Ann Arbor Parks Project

Postman's Rest

2008-07-30T11:03:00.004-04:00

This park is great! It's very small, but probably the best small park we've seen.

Postman’s Rest Park is a small city lot that remains neatly wooded at the corner of Vinewood and Wayne. It features a concrete walk, sandbox, picnic table and a bench swing.

Wow, what a terrible description of such a lovely little park! Sure, it's small, but it is quiet and barely noticeable. It would be a hard park to find for someone who wasn't aware of its existence. Mike keeps calling it "postman's hideaway" because it's so secluded. I must confess that I love the name of this park as well. It would be a nice spot to rest for someone delivering mail on foot. If I lived in the area of Postman's Rest, I could see myself sitting on the bench swing, reading a book and just enjoying the quiet beauty.

Gallup Park

2008-07-08T20:16:00.004-04:00

We visited Gallup Park on July 4, 2008, which turned out to be a beautiful Independence Day. The park was crowded, and we were there early in the afternoon. As we left, the parking lot was completely packed.

Gallup Park is probably a favorite park in Ann Arbor. There is a lot to do there, and it is one of the parks on the Huron River, which means that there is fishing and canoes and paddle boats. According to the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Gallup Park is a 69-acre park and is Ann Arbor’s most popular recreation area. It is located along the Huron River and Geddes Pond with scenic walkways that traverse small islands with bucolic pedestrian bridges. The park contains two playgrounds, a canoe livery, picnic areas and grills scattered throughout the park, two picnic shelters, open field for play, and over three miles of asphalt trails that are popular for biking, rollerblading, walking and running. Two drinking fountains and many benches allow the park user to take respite from their recreational activities. There are four parking areas: one at the main entrance off Fuller Road, two within the park along the park drive, and one further southeast on Geddes Road.

So, yeah, there's all that stuff. We can confirm that it is there.

We were particularly interested in paths, and there were some great paths to walk. Most of them followed the river and provided a great deal of nice scenery (although according to the park map, the paths actually circle something called Geddes Pond which is in the middle of the river). There were a couple of cool islands in the middle of the river/pond linked by bridges which keyed into my enjoyment of feeling like I'm exploring.

The park connects to Furstenberg, which is even more fun to walk in, but that is a story for another time.

Mushroom Park

2008-07-01T16:30:00.002-04:00

We loved Mushroom Park! For a small park, it has a lot to offer.

Mushroom Park is a 1.54-acre neighborhood park located between Waltham and Saxon off of Scio Church Rd. The playground is nestled among berms, and among the berms are a few small concrete mushrooms. There is also a picnic table and benches.

Indeed, there are concrete mushrooms, as well as mushrooms made of some other (unknown) material. The mushrooms serve no real purpose, and one could make the case for the lack of safety of children playing on large concrete objects; however, they certainly make this park unique and give the park its name. Besides the mushrooms, the park is quite nice. There's a hill that would be great for sitting on to read and relax, and play equipment that looks fun and fairly new. There are also trees to provide shade. It's definitely one of the better smallish neighborhood parks that we've seen and is great for families.

South Maple Park

2008-06-26T20:08:00.001-04:00

South Maple park seemed very boring at first. We approached by car on Liberty and parked in an empty parking lot. Our first impression of the park was the sight of a plain-looking maintenance building and a handicapped parking space next to the stairs that were the only way to enter the park other than crawling up a steep hill.

As it turned out, there were more amenities. According to the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

South Maple Park is a 7.83 acre park with entrances on Liberty and Russell, off S. Maple. The park contains tennis courts, play area, neighborhood softball field, open fields, a drinking fountain, a wooded area separating the two portions of the park. An accessible asphalt trail connects to the park from the subdivision to the South of the park and East. Parking is located at the Liberty entrance.

We found the tennis court and then the great big open field, and thought that South Maple Park was very disappointing. Then we found a break in the trees. It turned out there was a cool bridge through a wooded area leading to another portion of the park with a playground and picnic area. This new area of the park wasn't thrilling, but it was an improvement over a tennis court and an open field.

Nonetheless, this was a very noisy park. It was filled with the sounds of nearby I-94. As usual the park was empty when we visited it.

