Southfield: Discover Nature, History and Ice Sports

Southfield offers several points of interest to consider when planning a trip: a protected nature area at Carpenter Lake, sites of local history, and opportunities for recreation and ice sports. If you’re looking for a hotel in Southfield, it may help to first decide what you want to focus on during your trip: observing nature and wildlife, learning about local history, or planning an activity in the City Centre. The places and activities below offer concrete points of reference to help you decide.

Nature at Carpenter Lake

Carpenter Lake Nature Preserve is a protected natural area and green space for public recreation, observing and exploring nature and wildlife, environmental education programs, and fishing. It is located at Carpenter Lake, a six-acre detention basin of the Ravines Branch of the Rouge River. The six-acre measurement refers to the lake, not the area of the preserve.

The preserve’s Boulder Garden features rocks from the Great Lakes region. QR codes and interpretive signs support educational activities and exploration there. If you’re interested in a designed educational feature as well as observing nature, the garden offers a distinct point of interest within the natural area.

Historic Places and Traces of the Past

The Burgh represents Southfield’s origins as a town center—that is, the center of an agricultural community in Michigan. The Burgh was designated a Historic District in 1976. Also in 1976, Old Town Hall became a museum and the home of the Southfield Historical Society. These two historical facts relate to different developments: the designation of The Burgh and Old Town Hall’s new role as a museum and the society’s home.

The Mary Thompson Farmhouse is furnished with original items belonging to the Thompson family. Its furnishings provide a tangible connection to family history, adding another perspective to the history of the area and its institutions.

The gazebo in The Burgh hosts music concerts and weddings during the summer months. If you’d like to combine your trip with a concert, check the dates for the summer. Red Pole Park was installed in 2017 and is Southfield’s first art installation, as well as a gateway feature on the Northwestern Highway Pathway and Greenway. Here, the art installation and gateway function are connected to a named route.

Recreation, Sightseeing and Ice Sports

For activities in the City Centre, you can consider the Southfield City Centre Trail and the Southfield Walking Tour in light of their different focuses. The trail offers opportunities for health-promoting activities and for people to connect with nature. The walking tour covers 3.6 miles of sightseeing in the City Centre, with 25 informative stops. This lets you compare a trail focused on recreation and encounters with nature with a sightseeing tour whose distance is specified. If you’re planning the tour, check the app’s availability before your trip.

For ice sports, the Southfield Sports Arena has an NHL-size ice rink. This is a specific feature you can take into account when planning if ice sports are among your interests.

Green Spaces Across the City

Southfield’s Parks and Recreation Department manages 774 acres of parkland and open space at 33 locations within the city. This scale places individual nature spots within the broader context of the city’s green space management.

Discover more destinations: Clawson, Pontiac, Auburn Hills, Madison Heights, Bloomfield Hills, Wixom, White Lake Township, Troy

For the broader travel overview: Oakland.