Riverside Park

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Overview

Riverside Park​ is a 15 ​acre park running along the Huron River, stretching from Maiden Lane to Broadway Street just north of downtown. View the Ann​ Arbor Parks and Nature Areas Map for location context. The B2B Trail runs through the park, making it an important connection to Argo Park, Island Park​ and many more parks and areas of the city. The path receives winter snow clearing​. The park features picnic tables and grills, a playground, an open grass field and softball diamond. There is a grove of redbud trees​ in the park that is dedicated to Veterans of World War I. This section of the river is great for fly fishing, with several areas easy to access.​​​​​​

Park Notices

Unless otherwise posted per City Council resolution, when a park is closed, no person shall remain in or enter it other than to quietly sit or walk.​

Refer to Chapter 39 of the City of Ann Arbor Code of Ordinances for park regulations and rules.

PFAS "Do Not Eat Fish" Advisory

The MDHHS has issued a “Do Not Eat Fish” advisory for the Huron River and advises people and their pets to avoid foam on the Huron River. Learn more about PFAS information from the City of Ann Arbor here​.

Park Hours

6 a.m. – Midnight

Amenities

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Bike Racks

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Playground

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Paved Path

 

Grills

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Picnic Tables

 

Landfill Bins

 

Parking​​​

 

Baseball & Softball Field


 
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Access and Parking

The park has a parking lot with a dozen parking spaces off of Canal Street, but this lot is only reserved for park parking after 5 p.m. and on weekends, and it is reserved for University of Michigan permit parking from 6 a.m. - 5p.m. Monday through Friday.

The park is accessible by foot and bicycle using the B2B Trail and other nearby streets. Wall Street has bike lanes and sidewalks. Maiden Lane has sidewalks but no bike lanes.​​ There are some bike racks in the park at the playground.

Public Transportation

There is a bus stop on Broadway Street, which is a short walk from the western entrance to the park. There is also a bus stop on the eastern side of the park off of Wall Street. Visit TheRide for schedule and route details or check out the park​s ride guide. ​


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History​​​

Ann Arbor's city parks sit on the ancestral and traditional homelands​ of several indigenous Native peoples. Read a land acknowledgement​​ from the city and learn more a​bout the early history of the land here.​​

The land ​​that comprises Riverside Park mostly overlaps with the original land purchase of Allen Rumsey and Elisha Walker Rumsey. This land​ was the first plot of land of the village that became the City of Ann Arbor. The original deed from 1825 was only recovered in 1974. Read more about it and Riverside's early history in this article​ from the Ann Arbor News.​

Riverside Park's land was acquired by the city over a nine year period from 1925-1934. The land was being used as an unofficial dump, and cleaning it up was a major reason for acquiring the land. This​ was a difficult task, as it was split between many different owners. Eli Gallup, ​the parks director and namesake of Gallup Park, led and presided over this lengthy land acquisition process. Gallup was the parks superintendent from 1919-1957 and acquired nearly 1,000 acres​ of land along the Huron River for the parks system. In total sixteen different parcels had to be acquired. Gallup enlisted workers during the Depression using the federal Works Progress Administration program to help clean up the area. ​The playground was built in 1934. The park was named "Riverside Park." Riverside Park used to be the name of the park across the river, which is now Broadway Park, ​but was not often used to refer to it​. Read more about the history of Broadway and Riverside Parks and Gallup's acquisitions in this Ann Arbor Observer article​.


Junkyard land that became Riverside Park (Source: AADL​)



Riverside Park as seen from the air in 1967.​


In the 1980s and 1990s, the city struggled with maintaining the wa​ter levels just past the Argo Dam. This​​ caused increased erosion at Riverside Park and other areas along the Huron River. Several shoreline restoration projects have happened in the park along the river banks as a result. In one instance, two people in a canoe nearly died ​when their canoe was sucked through the dam in a sudden surge of water. An article from the Ann Arbor News in 1987 details efforts to manage the water levels. Today, canoers, kayakers and rafters float past Riverside Park after embarking from Argo Park on their way down river to the Gallup Park Canoe Livery.



Volunteer

Volunteer in the parks

Looking to make an impact in a park or nature area? Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation provides volunteer opportunities for almost every interest, ability, and commitment level.

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Park Finder

Park Finder

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A2 Fix It

A2Fix It - Service request tool

A2 Fix It is an online system you can use to report any maintenance issues or other problems during your park visit. When reporting an issue in a park please include detailed location information in the "details and description" section near the end of the request process. Pictures that provide location context are very helpful.

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