Douglas Park

2008-06-24T20:35:00.001-04:00

Douglas Park: a boring triangle on Washtenaw. According to the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Douglas Park is 2.5 acres in size and located at the Washtenaw, Baldwin and Cambridge triangle. This park has an open lawn area perfect for frisbee, touch football, small gatherings and studying for students. It is shaded by a perimeter of trees and has a small seating area, established as a memorial.

Yep, it's a great big open area. Hope that your Frisbee brand flying discs or footballs do not go flying out onto Washtenaw. It's really not such a bad park, if a big lawn is what you need, but the constant sound of traffic was annoying.

Churchill Downs

2008-06-20T20:42:00.001-04:00

Churchill Downs wins for weirdest approach in a park we've visited so far. We almost drove past it. As it turns out, the park is behind someone's house, instead of right on the street. One gets to the park by walking down a narrow path between a couple of people's houses.

The park itself is kind of bland. From the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Churchill Downs Park is a 1.18-acre neighborhood park tucked away between houses and I-94 with an accessible concrete walk entry from Steeplechase Drive. There is a play area, with benches, a half basketball court, open fields with small soccer goals, a drinking fountain, picnic table and grill.

We didn't realize that there was a soccer field in the park. Perhaps we just didn't notice the goals. The field didn't seem very conducive to soccer-playing, either. It was kind of unlevel and and broken up with trees.

The sound of the freeway, despite the Eisenhower greenbelt, was nearly deafening. I'd hate to live in one of the adjacent houses. Nonetheless, the worst thing about this park is that it appeared to just merge with someone's backyard--there was no fence separating the two. One just has to guess, apparently.

There was somer playground equipment there, but as we've come to expect, it was empty.

Hollywood Park

2008-06-18T21:19:00.000-04:00

Hollywood Park was nice. Actually, the description in the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website makes it sound pretty cool:

Hollywood Park is a 3 acre park, adjacent to Abbott School along Sequoia Parkway. Access to the park is from Sequoia Parkway, and parking is available along the road.

Although small, Hollywood Park contains a high-quality woodland, with abundant wildflowers in the spring. A path through the woods allows the casual hiker to view one of richest displays of spring wildflowers in the city. The remainder of the park is a grassy mowed area, the perfect spot for a spring picnic surrounded by wildflowers. This nature area is undergoing restoration efforts by the staff and volunteers of the Natural Area Preservation Division, including removal of non-native invasive plants.

We must have gone at just the wrong time of year, because it wasn't very flowery. Mostly just low-growthy. It was certainly very pleasant, especially as we got deeper into the park and couldn't see the surrounding streets and houses anymore.

I'm always kind of disappointed when paths don't really go anywhere. This was kind of one such path--it terminated in an elementary school. So, even though it went somewhere, it didn't feel right to continue on into the elementary school grounds. Actually, it seems vaguely dangerous to have these woods right on the edge of the school grounds.

Hansen Park, Part 1

2008-06-16T15:44:00.000-04:00

We had a big "oops" with Hansen Park. The Ann Arbor Parks Project takes a pretty low-tech approach to our expeditions. Typically, we draw up a list of parks in a relatively small area that we can hit, and then we go out with a notebook and camera to take notes. What we do not have is any way of checking back in with the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website. So although Hansen Park is described as:

Hansen Nature Area is located on the west side of the city off South Maple Rd. This 9-acre park has a beautiful woodland and an open field with a small play area. No other facilities are available here. Parking is usually available in the parking lot of Grace Bible church which is adjacent to the property.
The woodland is very open, and in spring the forest floor is blanketed with trout lilies. A small pond adds interest to the woods. An unpaved trail will soon be constructed allowing for a quiet walk through the mixed hardwood forest.

We only saw the playground. It was only after we got back home again that we found out there was a whole lot more to the park that we never saw.

Of course, it says something about the park that we couldn't find a path off into the woods. Perhaps it hasn't been built yet. What we did see was a playground on the side of a very busy street. There were no nearby houses on the same side of the street, but there were apartments across the street. Unfortunately, without a nearby crossing point, kids trying to get to the park would be in a bit of danger. Good thing kids don't seem to use play equipment anymore.

We'll return to Hansen Park later this summer to see if we can find a way into the woods.

