This November, Barton Nature Area Is the Front Door to the Border-to-Border Trail

From the parking lot at 1010 W. Huron River Drive, how far can you walk before you have to turn back?

For most of Barton Nature Area's history the answer was the railroad. Bandemer Park sat on the other side of the busiest passenger line in Michigan, with no safe walking connection between the two parks. On November 5, 2025, that changed. This is the first full fall since the Barton-Bandemer Pedestrian Tunnel opened. Late October is when it matters most to anyone in Barton Hills, because the pond side of the nature area is fenced off and the river has closed for the season.

What opened under the tracks last November

WEMU reported that officials cut the ribbon and the public first walked the tunnel on November 5, 2025. MLive's coverage of the opening describes hundreds of people celebrating the new Bandemer-to-Barton link on the Border-to-Border Trail.

The structure is plain. According to the City of Ann Arbor's project page, the tunnel is 60 feet long. It is built from 15 concrete sections, each 4 feet long and weighing 55,000 pounds, and all of them went in during a single 48-hour closure of the railroad. Inside is a public artwork by Southeast Michigan artist Tatum Lorway. It is inspired by the Huron River, was fabricated with Detroit Metal Elements, and has the tunnel's lighting built into it. The city lists all construction as finished in February 2026.

The planting around the approaches may be the detail that shows most in October. City forestry rules required 25 replacement trees. The project team installed more than 200 native trees, shrubs and grasses instead, after clearing mostly invasive growth. Those plantings are now heading into their first full fall.

In its announcement, the city quoted Mayor Christopher Taylor as saying that "the state's busiest passenger rail corridor" is "no longer a threat nor a barrier to parkgoers and travelers along the Border to Border Trail." The same announcement quoted JJ Tighe of the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation calling it "a safe way to walk and bike between Bandemer Park and the Barton Nature Area, something this community has wanted for decades."

Why the dam work makes the tunnel matter more

This fall, much of the area on the other side of the Barton lot is behind construction fencing.

The city's Barton Dam Embankment Remediation project is stabilizing a berm on the downstream slope of the dam's right embankment to deal with seepage and stability problems. The work is required under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rules, and the dam is part of the city's drinking water system. The project is scheduled to run from March 2025 through June 2027. The city is also putting up permanent FERC-required security fencing near the dam.

Here is how the city's project page sorts the area around the lot:

The city says equipment and construction traffic will cross the B2B from time to time but the trail will not close. It also warns of equipment noise between the railroad and the dam, since dewatering pumps run around the clock during key excavation work. Barton Pond's water level will not be lowered for the project. These restrictions were posted when construction began, so the signs and barricades on site are the final word on any given day.

With the pond side closed, a walk from the Barton lot used to have few options. Now it has one long one, heading east.

The river has closed for the season

By the time this post goes up, the city's canoe and kayak liveries are done for 2026. According to the city's livery schedule, Argo stopped its weekend operation on September 13. Gallup's season ended October 18. The guided Barton-to-Gallup trip had its last 2026 date on September 13. That trip launched paddlers at Barton and took them back by river through Argo Pond and the Cascades. In practice, it was the main summer route from Barton toward town.

Upstream boaters can't portage around the dam while the work goes on. The city's access notice sends them to take out at Dexter-Huron Metropark, Skips or Delhi Metropark instead.

So for the rest of this fall, the trail is the way east from Barton. The B2B Trail's Ann Arbor Corridor runs 5.7 miles of paved path, separated from roads. The trail's project updates page lists both the Barton Nature Area segment and the Barton-Bandemer tunnel as complete. Farther east, a Gallup Park stretch between the fishing pond and Geddes Dam closed this summer after a sinkhole and reopened on October 10 after temporary stabilization. A permanent culvert fix is still being studied.

Where the walk east can end

The city's own guidance from opening day helps with distances. It put the Barton Nature Area lot about 15 to 20 minutes on foot from the tunnel along the B2B. The Ann Arbor Rowing Club lot was 10 to 15 minutes away, and the lot at Bandemer's Barton Shore Drive entrance was 2 to 3 minutes, across a bridge. The Barton Nature Area page now lists Bandemer's north parking lot as a second way into Barton, by way of the tunnel.

Past Bandemer, the trail heads toward Argo and the Broadway area. These stops make a good turnaround point or a place to end the outing:

1. Lowertown Bar & Cafe, 1031 Broadway. A coffee shop and cocktail bar with pastries and rotating food trucks. Its website keeps current hours.
2. Ann Arbor Farmers Market, 315 Detroit St. The city-run market sells prepared food, drinks and pastries along with produce. It is open Wednesdays and Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., through December, per the city's market page.
3. Zingerman's Next Door Café, 422 Detroit St. Next to the Deli, serving coffee, cakes and chocolate, open daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. according to Zingerman's.
4. Sweetwaters Kerrytown, 407 N. Fifth Ave. Coffee, tea, desserts and pastries, with daily hours on its location page.

The Barton Nature Area page says no bus stop lies within a 15-minute walk of the park. A walk that ends in Kerrytown needs either a ride back or a walk back the way you came.

Three dates on the calendar before winter

The city's Natural Area Preservation volunteer calendar lists a Litter Cleanup at Argo Cascades on Monday, October 26, from 10 to 11 a.m., which is on the trail east of Bandemer. On Saturday, November 14, from 1 to 4 p.m., the same calendar lists an Invasive Shrub Cutting at Bird Hills Nature Area, Barton's wooded neighbor up the hill. Sign-up is through the NAP VolunteerHub page.

Between those two dates, the tunnel turns one on Thursday, November 5. The tunnel's first ribbon-cutting walkers came through in early November, and that's a good week for a first walk east if you haven't taken one yet.

Getting to the trailhead, and a bridge still being designed

The drive down to Barton from the north usually means the Maple Road (Foster) Bridge. The Washtenaw County Road Commission reopened it on Monday, August 17, 2026, after a one-day inspection. It still has a 5-ton weight limit, and 9-foot overhead height-restriction signs went up on April 23, 2026. If visiting family brings a tall van or a roof-loaded vehicle, check those limits before you suggest that route.

On the trail itself, the city is planning to replace the South Barton Bridge. The project page says the bridge has reached the end of its useful life and is a key non-motorized link on the B2B. Design runs from late spring through the rest of 2026, with a preliminary budget of about $5 million. The city says construction will temporarily close the bridge and the trail there, but it hasn't announced dates.

At JoAnn Barrett, we keep track of how changes like the tunnel, the dam work and the bridge plans affect daily life in Barton Hills. If you'd like to talk over what they mean for your corner of the neighborhood, I'm always glad to hear from you. Schedule a Free Consultation whenever it suits you.