Booth Park Is Closed Until Summer 2027. Birmingham's Winter Moves North and West.
November 12, 2026
November 12, 2026
Booth Park is closed this winter, sledding hill included. The City of Birmingham's Booth Park page says the whole park is closed for construction until summer 2027. That includes the playground, the sledding hill and the Booth Park entrance to the Rouge River chip trail. The city says crews will keep working through the winter and into warmer weather.
So winter moves elsewhere. For this season, Birmingham's outdoor life shifts away from the corner of Old Woodward and Harmon and into a handful of parks spread across the city. The same 2020 bond that closed Booth paid for several of them. And the city is now asking residents which of two of those parks should get the next new feature.
Booth sits at the southwest corner of Old Woodward and Harmon, just north of the Rouge River branch. Its history explains why losing it for a season stings. In 2007, residents and business owners raised more than $170,000 in private donations and helped plan the park, and hundreds of volunteers built the playscape in a single week. Michael J. Dul & Associates, a landscape architecture firm based in Birmingham, designed it, and the design won a 2009 merit award from the Michigan Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
The current project is the Booth Park Entry Plaza and Trail Improvements, one of the projects funded by the Parks and Recreation Bond that more than 70% of voters approved in November 2020. It adds:
With a restroom and a trail entry, Booth is meant to become the main gateway to Birmingham's Rouge River trails. The wider trail concept, designed by consultant MCSA Group, includes five trail entry identifiers and a new pedestrian bridge south of Maple leading into the Linden Park trail. It also calls for clearer signage between Willits and Maple, with the Birmingham Museum marked as a point of interest.
Some city pages still list Booth for sledding, but the Booth Park page is clear that the hill is closed. Here is where the season's activities go instead.
| Activity | Where | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Sledding | Hill behind the Birmingham Museum | One of the city's named sledding spots |
| Sledding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing | Lincoln Hills Golf Course, 2666 W. 14 Mile Rd. | Typically opens once there are four inches of snow or more. No rental equipment |
| Outdoor skating | Barnum Park rink, off Pierce near George | Opens when the weather allows a safe ice surface |
| Playgrounds | Poppleton, Pumphouse and West Lincoln Well parks | New playgrounds opened in 2025 and 2026 |
Lincoln Hills Golf Course is a city-owned nine-hole course built in 1964, on 14 Mile Road just off S. Cranbrook Road. The rolling ground that makes it a challenging golf course also makes it Birmingham's best sledding when the snow is deep. The city says the course typically opens for sledding, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing once at least four inches of snow have fallen. Bring your own skis and snowshoes, since none are rented. The city asks visitors to call Lincoln Hills at 248-530-1670 for sledding hours and updates before heading over.
That four-inch minimum matters. On a light-snow day, the Museum hill is the city's other named sledding spot. Lincoln Hills only comes into play after a real storm.
The outdoor rink at Barnum Park, at Pierce and Frank, is built fresh each winter. Department of Public Services crews fill and line it, and the city posts signs showing the condition of the ice. The city's winter sports page says the rink opens once temperatures are consistently cold enough, and it asks residents to watch for an official opening announcement from the city.
A few rink rules worth knowing before you go:
The hockey windows are the detail that shapes a family visit. Mid-morning and the hours between lunch and 2 p.m. fall outside them.
Neighbors helped pay for Barnum's improvements, much as they did for Booth. According to the Birmingham-Bloomfield Bulletin, the city's park history credits the Community for Barnum Park, a volunteer group that began fundraising in 2007, with about $177,000 in donations. Barnum is also home to Birmingham's first Little Free Library.
The Booth Park page itself suggests a winter alternative, pointing families to "fun new playgrounds at Poppleton, Pumphouse and West Lincoln Well parks." All three came out of the same bond program as the Booth project, under Citywide Playground Improvements, which the City Commission approved in April 2025.
On a dry December afternoon with no snow for the hills and no ice at Barnum, these are the newest equipment in town. None of it sits downtown.
Two park names keep coming up this winter, and the city's latest request puts them side by side. Birmingham wants input on where to install free outdoor fitness equipment, and a feasibility study named Barnum Park and Poppleton Park as the strongest candidates, the Bulletin reported on November 6. The final site could still change based on public feedback and further evaluation.
According to the same report, the stations would make up a free workout area with spots for stretching and bodyweight exercises, designed for strength, balance and flexibility. They could serve solo workouts, small groups and organized programs. The project falls under Birmingham's 2024–2028 Parks and Recreation Master Plan, adopted on December 18, 2023, and the city has applied for a National Fitness Campaign grant to help pay for it.
Barnum already has the winter rink, and Poppleton already has the city's newest playground. Whichever park gets the fitness stations will add a year-round feature to a place already carrying more of the load while Booth is closed. Comments go through the Engage Birmingham outdoor fitness equipment page or to the Parks and Recreation Office at 248-530-1640.
Downtown's winter centerpiece is Shain Park, and its holiday calendar is running as usual. The Birmingham Shopping District's schedule for the next few weeks:
Booth is a short walk north of Shain Park. This year the downtown evenings stay in Shain, and the sledding and skating happen in the parks to the north and west.
Winter routines are a big part of what makes a Birmingham street feel like home, whether that's the closest hill after a storm or the rink you can walk to. If you're weighing how a move would change your family's routines, or you'd like to know what your current home is worth before the market picks up again in spring, Closing and Toasting can run your instant home valuation and walk you through it, sled hill question included.
Buying a home will likely be one of the most expensive purchases of your life and selling your home can be an incredibly emotional experience. When you're making a tough life decision like this, it's imperative that you're working with someone you can depend on, who will be available at a moments notice, and who puts you first.