South University Park

2008-06-14T22:13:00.000-04:00

Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation Department, sometimes I get the impression that you just don't care. Wow. This run-down piece of garbage supposedly features these amenities:

South University Park is .5 acre in size and located at S. University and Walnut. It has a kiosk, bench and play area with a small picnic shelter and one half court basketball.

It has a bench on the very corner of the vacant lot, facing out onto the intersection. We weren't sure what this kiosk was supposed to be, but it must not have been very interesting.

On the far side of the weed-choked field, the Parks and Recreation Department decided to only spring for one half of a basketball court rather than a whole one. We weren't even sure if it belonged to the park or the house next to it until we came back and looked it up online.

Playground Equipment is Usually Empty

2008-06-12T18:41:00.000-04:00

Where are all the kids? A trend that we've noticed in our park visits so far has been that we rarely see children playing in the equipment in parks.

It's something that we'll keep an eye on as the summer progresses, but just over the last couple of months, we hardly ever see children playing. At times, it could be because it is too hot, or too cold, or too early, but eventually you've got to consider the possibility that kids just aren't using this equipment.

There was an article in Slate not too long ago about the play equipment that people set up on their own lawns. I think that the author is probably right. Parents fear for their children's safety and are less willing to let them play in the park.

I'd be interested in whether the Parks and Recreation department has any idea how much or how little this equipment gets used, or if they just hope that the play equipment is used. Is there a point at which there is too little use to justify the expenditure of installation and maintenance? Or is any amount of use sufficient to justify it?

Dicken Park

2008-06-10T22:05:00.000-04:00

Dicken Park appears to be some sort of cruel joke perpetrated on the people of Ann Arbor by the Parks and Recreation department. According to their website:

Dicken Park is a .5 acre park located at Tuder Drive and Maple Road. This park is undeveloped and maintained as a mowed lawn.

They took a vacant lot and called it a park. Seriously. It's on a nice, busy street, making it all the more dangerous. This, to me, is the quintessential Ann Arbor park. "We don't know what to do with this land--let's just call it a park and be done with it."

Kelly Park

2008-06-08T21:46:00.001-04:00

Wow, Kelly Park is a pretty plain park. Even the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website doesn't have much to say about it:

Kelly Park is a .54-acre undeveloped park with a concrete walk connection from Patricia Avenue to Abbot School.

That's right. It's just a little bit of land that has some playground equipment and a sidewalk connecting two streets. The playground equipment isn't really any more or less fun looking than other equipment, although it had cool looking colors and an astronomy theme.

All in all, it wasn't a very inspired park, but wasn't that bad, either. It would be a nice park to have in the neighborhood if you had kids, although we've never really seen children using the play equipment in parks so far this summer.

Garden Homes Park

2008-06-06T19:39:00.001-04:00

Garden Homes Park is a small but nice park that connects to a lot of neighborhoods. From the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Garden Homes Park is accessed off Franklin, Fulmer and Garden Homes Streets and is just over 11 acres in size. This park is nicely wooded with open lawn areas for various activities. Inter- connecting paths wind their way over 20,000 feet with two small asphalt plazas with lighting and benches. Garden Homes also features a large play structure off Franklin.

There are some large open spaces, but also a wooded area with a path. The lighting in the wooded area, as mentioned in the above description, is a thoughtful touch. There is some play equipment, but on our visit it was mysteriously partially fenced off (though still accessible). Overall, I feel that this is a good park for families, and the fact that it is connected to several neighborhoods is smart planning.

Mary Beth Doyle Park Dedication Ceremony

2008-06-03T20:34:00.000-04:00

Melissa and I attended the Dedication Ceremony for Mary Beth Doyle Park and Wetland Preserve on Sunday, June 1st. This park is within walking distance for us and we are relieved to finally get our park back after 2 years. It was a beautiful day for a ceremony and quite interesting to hear the story behind the park.

The ceremony took place on the eventually-going-to-be basketball court (it currently lacks hoops). They erected two tents and set up a podium, microphone, and chairs. There were refreshments and commemorative disc golf discs.

As we walked through Mill Creek Townhouses to get there, cars were illegally parked all along the street because the park's new parking lot is still woefully small.

