The Water Tower
Ypsilanti, Michigan

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On foot

Walking routes

Five routes, built out of guides already on the site. No timings and no distances — the city is small enough that you will know when you are done.

Depot Town brick frontages along the street
Every route starts and ends within a mile of this block. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Pick a route

Five of them

Each route is a sequence of stops you can read before you go, or on a bench when you get there.

The River Walk

Route 01 · 5 stops

Five crossings, north to south, the way the water goes. The one route that explains why the city is where it is.

  1. Stop one · The River Forest Avenue Bridge

    The river's quietest crossing — downstream from the dam, where the water slows and Ypsilanti forgets to perform.

  2. Stop two · The River Frog Island

    The low ground between the river and the rail embankment — where the park comes and goes on the water's schedule.

  3. Stop three · The River Cross Street Bridge

    The hinge of the city — brick on one bank, the tower on the other.

  4. Stop four · The River Riverside Park

    Most cities hide their working edge. Ypsilanti left a gap in the fabric, and the river fills it.

  5. Stop five · Landmarks Michigan Avenue Bridge

    The road that connected Detroit to Chicago still runs through the middle of Ypsilanti, and at the end of a working day it looks exactly like what it is.

Forest Avenue BridgeForest Avenue BridgeFrog IslandFrog IslandCross Street BridgeCross Street BridgeRiverside ParkRiverside ParkMichigan Avenue BridgeMichigan Avenue Bridge
The River Walk, in order.

The Frontage Walk

Route 02 · 4 stops

Depot Town read from the second floor up: what the district was for, then the cornices, the cast iron and the streets where the brick stops.

  1. Stop one · Depot Town & the Streets What Depot Town Was For

    The bricks didn't arrive by accident. There was a railroad, freight to move, and money to be made on the short walk between the platform and the storefront.

  2. Stop two · Depot Town & the Streets The Cornice Line

    Corbelling, segmental arches, cast-iron shopfronts — learn to read a frontage.

  3. Stop three · Depot Town & the Streets Cast Iron at Street Level

    The columns holding up Depot Town's commercial blocks didn't come from a local foundry — they came from a catalogue, and you can still read the order form in the facades.

  4. Stop four · Depot Town & the Streets The Streets Behind

    Where the brick stops and the frame houses start.

East Cross StreetEast Cross StreetDepot TownDepot TownNorris StreetNorris StreetRiver StreetRiver Street
The Frontage Walk, in order.

The High Ground Walk

Route 03 · 4 stops

Uphill from the river to the standpipe, then back down the avenue — the route that teaches you to navigate the city by what stands above the trees.

  1. Stop one · Landmarks The Water Tower

    Working infrastructure in a limestone coat, and what a standpipe does.

  2. Stop two · Landmarks What Stands Above the Trees

    The three or four things you can navigate the city by.

  3. Stop three · Landmarks The Thompson Block

    A Civil War-era barracks block, and what survives of it.

  4. Stop four · Landmarks Michigan Avenue at Dusk

    The road that connected Detroit to Chicago still runs through the middle of Ypsilanti, and at the end of a working day it looks exactly like what it is.

Water TowerWater TowerCross StreetCross StreetMichigan AvenueMichigan AvenueThompson BlockThompson Block
The High Ground Walk, in order.

The Industry Walk

Route 04 · 4 stops

What the city made, and the rooms that kept it: the marques, the old dealership floor, the firehouse, and the rails that moved people before the cars did.

  1. Stop one · Built in Ypsilanti Cars Nobody Remembers

    Hudson, Kaiser-Frazer, Tucker, Corvair — the marques and the plants.

  2. Stop two · Museums & Collections The Dealership Floor

    An old dealership full of orphan cars.

  3. Stop three · Museums & Collections The Firehouse

    A firehouse kept as it was.

  4. Stop four · Built in Ypsilanti The Interurban Grade

    How people moved before the cars they built.

West Michigan AvenueWest Michigan AvenueAutomotive Heritage MuseumAutomotive Heritage MuseumFirehouse MuseumFirehouse MuseumWillow RunWillow Run
The Industry Walk, in order.

The Riverside Parks Walk

Route 05 · 4 stops

The green half of the river: the two long reaches of park land on either side of the channel, the bridge that ties them together, and the quiet trail end where the mill race used to run. Route 01 walks the crossings; this one stays on the grass.

  1. Stop one · The River Riverside Park

    Most cities hide their working edge. Ypsilanti left a gap in the fabric, and the river fills it.

  2. Stop two · The River Across at Cross Street

    The hinge between the two parks — brick on one bank, the tower on the other.

  3. Stop three · The River Frog Island

    The low ground between the river and the rail embankment — where the park comes and goes on the water's schedule.

  4. Stop four · The River The Forest Avenue End

    The river's quietest crossing — downstream from the dam, where the water slows and Ypsilanti forgets to perform.

Riverside ParkRiverside ParkCross Street BridgeCross Street BridgeFrog Island ParkFrog Island ParkForest Avenue BridgeForest Avenue Bridge
The Riverside Parks Walk, in order.

Before you set off

These routes are descriptive, not official. We do not publish opening times, admission details or event listings, and nothing here is a claim about access to any building or collection — check with whoever holds the keys before you count on getting inside.