My Kind of Amusement Park

(Above) Vintage postcard from Prehistoric Forest in better days. This card is available at CardCow.

(Above) Back of postcard.

(Above) A Woolly Mammoth at the long abandoned Prehistoric Forest in Irish Hills, Michigan. Image © Debra Jane Seltzer. Image from RoadsideArchitecture.

Image © Debra Jane Seltzer. Image from RoadsideArchitecture.

Image © Debra Jane Seltzer. Image from RoadsideArchitecture.




MY KIND OF AMUSEMENT PARK? CLOSED. ABANDONED. So where does an amusement park go when they go out of business? Well, a few of them have simply been fenced off and left to decay, perhaps hoping for a buyer—someone with dreams of reviving it to make, uh... millions. The now defunct Prehistoric Forest in Irish Hills, Michigan (first opened in 1963) is actually for sale—and you can buy this 8-acre sweetheart for just $584,000. Oh, there are approximately 100 fiberglass dinosaurs on the property, including an arcade, gift shop, a swimming pool in not so good shape and a... community shower (which makes me a bit uncomfortable).

NileGuide, the travel blog, showcases eight different amusement parks, all fenced off with plenty of “No Trespassing” signs around. But come on—that’s no way to see an abandoned theme park! Go ahead, be bold.

And be sure to check out the larger site RoadsideArchitecture. It is chock full of good sites!

An AM repost from 6/30/10.