Parks & outdoors / West Riverfront
Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park
Detroit's newest riverfront park, opened October 2025: 22 acres with a huge play garden, a water garden, rolling lawns and covered basketball courts.
01 / The story of this place
Make time for these
Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park is the total reinvention of West Riverfront Park, which the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy first opened in 2014. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates won the 2018 design competition, and the park took its name that October on the 100th anniversary of Wilson's birth, when his foundation committed $40 million to build it. It opened in October 2025 with the Delta Dental Play Garden, a 2.5-acre water garden with a dock and bridge, a rolling lawn called the DTE Foundation Summit and two full-size Pistons courts under a giant pavilion.
- Delta Dental Play Garden for climbing, sliding and splashing
- 2.5-acre Huron-Clinton Metroparks Water Garden
- Two full-size Pistons basketball courts under a pavilion
- Seasonal Water Wonderland splash zone
- Fishing, grilling, restrooms and riverside seating
Photos were taken at different times; images are resized and cropped on cards.
Is this your venue? Update this page for free ↗
¼ · Stay
Sleep right around the corner
Trumbull and Porter Hotel10 min walk · Corktown · Trumbull AvenueBook direct ↗
The Godfrey Hotel Detroit, Curio Collection by Hilton17 min walk · Corktown · Michigan Avenue (western edge of downtown)Book direct ↗
Cambria Hotel Detroit Downtown21 min walk · Downtown · West Lafayette (near Huntington Place and the Rosa Parks Transit Cent
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-10-01
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
Events at this place
Published events automatically linked from our event guide. Times are local to the venue.
Oct 3, 2026, 11:00 AMDetroit Harvest Fest
Detroit Riverfront Conservancy brings back Detroit Harvest Fest on Saturday–Sunday, October 3–4 at Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park in Detroit. Two days of live music, family programming, fall activities, trick-or-treating, and dozens of local food trucks.
Keep exploring
Back to Detroit A–Z ↗Parks & outdoors / Belle Isle
Belle Isle Nature Center
The Detroit Zoo's small nature center in Belle Isle's forested wetlands, with animals, a bee exhibit, a bird window and a lagoon trail.
Parks & outdoors
Gabriel Richard Park
Quiet riverfront park at the east end of the Riverwalk, with a fountain, butterfly gardens, a walking labyrinth and birding scopes by the Belle Isle bridge.
Parks & outdoors / Downtown / Riverfront
GM Plaza
Riverwalk plaza at the foot of the Renaissance Center, with wide Detroit River and Windsor views and a MoGo bike-share station.