Now ranked the best fireworks in the nation, the Detroit International Freedom Festival fireworks are launched from three barges in the Detroit River near Hart Plaza.  They are the only fireworks commemorating the independence of two nations.

Tours  As you travel east, the Walk eventually passes the docking area of the √Rec Detroit Princess riverboat, a 1500 passenger dinner cruise excursion ferry.  (This location is also the probable landing site for Cadillac who founded Detroit in 1701.) 

Downtown Detroit viewed from Windsor, Canada Shore

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JOE LOUIS ARENA 

Joe Louis Arena closed in August of 2017 and is expected to be demolished.  (Its replacement, Little Caesars Arena, just opened in South Midtown on Woodward, a mile north.)  If reports are correct, the new owner of Joe Louis Arena is expected to build a high rise apartment building in its place, but no immediate plans are confirmed.  Until then, People Mover Station 10 will remain attached to that complex, where the Joe will be the most visible landmark at the start of this tour.

As the Walk rambles east, it broadens to include a landscaped lawn with more groves of river birch trees and shoreline benches, turning 40 feet to the river at Rivard Plaza.

CAROUSEL FISH

BEAVER INVADE DETROIT

The beaver got it all started in Detroit.  It was behind the lucrative trade that brought the French, British and several First Nation tribes to the area.  But the beaver was trapped out of existence in Detroit and environs, and it seemed  -- for good.

However, several beaver have returned with a vengeance to the nearby Canadian Provincial Park of Peche Island, Detroit's Conner Creek power station canal and even to the Rouge River in Detroit's industrial west.

White tail deer have been seen on Detroit's Belle Isle a short distance from Downtown and it's hardly unexpected that Peche Island beavers will find their way there as well.  

Fewer People, More Land...

Motown has lost so many people, the city has largely reverted to prairie attracting a lot of wildlife. This is no idle statistic. Detroit has a total of 143 square miles including its surrounding water.  

Add the two internal cities with which it shares services (Hamtramck and Highland Park) and the area becomes 148 square miles -- almost half the size of New York.  

All of Paris could fit comfortably within the city's abandoned expanses with room to spare.

​(Note:  NYC land area is 305 sq mi and with littoral totals 469 sq mi. NYC littoral includes ocean and river areas.  

Paris is 41 sq mi. total. Detroit's abandoned total area may now be as great as 60 sq mi but that area is not located in one place. A consolidated Land Bank department has been created to manage this area.)

Ford Auditorium, recently demolished, may be replaced with a new 5,000 seat, pavilion amphitheatre, adjoining this location or built at the Uniroyal site.  Hart Plaza is a popular festival staging area.  There remain seven major festivals at the plaza since some were moved to Grand Circus Park.   For a description of current festivals refer to Theatre Page 3 or Events Calendar Page 17.

ONLY BIG BOYS CAN SIT IN THE "REALLY BIG CHAIR"

The People Mover conveniently stops here at Station 10, one level above the main entrance of Joe Louis Arena.

The Walk then merges with the giant Renaissance Center and GM Promenade a wide stretch of brick pavers and granite terraces elevating walkers to Atwater Street at the Ren Cen Wintergarden.

Restaurant Options  Visit Andiamo's restaurant on the 1st floor and Joe Muer's Seafood restaurant on the 2nd floor. They face the river.  The 42 Degrees North restaurant and buffet provides a good meal and a grand river view just as dramatic from the east side of the Wintergarden, 2nd floor level.

Boats await another day of exploration on the river and Lake St. Clair.

A small diorama of welded ship steel, the size of a bathtub tells the story.  Note the Globe Trading Building, foreground. (This relic was found buried beneath dirt and debris.)

Glistening waters reflect a brilliant, cloud-filled sky over the north shore and river.

Tourist Options Hart Plaza is a large promenade where many of the city's festivals started.  Refer to the Events Calendar Page.  Noteworthy Downtown buildings border the plaza.  The neo-Gothic-contemporary One Detroit Center (photo, left) is the tallest building north of Jefferson at 45 stories.  The 28-story One Woodward Avenue on Jefferson is Minoru Yamasaki's only skyscraper still standing. √√Rec Mariner's Church and the fabulous 36-story art deco-Mayan revival √√Rec Guardian Building (Detroit's second-most visited landmark) are nearby.  Mariner's Church is historically significant to the seafaring traditions of the city, while the Guardian Building's interior decoration is an architectural wonder wrapped in Native American symbols that should not be missed. 

