Overview
Huron Parkway Nature Area is a 19-acre undeveloped nature area located just east of Huron Parkway, south of Huron River Drive, and north of Washtenaw Ave. View the Ann Arbor Parks & Nature Areas Map for location context.
Occasionally, visitors may encounter a city park with no trails– as is the case at Huron Parkway Nature Area. These natural areas represent a unique recreation and conservation feature of the city’s park system. In these relatively few spaces across the city, off-trail exploration is encouraged– a rare opportunity to meander through a wild space in our urban context. Visitors are also invited to reflect on the conservation value and biodiversity of these spaces, where the Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation’s Natural Area Preservation (NAP) staff work to steward, restore and inventory the natural communities throughout the city’s parks.
The area is an oak-hickory woodland with an open understory. It is a pretty place to wander through the woods. A pond and wetland on the western side of the park provide additions to the variety of plants and animals found in the Nature Area. Malletts Creek flows along the eastern border, and scenic overlooks of the channel can be found.
The Huron Parkway Nature Area is home to several uncommon species, such as hazelnut, flowering dogwoods and chinkapin oaks. The spring/summer wildflowers include spring beauty, May apple, wild geranium, trillium,nd Jack-in-the-pulpit. This high-quality area is undergoing restoration efforts by the staff and volunteers of NAP, including prescribed ecological burns and removal of non-native invasive plants.
