Michigan’s Lost Dinosaur Park: What Remains of the Prehistoric Forest Today
Once one of Michigan's coolest 1960s attractions, the Prehistoric Forest Amusement Park in Irish Hills is now a forgotten, dinosaur-filled ruin.
Michigan had one of the coolest amusement parks of the 1960s before it went extinct. Have you seen the Prehistoric Forest?
Before its caves closed for good, the Prehistoric Forest Amusement Park in the Irish Hills area of the Mitten State was a beloved attraction, according to Atlas Obscura.
A stroll through the park transported visitors back to the past. Fifteen sculpted dinosaurs coexisted beside cavemen, lavish waterfalls, interactive fossil-digging pits, and more. And then the park itself became a thing of the past.
The place had a safari train, towering dinosaurs, a working volcano, and a 400-foot water slide. It's wild to imagine how groundbreaking this park must have felt when it opened back in 1963.
Much like the dinosaurs themselves, the Prehistoric Forest Amusement Park is now extinct. But you can still see its remains just thirty minutes south of Jackson, in Onsted, Michigan.
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The Prehistoric Forest Amusement Park, tucked into Michigan's Irish Hills, was a beloved attraction during its 1960s heyday. Opened in 1963, the park let visitors step back in time among fifteen life-sized dinosaur sculptures, caveman displays, interactive fossil-digging pits, and scenic waterfalls.
Unfortunately, like the dinosaurs it celebrated, the Prehistoric Forest eventually went extinct itself, closing its doors over 25 years ago. A YouTube video from seven years ago captures the park's dilapidated state, showing its deterioration over the years and serving as a nostalgic reminder of what once was.
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Gallery Credit: Tommy McNeill
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