Visitors will find Mariner's Church at the east end of the plaza.  It was  moved there decades ago stone-by-stone and pays spiritual homage to the many Great Lakes freighter crews who lost their lives on dangerous waters.  You're welcome at services.

Detroit's most famous avenue  -- Woodward -- intersects Jefferson Avenue on one side, guiding traffic to several downtown attractions, restaurants and bars offering a taste of Motown.​

Food/Restaurant Options The orange brick Guardian Building is on Larned and Woodward a block north and contains a café where patrons sip coffee while gazing up at a cathedral, barrel-vaulted ceiling of brightly dyed horsehair.  Campus Martius is a half mile north and a bit off the beaten path.  It offers the Parc restaurant with a view of the park fountain, historic Civil War statuary and a "sand beach.”   Try the √√Rec London Chop House on West Congress, if you can spare the time and money for incomparable atmosphere and dining under elegant chandeliers.   Nosh at the new Townhouse restaurant on Woodward or the re-opened Caucus Club.  A People Mover station is available at the north side of the Ren Cen, shown above, right, and provides a 15 minute tour of Downtown. 

​

All locations are a relatively short distance from the RiverWalk.  Refer to Downtown and West RiverWalk Map on this Page or Page 9 for details.

ADIRONDACK CHAIRS AND PICNIC

TABLES

The counters offer beverages, Coney dogs and ice cream, at the south end of the plaza.  A new kids' playscape was built on the opposite side.

The Plaza merges with the new MIlliken State Park and Harbor, now one of two urban State Parks in Detroit.

A symbol of Detroit's defiance and resilience.

  Joe Louis defeated Max Schmeling, symbol of Nazi superiority, on the eve of WWII.  The fist is a popular backdrop for wedding photos.  (North of Hart Plaza/RiverWalk, Jefferson.)

Downtown Detroit Skyline and Detroit RiverWalk Area 

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Strange Phenomena  The Detroit River is a color kaleidoscope varying from jade, turquoise, azure, teal, aquarmarine, blue, silver or gray.  The skies  overhead can dictate a radical change in hues in just 20 minutes.  But an unusual dense fog occasionally descends over the river in the spring and fall that is both mysterious and spectacular.  Once settled it becomes a great terrestrial cloud enveloping everything in its path.  Still more interesting to all but the casual observer is the appearance of the river from a high-rise building on a bright moonlit night when the water is a black molasses coursing in slow sparkling channels, like a lurking sea serpent.

COACH INSIGNIA RESTAURANT

This was the Western Hemisphere's largest and second highest hotel-top restaurant.  Breathtaking beauty can be viewed from its 360 degree deck, 700 feet above ground.  It offers an international survey of two of the world's great cities and the stunning teal strait, stretching for miles between them.

(A new restaurant in Downtown on Woodward, it's just two blocks from the RiverWalk at the Detroit One building.)

If you listen closely you may hear a Red Winged Black Bird's tremolo or the bull frog's "HARR-UMMM."  

​Milliken State Park and Harbor contains a fifth-mile long Nature Walk with manmade ponds, streams and wetlands designed to restore the shoreline not seen for a couple hundred years.

The ponds are fed from run-off or the river by an underground sluice with a cyclone filter that activates as the pond levels drop, replenishing the water supply cleanly and naturally.

Three paved areas meander through meadows planted with native plants to attract wildlife. Ducks, geese, pheasants and muskrats colonize the area in summer, and once a coyote was seen loping through the nearby fields (until it was trucked away to give birth in the wild).  In April the terns appear by the shore, and hungry cormorants and gulls dive for fish in the river just beyond.

A lone mariner returns to the lighthouse for the evening

A true "Cathedral of Finance," this building features Aztec, Mayan and Woodland Indian design themes that are spectacular.  Designed by Wirt Rowland in the art deco style, it also was the "Arsenal of Democracy" headquarters in WWII.  (Near RiverWalk at Woodward or Griswold and Larned.)