Janis Bobrin, the Washtenaw County Drain Commissioner spoke first. Early in her comment, she mentioned that this "might be the first time the weather has cooperated with this project" but never followed up further. We would have loved to have known what she was talking about.

MBD Park is part of a larger endeavor to restore Mallet's Creek, a project that dates back to the 1990's. The pond at the former Brown Park was constructed in the 1970's to control flooding downstream (Mill Creek apparently goes into the Huron River). Over the years, the pond was neglected and filled up with sediments and the park was let go and a few years ago, the pond wasn't doing its job and the park wasn't a lot of fun.

The restored wetlands will hold 15 million gallons of storm water and remove 2/3 of the sediments and phosphorous that would have otherwise flowed into the Huron River. Nice! The new wetlands are also really cool to look at and we'll get more pictures later.

Bobrin also mentioned that the disc golf course will be rebuilt later this summer. We do not look forward to that day, because for the time being it is pretty nice to walk around unmolested by these so-called golfers.

Bobrin also thanked approximately 500,000 people for their work on the project. Apparently, we were the only ones at the ceremony that hadn't done anything to help.

Mayor John Hieftje spoke, then Amy Butler of the MDEQ, and then Jim Walter, the Pittsfield Township Supervisor. Finally, Michael Garfield of the Ecology Center closed out the ceremony. They all took turns thanking people and talking about Mary Beth Doyle, who sounds like she was a fantastic person (and apparently a much better human being than this Brown person for whom the park was formerly named).

John Hieftje mentioned that Ann Arbor has 162 parks, which is funny, because the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website lists only 147. We will investigate these missing parks. A visit to city hall may be in order.

Stone School Park: Candidate for Laziest Park in Ann Arbor

2008-06-02T16:22:00.000-04:00

Stone School Park is definitely in the running for the laziest park in Ann Arbor. We approached it on foot on Stone School Road, where we encountered the sign telling us we'd reached the park. Except there was no way into the park. There was, however, a way onto some guy's lawn. We kept walking, and finally behind a church we found a large field and a break in the woods that allowed us access to the path in the woods.

This path was very pretty; the woods had great character, and we were intrigued by the dark, dense sections of woods off in the distance. Eventually, the trail petered out and all we could do was double back.

So, Stone School Park: the park with no maintained trails and inadequate signage (we never found another sign for the park near the actual entrance to the trail). What's worse, if you look at the map of the park, it looks like there used to be two trails, both of them going nowhere, but one of them has apparently been reclaimed by nature.

From the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Stone School Park is a 5 acre park adjacent to Stone School, at the intersection of Packard and Stone School Roads. Access is from the school parking area.

Most notably, a large collection of archaeological artifacts has been collected from this area and is now housed at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology. The artifacts include chipped stone tools, polished stones, and potsherds. Some wetlands are in this area, which support frog populations during the spring and summer.

Well, that's really interesting. It would have been more interesting if there had been some evidence of this at the actual park, such as signs describing the finds or showing where they had been dug up. Instead, this park was disappointing, to put it politely.

Sugarbush Park

2008-05-30T16:15:00.000-04:00

Sugarbush Park was the last part of our tour of Northeast Side parks on 5/17/2008. From the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Sugarbush Park is located in the northeast corner of the city providing 27 acres of accessible trails and activities. You can enter this park from Bluett, Georgetown, Yellowstone and Rumsey. The park has tennis courts, softball, basketball, lower and upper elementary play areas, picnic tables, benches, sledding hill, and a beautiful natural area featuring two unique native plants - Blue Ash and Pawpaws.

We had a great experience with Sugarbush. This park seems to have something for everyone--softball, tennis, picnics, open areas, and trails in the woods.

The dirt paths were nice and wide. There were a lot of people around, so it wasn't very peaceful, but you can't begrudge people the use of such a nice park (particularly one that is local for so many different streets). The wooded area had a lot of low-lying ground cover. In the past few weeks, we've noticed that different parks/nature areas have really different characters.

