River Rangers (ages 5-12) are invited to an hour of fascinating outdoor learning of STEM on every Wednesday in June and July. Each program is FREE, however, space is limited to 30 children, so pre-registration is required. To register, please email your child’s name(s) and the class title to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Registration deadlines are the Monday prior to each date.
Weather Rangers
Weather Rangers
June 7, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Become a Weather Ranger! We forecast a lesson on weather, meteorology, and extreme storms. Plus, there’s a 100% chance of games and weather experiments. Take home your experiments and earn a STEM badge.
Slime VS Oobleck
June 14, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Get ready to get messy, River Rangers! We will be making and learning the different properties of slime and oobleck. Take home your experiment and earn a STEM badge.
Lego Day
June 21, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Are you up for the Lego build challenge? River Rangers will be tasked to build various STEM projects with the blocks provided to understand the mechanics of each part. Challenge accepted? – Earn a STEM badge and take home the Legos.
Build a Boat
June 28, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
River Rangers will learn all that goes into what makes a boat, a boat! Come and join us for boat rides on the St. Mary’s River and a chance to build your own boat! Take home your experiment and earn a STEM badge.
The Life of a Butterfly
July 5, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Join us for a chance to see what it is like to be a butterfly. During this, River Rangers will learn about the beautiful life cycle of a butterfly and different types of butterfly species! Take home your experiment and earn a STEM badge.
DIY Scratch Paper
July 12, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
River Rangers have the chance to make their own secret message for their peers to discover. Take home your experiments and earn a STEM badge.
Bug-Tastic
July 19, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Discover the amazing world of bugs! Your adventure will include a bug hunt and crafting your own insect. Construct a bug hotel to earn a STEM badge
Moon Observing 101
July 26, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
River Rangers will learn all about moons. From types of moons, when the moon is visible, and other factors that play a role in what is visible to the human eye. Take home your moon observing sheets and earn a STEM badge.
Storytime at the Park
Park Foundation Pavilion Patio
Promenade Park, 202 W. Superior St.
Join the Allen County Public Library and Riverfront Fort Wayne on Wednesday mornings for fresh air, sunshine and children’s literature at Promenade Park. Most dates will be held under the awning of the Park Foundation Pavilion. No pre-registration is required.
The Parks History & Highlights link will be updated monthly with the latest Parks Showcase being released. If you would like to see a detailed list of each park with their amenities, check out the Park Page Linksor if you would like to see a detailed history through the years, check out the History of the Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department link.
A picture from 1980 with Jerry Byanski and Larry Walter (retired employees) with a Landscape Designer from our sister city Takaoka, Japan showcasing the new Japanese Friendship Garden.
Riverfront Fort Wayne’s Calm Water Sensory Tent is a mobile sensory room designed to mimic stationary sensory rooms used for individuals with autism, dementia, sensory processing disorders, and more. The individual’s experience in the tent is entirely customized and targets sensory seeking or avoidant needs. Adult supervision is required. Stays in the tent last 15 minutes and time slots are on a first come, first served basis during events. For questions, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The Calm Water Sensory Tent is proudly sponsored by AWS Foundation.
The Calm Walter Sensory Tentwill be available at special events held throughout the year.
Promenade Park, South Boat Dock 202 West Superior Street All Ages Welcome
Tours on Sweet Breeze will be available starting May 27th. Purchase tickets TODAY!
Relax and enjoy a guided cruise on the Fort Wayne Rivers. Sweet Breeze, Fort Wayne’s authentic canal boat replica is offering 45, 60 and 90 minute tour lengths. This fully accessible tour will be a fun experience for everyone! Each tour provides an opportunity to learn something new about Fort Wayne through its riverfront.
2023 Pricing
Purchase tickets TODAY!IF you prefer, you can purchase tickets via phone (260) 427-6000 or at 705 E. State Blvd., Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805.
The boat is handicap accessible with an accessible restroom on board
There is a ramp in the park down to the dock, a loading ramp to get on board the boat, and the boat chairs are easily removable
For wheelchair parking, on this map, the blue line is where the handicap parking spaces are, and the white line shows the path and walking distance from there down to the loading dock, and the green line represents where the boat will be.
Do you have additional questions? E-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
A special thanks to Mark Jones, Friends of the Rivers, for this photo!