DETROIT RIVER IN WINTER

The river all but shuts down in winter, quite often freezing from shore to shore.  No freighters travel the river or the Great Lakes at this time.  Thick ice and sometimes icebergs several feet in height flow haphazardly down the river creaking and crunching as they go. Surprisingly, some tour boats head into the river the moment the water clears.  But most wait for spring.

Some landscaped portions bloom lily orange in summer.

The new asphalt bike trail winds around the Harbor Hill with a gentle grade.  You can traverse this route or follow the concrete walkway a short distance north to the Atwater Street sidewalk.  You will reach the same point from either side.

The plaza is dominated by the Noguchi Fountain (known as the "Space Doughnut" or Dodge Fountain).

CAROUSEL SWAN 

Thornton Blackburn initially escaped a plantation in Louisville, Kentucky travelling all the way to the temporary safety of Detroit's small black community.  Southern bounty hunters found him in Detroit and demanded his return when a riot broke out at the jail where he was held. He escaped to Canada.

However, at one point Blackburn made a daring return to the plantation to free members of his family.  

Years later he opened one of Canada's first horse taxis and died a wealthy man.

A glass relief map provides a window on Great Lakes geography.  (Note the outline of Michigan, the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway.)

the Landing of Cadillac statue (or the "Hippie," as it appears to some), and a few small outdoor stages that ring the area. (This statue is not an accurate depiction of Cadillac whose likeness more closely resembled fictional character, Cyrano De Bergerac.) 

Local History  Cadillac landed within yards of this location with his coureur des bois in 1701 before building Fort Pontchartrain (after Comte Pontchartrain) a short distance north at Fort and Shelby.  In time it would be known as Fort Detroit.

The Port Detroit complex handles Passenger embarkation for cruise ships and riverboats.

The facility was at the forefront to make Detroit the Great Lakes Cruise Ship Capital according to the Federal Department of Transportation.   Ships dock at the newer wharf attached to this part of the Walk.

Two cruise ships made several visits in 2012.  More followed, beginning with the Hamburg in 2014, a 400-cabin cruise ship that visited Windsor. The St. Laurent visited Detroit in 2015 and re-visited under the name, Victory 1 in 2017.  While plans for cruise ship visits were scaled back due to water depth and administration issues, Detroit's growing entertainment district has drawn more tourists interested in cruising the Great Lakes. 

(Artists may offer to sketch your portrait here.)

A newly renovated west side Walk in Corktown nearly reaches the Ambassador Bridge from West Riverfront Park. Major festivals have been held at the West Riverfront Park's hugely expansive grounds by the river. Later extensions may extend well past the new Gordie Howe international bridge to the Rouge River west, and east to Grosse Pointe Park, over 14 miles. 

In addition, greenways formed from the defunct railroad network are being re-laid with bike paths and running trails.  The Dequindre Cut Greenway is one such example that opened and connects Eastern Market and the RiverWalk with an expanded 1.75 mile path. The 9-mile Connor Creek Greenway at Maheras Park will one day connect to the Walk further east.  Riverside Park will expand west of the Ambassador Bridge, joining another seven blocks of park land to bike trails, and the Inner Circle Greenway Detroit circuit will add 26 miles to the trail network.  The complete circuit will traverse 100 miles of urban landscape.                                                                                                                                                                         

The nice thing about the Riverfront Conservancy is that most of these projects won’t cost the city of Detroit a
penny to construct, and should proceed uninterrupted.  (The following tour does not include the new section west of Joe Louis Arena and the Riverfront Apartments in Corktown.)

Primary access to the area is by People Mover Station 10, Joe Louis Arena.  
-OR- you can access the Walk from numerous entry points along this 4 mile route.  Popular locations (west to east) are: 

• Joe Louis Arena shown below.(Note:The arena will be demolished after the new Little Caesar's Arena opens.) 

• Hart Plaza (Port Detroit immediately east of plaza)

• Renaissance Center 

• Rivard Plaza

• Joseph Campau Street

• Mt. Elliott Park

• Gabriel Richard Park

All of them are listed in this tour.​                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

ATTRACTIONS RiverWalk, West to East: 

(The DequindreCut  appears later in this tour.)