Oakwoods Nature Area

2008-05-28T19:34:00.002-04:00

Oakwoods Nature Area is a great discovery located in the northeast side of Ann Arbor. From the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Oakwoods Nature Area is a 14-acre oak hickory woodland located off Green Road. Parking is not available on Green Road, although parking can be found along the residential side streets in the area. Although there are no official trails in the park, a small game trail does offer access through the woods. A pond and wetland in the natural area is a good spots for bird watching or listening for frog calls. This natural area is undergoing restoration efforts by the staff and volunteers of the Natural Area Preservation Division, including prescribed ecological burns and removal of non-native invasive plants.

This park is in the area of Kilburn Park and features dirt trails through some beautiful woods and ponds. Although the park is probably very buggy later in the year, when we visited it was splendid. We enjoyed walking around here and think it's a great park to have in one's neighborhood.

Consulting the map later, it turns out we didn't even check out all of the park. Though small in area, this park has a lot of walking to offer! Oakwoods Nature Area is a lot of fun and we'd like to get back there sometime.

Visited 5/19/2008

Mary Beth Doyle Park Dedication

2008-05-25T20:38:00.002-04:00

The former Brown Park is our closest park. It has been closed for two years now, to our great disappointment. It was initially only supposed to be closed for a little over a year, but the date kept getting pushed back. However, it looks like it will finally reopen. Now renamed Mary Beth Doyle Park, and having had some work done to preserve the wetland, the park is set to reopen on Sunday, June 1st. There will be a dedication ceremony from 2 - 4pm, with music and light refreshments.

Bird Hills Nature Area

2008-05-25T20:04:00.007-04:00

Bird Hills is Ann Arbor's largest park, so if you're planning on going be sure you have several hours to hike around and perhaps a bottle of water, especially on a hot day. From the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Bird Hills is 147 acres and the largest park in the city. Its hilly woods are a sanctuary for hikers. The area is closed to bicycles. The park is bordered by Newport Rd. on the west, Bird Rd. on the north, Huron River Dr. on the east and M-14 on the south. A parking lot is located on Newport Rd. A small pull-off parking area is located on Bird Rd. Parking is also available in the Barton Nature Area lot near the Barton Dam. A trail starting just north of this parking lot across Huron River Dr., will connect you to the Bird Rd. trail head and the main part of Bird Hills. There are five trail-heads: at Down Up Circle (a private drive), at Bird Rd., at Beechwood Dr. and two start from the Newport Rd. parking area. No facilities are available in this undeveloped park. A brochure including a trail map is available at the kiosk at the Newport Rd. parking area (or at the Department of Parks & Recreation on the 6th floor of the Larcom Municipal Building - City Hall).

The unpaved trails wind through hills and ravines covered with beech, sugar maple, flowering dogwood, oaks and hickory and various spring wildflowers. Other areas have been planted with various trees not native to our area.

Bird Hills is great for hiking. It is incredibly scenic and the trails are unpaved. In fact, we found ourselves often stepping over fallen branches. As previously stated, it is a huge park, and we ended up only exploring a small area. What we did see of it, we loved. We saw lean-tos, a bench made out of a log on which someone was keeping a "blog" (book on a log) in a plastic container. The only real complaints I have about Bird Hills is that houses are visible from some parts of the park, and it seemed like no matter where we were in Bird Hills, we could hear the traffic on M-14, which ruined the peacefulness of the park. Also, according to the above description, maps should have been available near where we parked, but the wooden pocket on the kiosk was empty. Maps would have been very helpful for such a large park. We may try another visit, this time with a map, in order to see more of the park.

Kilburn Park

2008-05-25T19:27:00.003-04:00

Kilburn Park is a small park located in the Arbor Hills subdivision on the northeast side of town. From the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Kilburn Park is a 2 acre park located in the Arbor Hill subdivision. Access to this park is from Dunwoodie Road and Kilburn Park Circle. Parking is available along the streets.

Originally set aside in order to preserve a landmark white oak tree, this park is a pleasant spot to take a short walk through the woods.

Kilburn Park was hard to get to. Every street in this subdivision is marked "Private Road," which meant there was no apparent "public" way to get to the park. I don't like that my tax dollars are keeping up a park that's located in a neighborhood where I'm not allowed.

The park is just a little neighborhood park--it has playground equipment and some benches and a lot of open area. The grass is poorly kept and is almost completely overrun with weeds.

As with most of the parks we've visited so far, there was no parking. Otherwise, we found this to be an acceptable but bland park.

