River Bends Park — Attraction in Shelby Charter Township

River Bends Park is huge, although certain trails are a bit more populated than others. There are multiple entrances/access points with radically different areas. Though I haven't had an opportunity to explore all of them yet due to time constraints, the 22 Mile entrance seems to be the main one and has wide paved trails. As a result, it has more traffic, but you can still manage to keep some physical distance.

The Ryan Road entrance has access to the Nature Center and more secluded hiking trails. We were immediately drawn to gardens and pollinator house near the (currently closed) Nature Center and spent some time visiting both before we even started walking. But once we did, there was so much to see! The trails at that section of the park (beginning behind the Nature Center) seem to go through really different and interesting landscapes (marshy areas, creeks/natural pools, woods, valleys). Most of the trails are dirt, or wooden planks. There are also several lookouts if you just want to enjoy the sunset or read a book overlooking the trails without exerting yourself.

Depending on what direction you take, you can walk to a covered picnic and bbq area that also has some prime fishing opportunities. This picnic area may also be accessible by a road, but I'm not sure. If you're willing to forge your own path, you can see what appears to be a beaver dam further up the creek.

If you stick to the woods, it's a bit more like hiking, especially because there are primarily dirt trails and paths, as well as a small bridge that has fallen into disrepair. It is still crossable, but you need to take more care and watch your footing because the planks are unstable.

I'm not nearly finished exploring everything that River Bends Park has to offer and plan to return often. I will definitely be back to see the changes in the garden and would love to visit the Nature Center once it reopens...

Riverbends has improved their park for disc golf over the years adding and replacing baskets and drive platforms. The course has hills to through up and down. Trees to navigate in-between. A river to through along side it and to cross. It has enough sitting areas to either wait for the people ahead of you on the course or take a break. The course has a few bathroom locations. I rate this course five stars for the overall difficulty, variety, and comfort of the course. Beginners can learn here and experts can practice here. The parking is free and the course is free to play. The park also has a variety of wildlife. I have seen turtles and snapping turtles. Deer also travel through. Racoons and squirrels. Birds and snakes can also be seen throughout the course. Along with the disc golf course there is a nice playground park with slides and jungle gyms. Vollyball nets, horse shoe pits and plenty of parking. A Lot of people come for the nature trails the park has to offer. Bikes and dog walking are often the case. But I have often seen people use the river to swim in or snorkel in to discover the missing discs people toss in on the hard holes that go over or next to the river. If the weather gets bad the course is never to far from the parking lot and has many ways to reach it. Great place for disc golf, trail riding, swimming, playground playing, and family...

This park is beautiful! BUT way to many dogs off leash!!!! My husband and I bring our 3 month old here for walks a couple times a week. We wanted to bring our dogs today because our German Shepherd loves water! Our dogs are well behaved and don’t start problems. We don’t allow them off leash or to go up to other dogs. My German Shepherd does not like other dogs coming up to him, but he doesn’t mind walking by them. There were several! People walking without their dogs on a leash so much so we had to leave because it was becoming unsafe for those dogs and my dogs. When we were leaving and got to the parking lot, this small dog runs up to my GS and my GS starts growling and I had to get Infront of the little dog. Meanwhile the owner was watching the whole thing! She saw my dog was uncomfortable and didn’t want her dog by him. The lady looks at me and says oh she’s fine she’s really nice. I said yeah not all dogs are, just because yours is doesn’t mean mine is ! She just looked and smiled and continued to let her dog roam the parking lot. So sadly it’s not a park to take your dogs to if they don’t do well with other dogs. Also if you take a right at the trial be careful to not get smacked in the head...