Hunt Park

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Overview

Hunt Park is a beautiful and hilly seven acre neighborhood park that is not far from downtown. The park is off of Sunset Road and just northwest of the corner of ​​Summit Street and Main Street.​​ View the Ann Arbor Parks and Nature Areas map​ for location context. Hunt Park features a great view of the downtown Ann Arbor skyline. Hunt offers plenty of open green space along with mature trees and plenty of amenities year round, including ​a play area, a small softball diamond, a large open field, a small shelter with restrooms and a drinking fountain, a basketball court and tennis courts. The shelter is very small, featuring space for a couple tables under an awning. View Park Rentals for information about renting the shelter. Benches and picnic tables are located throughout with an accessible path to the restrooms and play area off Daniel Street. A great sledding area is used in the winter, along with informal cross country skiing. Hunt is also home to community gardens managed by Project Grow​.

Park Notices

Unless otherwise posted per City Council resolution, when a park is closed, no person shall remain in or enter it other than to quietly sit or walk.​

Refer to Chapter 39 of the City of Ann Arbor Code of Ordinances for park regulations and rules.

Park Hours

6 a.m. – Midnight

Amenities

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Drinking Fountain

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Playground

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Restrooms (Open Seasonally)

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Basketball Court

 

Grill

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Picnic Tables

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Picnic Shelter

 

Tennis Court

 

Landfill & Recycling Bins

 

Open Field

 

Community Garden

 

Baseball & Softball Field


 
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Access and Parking

The park is bordered on three sides by Spring Street, Sunset Road and Daniel Street. The park is wide open on each of these streets and there is plentiful street parking on each.

The park is accessible on foot by walking through the neighborhood sidewalks, and on bicycle by riding through the neighborhood stre​ets.​ There are no bike racks at the park.

Public Transportation

There are nearby bus stops o​​n Miller​ Avenue. The nearest stop is about a 10 minute walk. Visit TheRide for closest stops and route details or check out the parks ride guide. ​


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History​​​

Ann Arbor's city parks sit on the ancestral and traditional homelands​ of several indigenous Native peoples. Read a land acknow​ledgement from the city and learn more a​bout the early history of the land here.​​

The land that comprises the neighborhood surrounding Hunt Park was known as "Hiscock's addition," named after Daniel Hiscock who owned the land and had it platted as an addition to the city in 1859. Maria Hiscock, Daniel's wife, was a daughter of Eber and Polly White, who are commemorated today in the names of Eberwhite Nature Area and Eberwhite Elementary School.​ Daniel Street, which forms the park's eastern border, is named after Mr. Hiscock. Other streets near Hunt Park pay tribute ​the Hiscock family also. Daniel and Maria Hiscock had two sons named Charles and Edward, and streets near the park bear their names. An 1864 Plan of​ the City of Ann Arbor maps out the land that was known as Hiscock Addition in the Northwest part of town. For a deeper dive into the history read ​Hunt Park History by Martha Hill​ written in 2021.  


A view of the city skyline from the land that would become Hunt Park, 1939. (Source: AADL​​)

The land comprising Hunt Park was given to the city in 1943 by Ormond E. Hunt, who was the vice president of General Motors at the time, and his second wife Maud Quinlan Hunt. While the story behind the gifting of the land, like so many things, remains a bit of a mystery, the deed to the city specified that the land was for "school and park purposes and for such purposes exclusively". The Hunts chose the official dedication to read "Donated by Ormond & Hazel Hunt". Hazel was Ormond's first wife and mother of his four children; she had passed away in 1927. The gifting of the land was in response to Eli Gallup  (who Gallup Park​ is named after) writing to Hunt asking if the idle land could be used for "victory gardens." Victory gardens were established during the World Wars to help support the war effort and the troops abroad and were the original 'community gardens' as Project Grow references here. ​


Hunt Park under construction in 1951. (Source: AADL​)​​


The first improvements to the park were finished in 1953. In 1963 the park shelter was constructed​, after the park had been growing and improving.​​​​​​​​  In 1973, the Parks department documented Hunt Park history notes and outlined the amenities of that time. In 1981 a dedication was held in the park after numerous improvements were made to the park, including a new play area, new tr​e​es planted with funds from the Elizabeth R. Dean Fund​, new benches and picnic tables, a memorial grove, new entrance walk and more. 

View more historical articles and pictures of Hunt Park from the AADL here​.

Recent Developments

  • 2011: A new play structure was constructed
  • 2012: Access steps along Daniel Street, next to the retai​ning wall, were constructed
  • 2015:​ The tennis and basketball courts were completely rebuilt
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A2 Fix It

A2Fix It - Service request tool

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