Visited 5/19/2008.

Scheffler Park

2008-05-21T20:58:00.000-04:00

Scheffler Park is a great neighborhood park where Platt and Huron Parkway split off from each other. From the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation Website:

Scheffler Park is a 5.52-acre park located on Huron Parkway at Edgewood. The park contains many activities for a neighborhood park including a play area, volleyball court, half-basketball court, rollerblading/hockey court, picnic tables and grills, softball field, drinking fountain, and a portable restroom in the summer. Mallett’s Creek runs through the middle of the park with a pedestrian bridge connecting the two sections. Parking is located on Edgewood.

This park has some great parking but is also very walkable. It features a memorial to casualties of selected wars (World War II, Korea, and Vietnam), a volleyball net, softball diamond, hockey nets, and playground equipment. It straddles Mallet's Creek, which is apparently due for some restoration soon. Does that mean the park will be closed for two years, much like Brown Park? Time will tell. The creek makes the park very scenic, and the bridge over the creek is pretty cool. The playground equipment is pretty nifty, as well.

All in all, this was a great park. I kind of want to live in this neighborhood.

Visited on 5/4/2008.

White Oak Park

2008-05-18T20:48:00.000-04:00

White Oak Park is a modest park located in northwest Ann Arbor. According the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

White Oak Park is three acres in size and located in Newport Hills subdivision off White Oak Drive. This park is undeveloped with a nice natural area that will be preserved.

Now that's a short description! Indeed, this park is a path through some trees connected two streets, with some playground equipment and a couple of benches. The equipment is the nicest we've seen yet. Still, the park is somewhat unsatisfying because there is so little to it. I agree fully with leaving undeveloped areas around town, but this park is just a trail. I can't see walking down it very often if I lived in this neighborhood. Not that I would live in this neighborhood, of course--it's a bit too rich for my blood (or income, I suppose).

Still, it's a nice neighborhood park. Visited 5/10/2008

Redbud Nature Area

2008-05-11T20:54:00.004-04:00

Redbud Nature Area is located near Scheffler Park. The description from the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Redbud Nature Area is a 5.11-acre nature area along Malletts Creek that contains the largest concentration of Redbud trees in the park system, hence the name. In the spring there are carpets of bloodroot, wild ginger, and skunk cabbage.

Redbud is another neighborhood park; in fact, it's located right in the middle of a neighborhood, so there is no parking lot. It is possible to park on the street, however. The park is fairly small with only one major trail, but it is quite beautiful with many trees and plants. One part of the trail leads all the way out to several businesses on Washtenaw Road. The other part of the trail leads to Scheffler Park, which is really nice for anyone who lives in the neighborhood. There is an apartment complex across the creek from the park. On our visit, we witnessed a couple of people from the other side attempting to cross the creek.

Clinton Park

2008-05-11T20:05:00.002-04:00

Clinton Park is one of the parks that is within walking distance for us. Recently, on a nice day, we walked there to check it out.
Description from the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Clinton Park is a 4.82-acre park located on Stone School Road south of Eisenhower. The park contains a play area within circular retaining walls, basketball courts, tennis courts, softball fields, a small sledding hill, drinking fountain, picnic table, grill, and an accessible paved path connecting the courts and play area to the small parking area located on Stone School Road.

This park does indeed have all the things listed in the above description; however, some of these features are not in the best of condition. The basketball hoops are likely in need of replacement and there is a big crack in the tennis court. In fact, the entire area of the basketball and tennis courts could use an overhaul. However, the play equipment seems fine and the hill offers a nice view.

The other major issue with this park is getting there, both with a vehicle and on foot. There is no real parking lot; there is just a dirt pull-off area on the side of the road. This wouldn't be a problem if Clinton were simply a neighborhood park, but I have seen children's softball games played there, so I know that sometimes parking spaces are greatly needed. If you live immediately across the street from the park (and there is plenty of housing in this area), walking there can be a bit of a problem. There is no good spot for crossing the street. The closest traffic light crossing is at Stone School and Eisenhower, which is too far of a walk for simply going to the park.

Overall, Clinton Park is just fine if you live in the neighborhood, especially on the same side of the street as the park. It could use a little revitalizing, but the same could be said for many parks in the area.

