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Park System

Village Owned Recreation Facilities

In total, the Village of Chesaning owns three public parks and a future recreation area recently acquired adjacent to the Howard Nixon Memorial Airport, totaling 143.01 acres of land. These include:

  • Cole Park
  • Showboat Park
  • The Birding and Nature Trail Park
  • Airport Property (undeveloped)

Cole Park is a 9.21-acre park located behind the River Rapids District Library on the banks of the Shiawassee River. Parking is located along Canal Street. A large playscape (built in 2000) is located at Cole Park including slides, swings, picnic area, young tot play area, maze, etc. The playscape has a fiber safety surface and an accessible ramp leading up to a play area. Lighting is included in and around the playscape. Cole Park also includes the recent river restoration project that took the remnants of the old dam and established it into rock rapids waterway/fish ladder feature. The park also includes a walkway leading to an accessible restroom facility (2 stalls) and drinking fountain. Further north in the park is a picnic shelter with tables, a grill, a water spigot and additional play equipment with sand safety surfacing. The trail continues to a pedestrian bridge crossing over the Shiawassee River. The park also includes open space at the north end.
COLE_PARK

Showboat Park 

Showboat Park is a 68-acre community park located on the banks of the Shiawassee River. The park offers a wide variety of amenities and facilities including a 6,360-seat outdoor amphitheater, concession stands, ticket office, storage buildings, picnic pavilions, a 70 lot campground with electrical hookups, drinking water, restrooms and showers, 2 basketball courts, 3 sand volleyball courts, football field used by an adult football league, a boat launch, fishing dock, sledding hill, 5 ball diamonds with new dugouts, cross country running course utilized by the schools, 18 hole disc golf course, and over 6,000 feet of shoreline. Numerous events are held at Showboat Park throughout the year including Fireworks in the Park. The access drives and parking areas are paved in the north end of the park and gravel in the south end of the park.
PARK

Birding and Nature Trail Park

This 50.24-acre park includes over 2 miles of nature trails for walking, bird watching, and cross country skiing.