Start your Walk at the corner of Joe Louis Arena, the recent home of the Red Wings hockey team. 

Take your choice.  Arrive here on your own near Atwater and Jefferson or use the People Mover.  A rickshaw can be arranged for pickup and a Segway company operates here (summers).  Refer to the Tour Page 18.  A good, old fashioned shanks' mare is recommended.

This is the first theme to link the international waterfront of Detroit.  The project may someday connect other cities along the river.  When the first phase is complete, it will join Belle Isle's MacArthur Bridge with the Ambassador Bridge, about 5.5 miles apart.  Until then, work continues on a short section once occupied by the Uniroyal Tire Plant while the site is cleaned up.    

Primary access  This particular spur runs  at a right angle from the Walk northward (starting next to the Globe Trading building/Outdoor Adventure Center).  If you're  feeling like an extra stroll, you'll be rewarded with some interesting artwork along the way, including more DIA weatherized art pieces and Urban Glyphs.

If you're here on Saturday, Eastern Market offers a great destination at the other end of the Cut -- as long as your arrive by 3:00 p.m. to catch the best deals.  Bring along a sack or two and pack some of the market's fine bread, cheese, produce or cider for your return trip.

and a landscaped lighting area with piped-in classical music.   (Atwater Street passes between it and the Wintergarden atrium.)

Stanley

The ramshackle Globe Trading Company building at this intersection was shuttered for renovation.  Big gaping holes revealed an interior that looked like the rust heap where Peter Weller got cornered in the Detroit based movie, Robocop. (Incidentally, a $60,000 Robocop statue may soon be erected three miles west at the abandoned Train Station.  Detroit has its priorities.)

But a more ambitious building project started.  The old brick warehouse and grounds transformed into classrooms, a forest interpretive area, climbing walls, simulated kayak runs and an archery center in 2014.   (An apartment retail complex with potential for 500 units is being built on an adjoining site.)

Another 30-foot map of metropolitan Detroit and Windsor is engraved in granite paving.

The Cut trades rail tracks for a strip of asphalt, bike lanes and strollers.   (This intersection joins with E. Lafayette Street.)

Kiosk interpretive areas profile old sailing ships, freighters and river fish.  Other kiosks provide wetland information. The low-built railing is designed to eliminate a casting barrier for fisherman.

This views the river and RiverWalk from the east end of Milliken State Park's nature area toward Windsor and downtown Detroit.  The great distances on the RiverWalk provide challenging exercise for joggers, power walkers, bikers and inline skaters.

For a good view, climb the nearby hill.  The scene from this perch looks upon the dry dock canal, park facilities and harbor to Chene Park beyond, delivering a river panorama with conviction.

INTERNATIONAL WATERWAY

Before exploring further, look upon the water. The Detroit River is a broad avenue about a half-mile to two miles wide and 32 miles long. It forms a boundary between two great nations.

As part of the world's longest peaceful border, it's also a vital artery joining one of the world's greatest reservoirs of fresh water sailed by hundreds of freighters. Its beauty and utility play at center stage for international tourism and world trade.  

Literally, French for "Strait," the "Detroit" River is the nation's main gateway between the upper and lower reaches of a giant inland sea -- the GREAT LAKES.  

Fishermen like to fish along the sea railing.  You may see one land a nice Smallmouth Bass.

The "Pinky Ring" and "Swizzle Stick" are my inventions.  I recall only hearing the Cadillac statue referred to once as the "Hippie."  But I am certain of the "Space Doughnut" colloquialism being used often in the 1980's.  I think they're all worthy names.  

The Author

North of Hart Plaza/RiverWalk, west of Woodward on Congress.

​The Boat Marina is surrounded by a landscaped peninsula, with weeping willows, guarded by a white lighthouse with a circular fishing rail at the marina entrance.

The adjacent area parking lots host the annual River Days, International Freedom Festival Midway carnival and

entertainment venues.

The 2-story building and wharf have been added to the RiverWalk.  Several vessels dock here in the summer.