A Little Background Information:
Sweet Breeze was built by Scarano Boat Builders out of Albany, NY. It is flat-bottomed, aluminum hulled boat which is 54’ long, has a draft of 2.75’ and an air draft of 8.5’. The new build was modeled after 1840s canal boat, but in order to better fit our waterways, was scaled back to ¾ the size of the historic canal boats. It is powered by a single 55 HP Marine Diesel Volvo Penta engine. It was delivered by a lowboy trailer in January 2017, craned into the Maumee River on May 20th and christened on June 5th. The Sweet Breeze is wheelchair accessible.
A Brief History
Fort Wayne’s history is tied to canal boats and to the Wabash and Erie Canal. The Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Over 478 miles long, it was the longest canal ever built in North America.The canal began operation in the summer of 1843, yet only operated for a decade before it became apparent that it was not economically viable. Even when the canal boats were operated at extremely slow speeds, the banks rapidly eroded, and the canal had to be constantly dredged to be operable. The last canal boat on the Wabash Canal made its last docking in 1874 in Huntington, Indiana. Sweet Breeze recreates the mystery and excitement of what was to be a new era of commerce and travel in the Midwest. Fort Wayne was the highest point on the canal (i.e. the summit), so Fort Wayne earned the name “Summit City”. Canal boats carried people and goods on our rivers and canals from 1843-1874 which was much faster than burdensome wagons. Drafts animals, usually mules, pulled long, narrow canal boats by a rope on a path next to the canal, called a towpath.
The Sweet Breeze Canal Boat is back on the St. Marys River! Step aboard and learn more about the upcoming season of general and specialty tours at the Season Kickoff Open House on Friday, May 26, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Testimonials
Yesterday I had the pleasure to take the Sweet Breeze boat tour. Absolutely everyone involved from tickets to disembarking was a great representative of FTW Parks Dept. Mark also was a delight and knowledgeable of the history. It was a wonderful 90 minute boat ride. Thank you, Carolyn T.
Our thanks to you and your staff for your service to our Senior Saints and for your assistance in helping our Senior Saints with their wheel chair, walkers, canes, etc. on our tour of the rivers of Fort Wayne. Your staff, your docent, your captain and his assistants provided our Senior Saints, with our special needs, the assistance to enjoy the river tour. You and their service was above and beyond what we would have expected. Larry G.
Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation is offering Sweet Breeze Boat Tours through a partnership with Friends of the Rivers.
2023 School Group Field Trips on Sweet Breeze
Friends of the Rivers will again be offering on-river school group field trips that meet Indiana DOE Standards for Social Studies (Indiana and Regional History) for grades 3, 4 & 5 and Science (Ecology) for grades 4 – 11. All field trips are open for all abilities on our fully accessible boat.
The 45 minute field trips will again have a discounted cost of $5 per student underwritten by Friends of the Rivers. There is a minimum of 20 youth per tour. A maximum of three school staff are admitted free and any additional adults are charged the community tour rate.
AWS Foundation fully funds our Adaptive Education tours. Friends of the Rivers underwrites a limited number of field trips. Please call Amanda Black (427-5023) to reserve a discounted field trip for your school.
Above is a video of Sweet Breeze being launched for the 2022 season. Purchase your tickets in the SPRING to ride Fort Wayne's replica canal boat along our rivers.
Sweet Breeze ends the 2022 season! Sweet Breeze is pulled from the river to go to her winter home! We thank you for joining us on a tour this season.
The Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department has initiated a riparian management plan that will improve and protect the shoreline and water quality for generations to come.
Riparian photos before/after a portion of Bloomingdale Park was worked on.
Volunteers Needed for Riverfront Cleanups (Riparian Management)
If you would like to participate in a Riverfront cleanup, please sign up online to find the scheduled time that works best for you.
If you have a group of 10 or more volunteers, please contact KayeC Jones at 260-427-6408 to arrange a cleanup for your group.
Volunteers will clip honeysuckle limbs from bushes, cut down the remaining trunks with handsaws and carry the brush to an area in the park. All tools and work gloves will be provided. The honeysuckle stems are not prickly and the brush isn’t heavy. This is a family-friendly activity so children are welcome, too. Please dress for the weather! Close-toed shoes, like tennis shoes, are recommended.
Thanks to over 2,122 volunteers who have dedicated 8,991 volunteer man-hours by removing 90 tons of invasive species and more than 38,288 pounds of trash from banks and waterways. The volunteer investment saved the city a total of $171,014 to date!
