Fort Lauderdale Riverwalk Visitor Guide 2026

The Fort Lauderdale Riverwalk is a public linear park on both banks of the New River downtown, with a walk of about 2 1/2 miles inside a 3 square mile Riverwalk District that takes in 10 more parks.

The district figures come from Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale, the nonprofit that oversees the Riverwalk District, which counts the 2 1/2 mile linear walk along the north and south sides of the New River plus 10 additional parks in a district of about 3 square miles (Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale, district parks). It names Cooley's Landing Park as the beginning of the Riverwalk.

The city's own listing is narrower. City of Fort Lauderdale Parks and Recreation lists Riverwalk Linear Park at 20 N. New River Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312, phone 954-828-7275, as a 5.59 acre park with a gazebo, park benches, picnic tables, restrooms and a waterfront walkway (City of Fort Lauderdale, Riverwalk Linear Park). The park is closed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. every day, so the riverfront path is open to walkers 22 hours a day. Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the City of Fort Lauderdale Parks and Recreation website.

The two figures cover different things: 5.59 acres is the city listing for the parcel called Riverwalk Linear Park, while 2 1/2 miles is the nonprofit figure for the walk through its wider Riverwalk District.

The Riverwalk District parks named by Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale start at Cooley's Landing and include Esplanade Park, Huizenga Plaza, Laura Ward Plaza and, on the south side of the New River, Smoker Park.

Hardy Park has a covered playground for toddlers and children, while Smoker Park on the south side of the New River carries a 10 unit exercise station and chess tables (Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale, district parks).

The Riverwalk 9/11 Monument stands on the path. Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale says it was dedicated by Mayor Dean Trantalis on Friday, September 11, 2020 at 9:10 a.m., and that it displays a PATH rail segment from the World Trade Center wreckage, raised on paired granite pillars joined by an internally illuminated acrylic spine, with lighting so it is lit at night (Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale, 9/11 Monument).

History Fort Lauderdale, in the New River Inn in Riverwalk Park, is the museum on the Riverwalk itself, and three other Fort Lauderdale venues set their own hours.

The Museum of Discovery and Science, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale each list a Fort Lauderdale address with their own hours and tickets.

History Fort Lauderdale opens seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 231 SW 2nd Avenue and runs docent guided tours at 1, 2 and 3 p.m., with free admission for SNAP EBT card holders who show photo ID (History Fort Lauderdale). It also keeps six artist studios on the third floor of the New River Inn, with artist guided tours available every day.

The Museum of Discovery and Science, with its IMAX theater, lists its address as 401 SW Second Street and its hours as Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. (Museum of Discovery and Science). The Broward Center for the Performing Arts gives its address as 201 Southwest 5th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312 (Broward Center for the Performing Arts). NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, at One East Las Olas Boulevard, is closed on Mondays (NSU Art Museum, hours and admission), while History Fort Lauderdale lists its hours as seven days a week.

The city water trolley is a free City of Fort Lauderdale boat that loops the New River past the Riverwalk daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., stopping at 8 designated stops, 4 on each bank.

The city runs the service in partnership with Water Taxi of Fort Lauderdale and Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale; the boat wears the Water Taxi yellow wrap with a LauderGO! flag and seats 20 (City of Fort Lauderdale, LauderGO! Water Trolley). Riders board and leave only at the posted stops, the estimated wait at any stop is 20 to 30 minutes, and New River bridge openings can add delays. Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale lists the trolley's eight stops as four on the north side and four on the south side of the New River (Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale, downtown parking and transportation).

Two of the eight stops are out of service as of October 15, 2026. The city lists Huizenga Plaza and Bubier Park, and Riverfront Plaza, as unavailable due to ongoing construction, which leaves Riverwalk Laura Ward Park, Esplanade Park, Tarpon River, New River Yacht Club, Downtown and Smoker Park. The trolley also does not run from October 28 through November 1, 2026 during the Boat Show, according to the city notice.

The water trolley vessel is not wheelchair accessible, and the city names the LauderGO! community shuttle as the alternative. Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale says it identified and put the free trolley in place in 2015 (Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale, about).

The city-owned Riverwalk Center garage at 150 SE 2nd Street is the downtown garage named for the Riverwalk, charging $3.00 per hour around the clock with 552 spaces.

The city lists a Resident Rate of $1.50 per hour, and the Riverwalk Center garage limits stays to 6 hours on the first floor and 10 hours on the second and third floors (City of Fort Lauderdale, public parking garages). It accepts bills and credit cards but no coins and has two electric vehicle charging stations. The larger City Hall Garage at 100 N. Andrews Avenue holds 2,101 spaces at $4.00 per hour, so the Riverwalk Center garage is the cheaper hourly choice of the two for a Riverwalk visit.

The city's Go Riverwalk page carries a Riverwalk parking map alongside its description of the year round activities Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale presents in Riverwalk Park (City of Fort Lauderdale, Go Riverwalk). Because the first floor of the Riverwalk Center garage has a 6 hour limit, festival visitors planning a long day on the Riverwalk do better on the second or third floor, where the limit is 10 hours.

The Sunday Jazz Brunch, a free concert on the first Sunday of each month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., is the standing Riverwalk event, joined this fall by festivals on October 17, November 7 and November 14, 2026.

The Sunday Jazz Brunch puts local jazz musicians on three stages along the Riverwalk, and well behaved leashed pets are welcome (Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale, Sunday Jazz Brunch). The organizer says there is room for chairs, blankets and picnic baskets along the brick lined Riverwalk, and its event listing places the brunch at Esplanade Park.

The festival dates in the table come from the Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale event listings (Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale). The November 1, 2026 jazz brunch falls on the last day of the Boat Show water trolley shutdown, so the free water trolley is not running that Sunday.

The City of Fort Lauderdale lists Riverwalk Linear Park among its parks, and Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit the city set up in December 1988, plans, programs and promotes Riverwalk Park.

Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale says the city created the organization three years after securing funding for a linear public park along the New River, to help with design, fundraising and advocacy, and that it played a significant role in obtaining a regional park designation for the Riverwalk from Broward County (Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale, about). It lists its work with the city, Broward County and the Downtown Development Authority of Fort Lauderdale.

Among the projects the nonprofit credits to itself are Light Up Lauderdale, the holiday lights it has hung along the Riverwalk every season since 2007, two 10 unit exercise stations added in 2014 and 2015, four public art pieces installed in 2015, and the 9/11 Monument in 2020. It also publishes Go Riverwalk, a magazine on downtown Fort Lauderdale happenings, in 12 issues a year.