Detroit RiverWalk
Promenades, plazas, wetlands, parks, public art, fishing access, and neighborhood connectors follow the Detroit River through a working international waterfront.
Artwork inspired by Charles McGee
The RiverWalk is both a recreation route and a civic repair project. It reopens industrial shoreline, frames freighters and Windsor across the channel, and links downtown attractions with restored habitat without hiding the river’s continuing commercial work.
Begin near Cullen Plaza for orientation, then choose an eastward out-and-back suited to time and mobility. Cyclists should yield in crowded plazas; anglers, events, construction, and winter weather can change the usable width without closing the entire corridor.
- Waterfront
- Working Detroit River
- Connections
- Dequindre Cut and Belle Isle
- Uses
- Walking, cycling, fishing
Quick guide
- Begin with
- GM Renaissance Center reach
- Look closely at
- Reassess at Dequindre Cut connection
Use the riverfront to read a changing industrial city
- Begin at one district
- Downtown, Milliken, and the east riverfront offer different experiences
- Take the Dequindre Cut
- The rail corridor links public art, neighborhoods, and the river
- Watch working water
- Freighters and border traffic keep the landscape economically active
- Check detours
- Construction and events can interrupt an otherwise accessible paved route
Good to know
Canada is close enough to dominate the view, but the RiverWalk is not a border crossing; use an authorized bridge or tunnel with the required documents.
Notice these
- GM Renaissance Center reach
- Dequindre Cut connection
- Milliken State Park wetlands