FISH GALORE

Besides Sliver Bass and the Small Mouth, record Pike, Musky, Tiger Musky and Sturgeon have been pulled from the river as far as Lake St. Clair.  Green Bass, Crappie, Catfish, Perch and Walleye are also frequently caught.  Sturgeon are not a legal catch, however, and are only now returning after restoration of spawning grounds and reefs.  Some Sturgeon are over six feet long and over 80 years old.  Lake Whitefish have also returned with other native species since river quality improved.  Musky can sometimes be seen from high-rise buildings spawning in vegetation.  They can reach more than five feet in length and are easy to spot from a high vantage point.

Charter services offer great fishing in Lake Saint Clair a couple miles east of Downtown.  Local bass boats range as far south as Lake Erie from spring to fall.

Local History This cannon barrel was pulled from the bottom of the river in front of Cobo Convention Center in 2011. It was brought to the area by the British to put down the Pontiac rebellion not long after French capitulation. Another cannon found a bit west was recently displayed at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum at nearby Belle Isle Park. The British were in a hurry to scuttle their cannon when Americans claimed the city in 1796.

Detroit was alternately occupied by the French, the British, the Americans, and then the British again before reverting to American administration in 1815.  For a time in 1763 it was nearly overrun by Chief Pontiac's 900 warriors who occupied the surrounding territory and brought the city to siege exacting cruel revenge on captives.  (Refer to Detroit Weird and Wonderful, Mystery History section for details on great Native American leaders of the region.)

Construction on the new Port Detroit, Great Lakes Cruise Ship Terminal and Wharf was completed in 2011.

A wavelike concrete berm on one side and a sea railing on the other continue to Hart Plaza for a quarter mile.  Follow them east.   

Local History  The Detroit River was immensely important to the local fishing industry in the 19th century.  1870 was a record year for Lake Whitefish harvests.  But the industry all but died by 1920 after blasting of the river channels for large freighters.  The same shores saw radical changes when fishing wharves became freighter docks seemingly overnight.  Freighters replaced schooners as autos replaced carriages.  Just a few inlets at the various marinas along the RiverWalk leave hints of their former role.  But rebounding fish stocks have seen the sports fishermen return as well as local anglers who bring home the Silver Bass and Small Mouth in greater numbers. You'll see them casting lines from bridge to bridge.

...and  pass an 18 foot tall, spiral ziggurat, an area where many fishermen haul in the Walleye and White Bass.  A narrow landscape of River Birch trees outlines the paved concrete walkway, 15 feet wide.

NEW SCULPTURE

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Restaurant/Bar Options A short detour north will take you to one of two venues between Rivard and Riopelle:  Waterfall's Ultralounge and Grille (673 Franklin) or Steve's Soul Food Restaurant (1440 Franklin) for authentic Detroit food.

Note:  The Cobo Convention Center has made great progress with its $300 million renovations.  These changes bring the river to the convention-goers through massive glass galleries.

The above building marks the southern boundary of Eastern Market nearest to the Dequindre Cut Gratiot exit.  The Cut was expanded about a half mile in 2016.

Eastern market is open on Saturday and is considered the largest farmers' market in the nation.  It has four large sheds, more than 250 vendor stands, and numerous other attractions within 12 blocks.  The market has just announced a massive $300 million, 10-year expansion that will add 150 acres of new facilities to the original 315 acre complex.

Return to the RiverWalk and head East...

See Chene Park in "10b, Ren Cen, RiverWalk-Cut" (by clicking on that selection at top of this Page)

Located at the east end of Hart Plaza, this church is part of the tune, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," by Gordon Lightfoot memorializing the tragic loss of the ship by that name in Lake Superior in 1975.

The Lighthouse is a a smaller version of the Tawas City Lighthouse on Lake Huron.  At 63 feet it's exactly 9/10 of the original.  As you tramp your way to the river, a nautical theme of mast-mounted flags and ship's anchor is featured at the riverside grounds, once known as St. Aubin Park and Marina.

The eventual network of trails in Detroit will extend 100 miles.  The local network will connect with the new Michigan, Iron-Belle Trail, from Detroit's Belle Isle Park to the west Upper Peninsula city of Ironwood, a combined 1,259 miles of interconnected pathways.  It will include 774 miles of bicycle trails.

