Belle Isle Park

Belle Isle Park

Belle Isle, officially Belle Isle Park, is a 982-acre (1.534 sq mi; 397 ha) island park in the Detroit River, between the United States mainland and Canada.

Owned by the City of Detroit, it is managed as a state park by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources through a 30-year lease initiated in 2013.

Belle Isle is the largest city-owned island park in the United States and is the third largest island in the Detroit River after Grosse Ile and Fighting Island. It is connected to mainland Detroit by the MacArthur Bridge.

The island is home to the Belle Isle Aquarium, the Belle Isle Conservatory, the Belle Isle Nature Zoo, and the Detroit Yacht Club.

On July 4, 1845, a historic picnic party was held on the island to change the name to 'Belle Isle' in honor of Miss Isabelle Cass, the daughter of then Governor (General) Lewis Cass.

The state has promised to make up to $20 million in improvements to the park over the next three years. Belle Isle formally became a state park on February 10, 2014.

Location

Belle Isle Park
Michigan
USA

Getting There

Belle Isle is accessible by bridge from Detroit and can be reached by public transportation. To get to Belle Isle Park by public transit, you can take the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) bus route 12 or 25, which have stops near the park's entrance. You can also take the People Mover to the Renaissance Center station and transfer to the DDOT bus routes 12 or 25.

Nearby Airports

This is a list of primary airports in Michigan that have scheduled passenger service on commercial airlines.