Lakewood Nature Area: Attempt 1

2008-05-07T19:46:00.001-04:00

Our attempt to get to Lakewood Nature Area on 4/26/2008 was met with failure. From the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Lakewood Nature Area is a 7 acre park on the west side of town, adjacent to Lakewood School. Access to this park is from Lakewood School, Lakeview Avenue, Sunnywood Avenue, or by a trail connecting to Dolph Nature Area. Parking is available at the school, along the roads, or in the Dolph Nature Area parking lot.

Although Lakewood Nature Area is somewhat small, it is connected to several other parks through which park visitors can continue their hikes. This area is fairly hilly, with several streams and ravines cutting through the park. The hills are blanketed by oak-hickory woodlands, with a rich understory of wildflowers. Lakewood is an excellent spot to observe migratory birds on their way through our area. Adjacent parks also contain woodlands plus several lakes and open areas.

We can't really comment on this park because there did not seem to be any access from Lakewood Drive, and we never found a trail from Dolph Nature Area, either. We shall try again.

Dolph Nature Area

2008-05-03T15:48:00.000-04:00

Dolph Nature Area sign
Originally uploaded by cherri venoy

Dolph Nature Area is a great place to take a walk in the woods.

From the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website:

Dolph Nature Area is a 57-acre park on the city’s west side, bordered by Wagner Rd. on the west, Jackson Rd. on the north and Parklake Ave. on the east. Parking is available in the main lot off Wagner Rd., or along the street on Parklake. Trails begin from various points from these two areas. No facilities are available here. There are benches throughout the trail system. All trails are unpaved and most are are narrow. A trail bisecting the park is wider.

This park contains the only naturally formed lakes in Ann Arbor. The two lakes, First and Second Sister Lakes, have platforms or docks and offer good fishing opportunities. Most areas of the woods are overgrown and some trails cut through shrubby areas. An overlook on the east side of the park, close to Parklake, provides a tranquil view of First Sister Lake.

Dolph Nature Area
Originally uploaded by cherri venoy

This park is a great place to take a walk if you want to spend some time among the trees and near the water. The paths are unpaved and hilly, so it's a bit like hiking. The scenery is beautiful. You get to see what are, apparently, the only naturally formed lakes in Ann Arbor, plus you get to see the backs of rich people's houses across the lake.

If you fear for your safety, then don't; a prominent sign near the entrance to the park inform you that the police monitor this park for misdeeds. I guess there aren't any real crimes to fight in Ann Arbor. However, if you like backing into parking spaces, then you may wish to think twice before coming here. Numerous signs forbid this practice for some reason. Also, some of the parking spaces were taken up by a huge pile of mulch, which was very inconvenient.

Visited 4/26/2008.

Burr Oak Park

2008-05-01T19:55:00.009-04:00

Description from the website:

Burr Oak Park is a 3.3-acre neighborhood park containing a playground, benches, and an accessible asphalt walk connection between Burr Oak and Atterberry.

It's basically as described. Since it is meant to be a neighborhood park and is located in a subdivision, there is no parking nearby. We had to park on the street for our visit. There is some nice play equipment, including a little bridge onto the equipment that can be accessed right from the sidewalk.

According to the website, this park is supposed to straddle both sides of the street and connect to Lakewood Nature Area. We never found a way into this nature area, and we weren't really sure if the park did, in fact, continue on the other side of the street or if we were looking at a school's playground.

Final comments:
Nice, small park for families living in the neighborhood.

Intro to the Ann Arbor Parks Project

2008-04-29T19:16:00.000-04:00

According to the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website, there are 147 parks in Ann Arbor. They encourage you on the website to "visit as many as possible." Challenge accepted, city of Ann Arbor! I, Melissa, along with my partner in this project, Mike, have decided to try to go to every park in Ann Arbor, no matter how small.

We have two main reasons for deciding to take on this project. One: To see what each park is like and choose some favorites to visit on a regular basis. Two: By posting our thoughts on each park, discussing pros and cons, and putting up pictures we hope to help others in the Ann Arbor area to find out more about the parks around here.

We will be using the Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation website as our guide to the parks. The website has a listing of every park, where each park is located, the size of the park, and some of the features visitors can find in various parks.