Returning to RiverWalk 

​Upon your return to Atwater Street, you can continue past the Cut, east of Milliken State Park, and toward Chene Park Theatre.  (Or refer to Eastern Market, Page 12 for details.   Note:  The Dequindre Cut has an exit ramp at Gratiot but most of Eastern Market's outer buildings are not clearly indicated from a distance.  Refer to produce mural photo, left. The Cut now extends through the market to Mack, an additional half mile with more access to the market.  Details pending.)

The new Q-Line rail runs from Larned, a block north of the plaza to the New Center, three miles up Woodward.

Tours and Information Wheel House Detroit is located at the north side of the plaza building.  It offers bike rentals, repair services, tours, RiverWalk maps and information.

AMBASSADOR BRIDGE CONNECTIONS

This bridge also connects a thriving transportation center in Windsor with an area of Mexicantown in Detroit where Mexican Village and the Vernor Strip are popular tourist areas offering great restaurants. Like Windsor, the area supports many truck depots and freight handling facilities. 

The Ambassador Bridge is hung by suspension cables decorated with lighting that casts a warm glow over the river.   

DETROIT PRINCESS

(877-338-2628)

Hart Plaza will be renovated into a GREEN park area.  Granite pavers will be replaced with grass.

He could be an ambassador offering a message.  Is it a warning or a promise?  Or is he some guy from a crime scene fleshed out in brushed steel, shot with holes by rival rum runners?  After all, this was Purple Gang turf.  The world of artist, John Sauve landed on this place at the river where stands a large monument called "Seinsfrage" (...the question is...).  It's transforming this intersection of the urban and the natural into a third realm.

This Page is UNDER CONSTRUCTION Using Another Page as a Template.  Please see other completed pages while work continues.

Food, Beverage and Recreation Options  Rivard Plaza provides recreation and refreshment.  This is a popular, pavilion seating area providing restrooms and visitor information.  Stop at the Wheel House Detroit bike rental, Cafe Classics, Sweets & Treats and Expresso Express counters.  Or just take a load off.  Rent a bike and finish the tour on wheels, if you like.

MUSKRAT DEN

Muskrats have colonized several ponds in the Milliken State Park area.  An effort was made to keep them out, but now they're in nearly every pond.  (Their presence, though makes the park more authentic, much like the original intent.)

Two landscaped berms are expertly planted in the summer and fall with eye catching flowers by pools that gush over ledges on long spillways (Boll Family Fountains).  A colorful carousel of fantasy fish, birds and mermaids revolves to old-time carnival music.

Tours √Rec The Diamond Belle and Diamond Queen pick up passengers for unreserved riverboat tours here.

POCKET PARK GRAPHIC

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The Underground Railroad was not a physical railroad.  Instead it was a route followed by escaped slaves connected by safe-houses, churches and abolitionist societies where slaves were hid.

This secret route or "Underground" safely directed slaves to Canada where no one honored the Fugitive Slave Act.

One of the earliest and most successful underground routes was through Detroit to Windsor even though there were politicians in the area who upheld the southern slave laws.

A ledge and ramp lead to Joe Louis Arena from the Walk pavement.

MYSTERIOUS MOONLIT WATERS

Perhaps this image won't convey the impression of all the river's churning cross currents and reflections.  (You had to be there.)

SHED 4, EASTERN MARKET

A broad sidewalk (shown on photo, right) parallels Atwater Street.  Continue following that east, if on foot or climb the adjacent Harbor Hill and take a break.  

WEST-SIDE WALK PRIOR TO RENOVATION

Detroit is undergoing a radical transformation on the waterfront.  The city's shore has become a gathering place for the family, fishermen and visitors alike, offering tremendous beauty and options for exploration.

NEW EASTERN MARKET MURAL

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Detroit is experiencing explosive growth in artwork.  Contests and shows continue unabated throughout Downtown, Mexicantown, Midtown, Corktown, and Eastern Market.  The market recently held an invitational art mural painting exhibition.  Numerous displays decorate buildings, and still more artists come to Motown to celebrate their expression.

