Dinosaur Gardens - Ossineke, Michigan

11160 US Highway 23 S, Ossineke, MI

Dinosaur Gardens was built by Paul Domke beginning in the 1930s and operated by his family as a summertime tourist attraction. Together they built dozens of concrete sculptures of dinosaurs, cavemen and ice age mammals along a quiet walking trail through a cedar swamp. There are educational signs posted near the sculptures, but most of the attraction of park comes from the dramatic setting of the thick old growth forest. The dinosaurs may be a bit crudely constructed, and their painted skins a bit garish, but its thrilling to imagine what it may have been like to encounter these beasts up close in the wild swamps of the mesozoic.

Dinosaur Gardens is open from Memorial Day through September.