The island was landscaped in the 1880's by Frederick Law Olmsted, a prominent urban park designer. The 1908 Belle Isle Casino building is still used for occasional public events but no longer a casino. The highlight of Belle Isle is the combination of the America's first public aquarium (http://travel.michigan.org/detail.asp?m=2&p=B564) and a beautiful botanical garden. (http://www.bibsociety.org/sys-tmpl/door/) The island is home to a herd of escaped European fallow deer.
Additional recreational options include a nature center, wheelchair accessible nature trail, playground, picnic shelters, and tennis and basketball courts and baseball fields.
Belle Isle is also the name of an island in the James River that is located in Richmond, Virginia, and of an island off the coast of Brittany which may be the place where Breton is still spoken most.