Houghton Skatepark – Michigan
The Houghton Skatepark is a 5,000-square-foot outdoor concrete skatepark in Houghton, Michigan that first opened in 2018.
The skatepark is a bit on the smaller side compared to other parks, however, for the small Lake Superior town of Houghton, Michigan, the park is perfect for the local skate population.
The Houghton Skatepark is located directly on the shore of Lake Superior which makes a beautiful backdrop for the park, however, the lake has its own unique weather system that skaters should be aware of.
Be prepared to dress in layers and for sudden changes in weather that can produce strong gusts of wind and plummeting temperatures.
Details
| Location | Houghton, Michigan |
| Address | 1220-1298 E Lakeshore Drive Houghton Michigan 49931 |
| Coordinates | 47.12254, -88.55972 |
| Features | A quarterpipe, corner, hubbas, banks, ledges, stairs, handrails, flat rails, and a manual pad. |
| Size | 5,000 square feet |
| Riding Allowed | Skateboards, BMX bikes, in-line skates, and scooters. |
| Construction | Concrete |
| Hours | Sunrise to Sunset |
| Lights | No |
| Fence | No |
| Fee | No cost |
| Phone | (906) 482-1700 |
| Opened | 2018 |
| Design/Build | Spohn Ranch Skateparks |
Houghton Skatepark Overview
Although the Houghton Skatepark is only 5,000 square feet, the Spohn Ranch design and construction team did a wonderful job fully utilizing the space to give skaters plenty of options to practice their tricks.
The overall shape of the park is triangular with quarterpipes, banks, roll-ins, and a corner pipe to enclose the centrally placed street plaza section. On one far end is a quarterpipe roll-in combination that leads down into the street plaza section.
Another corner of the triangle contains the rounded-off corner pipe that skaters love to see how far around the corner they can keep their boards or trucks on the coping for. The challenge is to build up enough speed and to keep your balance long enough that you can round the entire corner before dropping back down into the street plaza.
The third corner of the triangle is a simple drop-in quarterpipe that immediately leads into two different ledges, a stair set, and a flat rail. Skaters can drop in, clear the stairs, then either hit the corner pipe or hang left and choose from a few other ledges, rails, and a manual pad.
The Houghton Skatepark was first realized in 2014 when the City of Houghton updated its Master Plan for the City to identify a skate park as a project to be constructed before 2018. A committee was formed in 2015 that was in charge of commissioning the design and working with local skaters to help understand what the citizens of Houghton were looking for in a skatepark.
Once Spohn Ranch came on board to help with the design and construction process, the land was donated and Spohn Ranch got to work. The Houghton Skatepark was to be part of the Houghton Waterfront Recreation Area, and after $200,000 was raised through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Tony Hawk Foundation, City funds, and local art auctions, the park was able to break ground and opened in 2018.
The local art auctions consisted of skateboard decks donated by a local skateboard deck manufacturer, Quincy Woodwrights, that were then painted by local artists and auctioned off to raise money for the skatepark.
In this video, some BMX guys ride the park:
