Woodward Avenue Scenic Tours
Overview
 Looking for the entire Detroit experience in one fell swoop? This tour is for you. No roadway better defines Metropolitan
Detroit than Woodward
Avenue
(M-1). This "all American
road" is a primary traffic artery, pumping lifeblood to both the city
and suburbs. Woodward dissects the center
of Detroit on a straight line from Jefferson Avenue at the Riverfront,
through the heart of Downtown and
northern portions of the City, and ends in Pontiac 31 miles (50 km) to the northwest. On this unique trip you will pass six
National Historic Landmarks, witness the full range of the city's present
economic condition (from poverty to prosperity), and gain insight into the
city-suburb dynamic that has given the Detroit area the look and personality
it has today. For its historic and
cultural significance, Woodward Avenue was designated a National Heritage
Route by the State of Michigan in 1999 and a National Scenic Byway by the
Federal Transportation Administration in 2002 (the first Michigan roadway to
receive this honor).
It would take you quite some
time to fully explore all of the sites and attractions along the length of Woodward Avenue. To give you
some guidance, we've developed four full-day tours of the highlights. Tours 1 and 2 consist of sites within Detroit city limits and Tours 3 and 4 encompass attractions
in the suburbs. Note that the two sets
of tours are divided at 8 Mile Road, the northern boundary of Detroit that
has become a symbol of the rift between the City and suburbs that grew in the
latter half of the 20th century during Detroit's accelerating
population exodus (and was the backdrop for the 2002 movie 8 Mile starring hip-hop mogul Eminem).
Choose a tour below to begin
your journey on one of America's greatest roadways…
Campus Martius
Grand Circus Park
Cultural Center
Cultural Center
New Center
Boston-Edison Historic
Neighborhood
Palmer Woods Historic
Neighborhood
Ferndale
Detroit Zoo
Royal
Oak
Birmingham
Cranbrook
Pontiac
Short on Time?
If you're short on time but would
still like a good overview of the city, a drive from the Riverfront to Pontiac and back is recommended. A nonstop, one-way trip takes about 45
minutes (dependent on time of day).
Therefore, in a half-day, you can do a roundtrip and squeeze in an attraction
or bite to eat along the way.
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