DETROIT'S DOWNTOWN AND MIDTOWN

At one time Detroit had only one large, loosely defined Downtown.  Later, Downtown was divided from Midtown at the I-75 freeway.  For comparison, Detroit's compact Downtown is about 35% as big as New York's while its Midtown is nearly 75% as large.  Both pale in comparison to New York's building frontage due to abandonment and a near absence of growth since the 1960's.  (But the areas are coming back with major investment.)  

Detroit's unique, angular Downtown streets are very European in layout, while its  broad boulevards follow familiar Midwest American design cues.  Downtown contains the Central Business District, the Civic Center, several live theatres, three professional sports stadiums, the elevated People Mover tour tram and two of Detroit's three casinos.  Bike lending corrals offer a convenient way to see Downtown.

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Midtown contains the Cultural Center, numerous fine museums including the superlative DIA, as well as Wayne State, the Medical Center, several more live theatres, a third casino and one of nation's largest farmers' markets.  The new LCA Arena was built here as part of a giant entertainment center called District Detroit, which will boast five new neighborhoods surpassing Greenwich Village in size.

Windsor across the river is increasingly considered part of Detroit entertainment and is accessible by tunnel.  Its own large casino is visible from the river, providing a fourth gambling venue locally.  Many fine Windsor restaurants spice up the international flavor of Motown.

Downtown, Midtown and New Center are now linked by the Q-Line rail on Woodward.

Restrooms, Drinking Fountains & Picnic Areas.  You can find  restrooms and drinking fountains on the west side of this facility and plenty of places to picnic with a view of the river.

This portion of the Walk follows the street east, past the hill, dredged from the riverbed.

Local History  Milliken State Park is part reliquary of the Globe Trading Company dry dock canal, and a kind of spa for lake freighters that docked Downtown.  The canal's water was sealed off and water was pumped away so ships could be re-fitted and re-stocked for the next voyage.

As you approach the riverside from the station stairway ramp, you'll cross a pine grove

"TAKE ONE, LEAVE ONE LIBRARY"

(Book Lending Nook)

These appear to be large birdhouses.  But if you look closer you'll discover there are books stored inside the front door for the convenience of a stroller who might like to sit and read.  

DETROIT'S FABLED DECLINE

A return to nature finds the city in a stunning role reversal.  In 1950 it was the world's greatest industrial center, and the nation's richest metropolis.  As the fourth largest city, this cosmopolitan giant of 1.85 million was the middle class miracle that built museums, theatres, a record number of homes, and unrivaled infrastructure.

While the cultural legacy remains at the core, vast swathes of urban abandonment make isolated landmarks rise from the meadows like prairie towns.  The population today ranks number 24, and may not exceed 670,000.  (Detroit's population may have reached just shy of 2 million by 1951-54 due to a surge in southern migrants before a precipitous slide).

​     (Note:  According to American FactFinder, Detroit's 2014       population was 680,250.  But that is no certainty.  While Downtown and Midtown have grown by more than 10,000 residents in the last several years due to new businesses and office transplants other areas lost population.  However, this loss appears to have slowed to a trickle.

(I reported a lower population figure in an earlier iteration of this site. Detroit rapidly changes.  Portions of the city are growing while others continue to decline making the figures difficult to track.  The city has dropped in ranking in the last few years from number 18 to 24. It's the first time Motown has ranked lower than the top 20 urban areas since 1850.  (The metropolitan area as a whole is increasingly robust, however, and investment in the business district of the city-proper is so intense it is starting to spread to the surrounding neighborhoods for the first time.  

....from the Author.)

This location includes a 200 ft. fountain array that erupts with shifting sprays of water, delighting kids -- who can't resist splashing through it --

Numerous visual aids guide you through the area's attractions and wildlife.

Continue your walk toward Rivard Plaza and a comfortable rest area.

Other attractions  include the Labor Union, Ring of Transcending (or the "Pinky Ring," if preferred), the DNA monolith

or Pylon (which resembles a "swizzle stick"), 

SNAPSHOT The Dequindre Cut links the RiverWalk to Eastern Market with a 1.75 mile pathway, and is part of the expanding Detroit Greenway project, eventually connecting 100 miles of trails through a program called Link Detroit. More rail conversions in neighboring Hamtramck will integrate with those in Detroit through the Rails to Trails program.

The Cut is a former railroad line that runs below grade with roads passing over and ramps leading out.

