For decades, the channel of the San Antonio River north of the popular restaurants and retail shops downtown was overgrown and blighted — the kind of place tourists went only if they made a wrong turn. Not anymore.

A $72 million overhaul — essentially doubling the size of the River Walk — has transformed the dry weed-choked eyesore north of the River Walk into a 1 1/2-mile manicured waterway with whimsical art, benches and fountains, en route to attractions upriver.

The so-called "museum reach" of the River Walk, which opened May 30, connects visitors from the busy convention center and Alamo area to the San Antonio Museum of Art and the Pearl Brewery, a retail redevelopment project. Opening this fall, a path will allow pedestrians and cyclists to keep going north along the river to Brackenridge Park, home of the Witte Museum and the zoo.

Visitors can ride water taxis from downtown, hailing them from any of the landings, or walk the paved path past the lock system that raises and lowers the boats as they move upstream and downstream over a 9-foot elevation change.

Along the way, trees and flowers line the sidewalks, with covered overlooks and water features.

A small steel bridge that once allowed beer kegs to move between the two towers of the old Lone Star Brewery, now home to the art museum, was turned into a small footbridge over the river, said Boone Powell, the lead designer on the project.

Twelve artworks are scattered along the three miles of walkway. One is a 150-foot cement cave-like sculpture with a waterfall and a school of brightly colored sunfish suspended from wires, beneath the Interstate 35 overpass.

The pathways are lighted at night, as are many of the art pieces. Two others under bridges are designed to be at their showiest after dark.

WATER TAXIS: Water taxi barges charge $10 for 24 hours of unlimited access. You can hail one from any of the landings in the downtown River Walk or the new museum stretch and pay aboard.

The taxis are operated by Rio San Antonio Cruises, which also offers guided tours of the River Walk: www.riosanantonio.com.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS: The San Antonio Museum of Art is open six days a week, closed on Mondays: www.samuseum.org.

VFW Post 76 is open every day, starting at 2 p.m. Mondays through Saturday s and at noon on Sundays: vfwpost76.org.

The Pearl Brewery has a few restaurants and shops open but is still under development. An amphitheater on the riverbank is expected to open next year, but the farmers' market is open every Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: www.pearlbrewery.com/.