Before the construction of Millennium Park, Rouge Park held the honor of Michigan’s largest city park at 1,184 acres. Established in 1925, Rouge Park, located in the midwestern city of Detroit, is larger than the iconic Central Park in New York City. Today, Rouge Park has many active projects for continued development, including a prairie restoration project alongside MetroParks to remove invasive plants and archery range improvements funded by Wayne County.

Rouge Park is about 15 miles from downtown Detroit, a 20-minute or one-hour train ride. Several Detroit neighborhoods border Rouge Park, including Warrendale to the southeast, Franklin Park and Weatherby to the east, and West Outer Drive to the west.

Rouge Park’s name comes from the river flowing straight through the grounds’ center. There are also miles of hiking and biking trails through over 400 acres of forest. Route Park features 60 acres of native prairie and a 5-acre marsh.

Four recreation areas make the park accessible from nearly every neighborhood it borders, including Joe Prance Recreation Area, along W. Chicago and W. Parkway. One of the largest recreation areas, Brenna Recreation Area, sits in the north part of the park with a splash pad and numerous courts for tennis, basketball, and soccer. The Rouge Park Golf Course in the north part of the park is an entire 18-hole course. The Scout Hollow Campground at the center of the park provides a unique spot in Detroit for camping, picnicking, fishing, and more.

3. Belle Isle Park – 982 acres

The unique Belle Isle Park features multiple attractions across a 982-acre island. It sits directly in the middle of the Detroit River, about 15 minutes from downtown Detroit. Along with being one of the largest city parks in Michigan, Belle Isle is the largest city-owned island park in the United States.

The park began development in the 1880s, with the renowned Frederick Law Olmstead as the designer. Olmstead designed New York’s Central Park. The park has been home to a botanical garden, golf course, boat club, aquarium, and more throughout its long history. Belle Isle Park was administered as a city park until 2013, when the Michigan Department of Natural Resources took over management for 30 years. Although it is now considered a state park, it is included on the list of city parks to acknowledge its extensive history as Detroit’s preeminent urban park.

This two-and-a-half-mile-long island offers visitors extensive recreational facilities. The Belle Isle Aquarium, at one point, was the oldest continually operating public aquarium in North America, from 1904 to 2005. It reopened in 2012 with numerous improvements. The park is also home to the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, a greenhouse and botanical garden built in 1904. Visitors to the conservatory can tour a rose garden, lily pond garden, and formal perennial gardens.

Belle Isle Park is also the home of the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, which shares historical maritime exhibits. An emphasis is placed on Detroit’s role in national and regional maritime history. The museum houses an enormous collection of model ships and the bow anchor of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which tragically sank in 1975.

4. Palmer Park – 296 acres

Although considerably smaller than the other parks on the list, Palmer Park offers 296 acres of land in the middle of Detroit. The park is about 15 minutes away from downtown Detroit by car and 45 minutes away on public transit. It borders the Palmer Park Apartment Building Historic District on one side, which is a registered historic place. Part of Detroit’s Regional Parks system, Palmer Park is one of the largest in the city after Rouge Park and Belle Isle Park.

Former U.S. Senator Thomas Witherell Palmer donated the initial land that became Palmer Park in 1893 to preserve its virgin forest. He continued to donate his land to the city, which accounts for the current size of the park. He and his wife were prominent philanthropists in the Detroit area during the 19th century.

Several unique landmarks dot the almost 300-acre park, including handball courts constructed in 1950, a log cabin designed as a summer house retreat for the Palmer family, an artificial lake, and an old fountain. This fountain, named for the entrepreneur Charles Merrill, was designed in 1904 in the Italian Renaissance style. Years of neglect have wrought damage to many of these parts of the park, but community organizations in the last 10 years have focused on revitalizing the park.

Although it has fallen into disrepair, Palmer Park remains a popular space for Detroit residents. Numerous improvements to facilities include full-sized and junior tennis courts, walkways, a playground, and park lighting. A major habitat restoration project is underway to restore Lake Frances and Witherell Woods. Plans include dredging the lake, naturalizing the shoreline, and improving the management of the natural ecosystems in the park.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock.com