Along the sidewalk at the eastern edge of the nature area, stands a tall steel figure with fedora who beckons you.

Stop for a moment and take a gander at a lifelike statue honoring Peter Stroh, longtime Detroit philanthropist, at the riverside location.  

Local History  Stroh's Beer Company was established in Germany in 1775, and then in Detroit in 1850, where it was a popular Detroit-made brew.  It was sold to Pabst more than a decade ago.  

Mr. Stroh's likeness protrudes waist-high from a solid block of granite.  A low-profile fisherman's rail with interpretive areas, offers you and fishermen a survey of the river.  One location provides binoculars.

(One day a travelling puppet show appeared in the Cut.)

The Cut's concrete viaducts are scribbled with graffiti or work by artists who paint over every available patch for bragging rights.  Rain washes the Urban Glyphs away and a new contest starts.  Artists win this trump.  Who's next?

Many wedding receptions are held near the RiverWalk.   Here a carriage awaits -- big diapered horse included.

                                                                                     Note: The Ambassador Bridge was built in 1929 to improve traffic

                                                                                     to Windsor.  It will be joined by a new bridge further west in a few                                                                                      years.  Tunnels under the river connect downtown Detroit

                                                                                     to Windsor via America's busiest border crossing by commercial                                                                                        tonnage.

Light breezes breathe fresh air through a harbor under silver skies.

WEST RIVERWALK VIEW TOWARD DOWNTOWN

Several large concerts have already been performed on the lawn adjoning the west RiverWalk.

Statues of Underground Railroad travelers are perched on a RiverWalk overlook.  Detroit was a major stop for escaped slaves heading to Canada until the Emancipation Proclamation  in 1863.  Former slave, Thornton Blackburn established the first major escape route to Canada in 1831.

This section contains donor-engraved brick pavers honoring contributors to the RiverWalk project.

DETROIT RIVERWALK, ONE OF SIX"BEST CITY WALKS" IN WORLD!

London's Guardian ranked the Detroit RiverWalk among the six best city walks worldwide after readers were asked to recommend their favorite locations.  

Daniel Gilmartin added that at Detroit's RiverWalk, "Excitement and energy are all around."

(Detroit News, August 16, 2016.)    

Stroll for another quarter mile on 18 feet of pavement landscaped with River Birches, mini-parks and benches. These are decorated by hedgerows of ornamental grasses, festooned with large, flower-filled vases set among ground cover and pea gravel.

                                NEW  Q-LINE RAIL                                                                      Many would prefer the name, "Soul Train."

Bull frogs and turtles are appearing in the ponds for the first time.

Some walkways are covered by steel plates forming Walleye and Bass reliefs.  Historic markers honor Detroit's early residents and Civil War deeds.

The renovated Dequindre Cut Greenway runs north at the nearby street intersection.  

(You may turn north here along the Dequindre Cut or continue east on the Walk.  Go to Returning to RiverWalk, if you plan to skip the Cut section.)

FREIGHTER TRAFFIC

Well over a hundred freighters ply the Great Lakes and many pass through the Detroit River to ports beyond.  Traffic can get busy at times with just enough room for a passing lane. (Sailboats beware.)

BLUE HERON

North of Hart Plaza/RiverWalk, Woodward and Jefferson.

ANTOINE DE LA MOTHE (LAUMET) CADILLAC

Cadillac was as much a paradox as the city he founded.

• He was as much Huguenot Protestant as Jesuit Catholic
  

• He was as much gentleman pirate as gentleman  
  

• He was as much Native American admirer as Native American manipulator
  

• He was as much fortune seeker as administrator
  

• He was as comfortable in the French Court as in the wild 
  

• He was as much a builder as negligent landlord
  

• He was perhaps as much speculator as thief
  

• He was as much soldier as entrepreneur
  

• He was as much a prisoner of state as honored French citizen
  

• While from a modest background, Cadillac had a family crest, which became the logo for GM's luxury brand​

SUCCESSFUL DETROIT FISHERMEN

Milliken State Park anglers catch their share of silver bass for the dinner table.

Sculptures and weatherized copies of Detroit Institute of Arts museum pieces line the park by-ways along the Walk.