Bandemer Park, Argo Nature Area (Argo Pond), and Riverside Park

Reviewed by jeremy on Feb 9, 2012

Author

Difficulty
Scenery

Motor vehicle entrances: Corner of Barton Dr. and Whitmore Lake Rd., at the Argo Livery on Longshore Dr., and North Main St. at Ann Arbor Rowing Club

Pedestrian entrances: Near Barton and Longshore Drives (enter wooden boardwalk), corner of Swift St. and Pontiac Trail, and also from pathway from east side of Riverside Park (near Maiden Lane).

Terrain: Mainly (very flat) paved paths on south and west sides of Argo Pond. The dirt trails on the east side of Argo Pond are considerably more technical, with both some hills and rough, rocky (and stumpy) ground (very fun!).

Bandemer Park, Argo Nature Area, and Riverside Park are all parks surrounding Ann Arbor’s Argo Pond. The paths cover a decent deal of distance, perhaps 4 miles in total all the way around the pond. The area offers a lot of variety with both scenery and terrain and is a lovely place for a romp.

Points of interest: Rowers out on the water, Argo Dam (south end), new dam byway and artificial whitewater course just east of the dam (paddleable, but also just pretty to look at!), wooden boardwalk on north side, and my favorite is the rough-ish trail on the east side of Argo Pond. Another point of interest is the disc golf course on the northwest corner of the park. FORE!