Rolling Hills County Park
Just 10 miles outside of Ann Arbor lies the diverse family fun offered by Rolling Hills County Park. Rolling Hills is home to water adventure activities like wave pools, slides, spray zones and river tubing, as well as more traditional outdoor features like picnic areas, biking trails and even a sledding hill during the winter.
7660 Stony Creek Road
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
(734) 484-9676
www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/parks_recreation/index/hill/pr_pkroll.html
Lower Huron Metropark
Belleville, Mich., lies just 20 miles outside of Ann Arbor. Here you will find the Lower Huron Metropark, which is built on 1,258 acres along the Huron River and is home to the Turtle Cove Aquatic Center. According to the Michigan Tourism website, Turtle Cove offers two water slides, kid's sprayscape with 300-gallon dumping bucket, endless lazy river and zero-depth entry pool with lap lanes.
17845 Savage Road
Belleville, MI 48111
(734) 697-9181
metroparks.com/parks/pk_lower_huron.php
Splash-N-Blast
Drive a little farther (23 miles) outside Ann Arbor and you will find the town of Millford, Mich., home to the Splash-N-Blast water park, part of the Kensington Metropark Complex. The park has two 240-foot spiraling slides, as well as a giant spray area that boasts of spraying cannons, palm trees, snakes and a whale. Reservations are optional.
2240 Buno Road
Kensington Metropark
Milford, MI 48380
(800) 477-2757
metroparks.com/parks/pk_kensington.php
Waterford Oaks Waterpark
If you're willing to drive a little farther (37 miles), you will make it to the Waterford Oaks Waterpark located in Waterford, Mich. This water park is one of the largest and most impressive parks in Michigan. According to the Michigan Tourism website, the park features a barrier-free access wave action pool, a children's water playground, a dual-flume waterslide and a group raft ride that starts at a height of three stories and carries riders 515 feet through drops and turns.
1702 Scott Lake Road
Waterford, MI 48328-1917
(248) 858-0918
michigan.org/property/Detail.aspx?p=G20025
Article Written By Cam Middour
Cam Middour has an M.F.A. in writing from Columbia University, and has worked for "The New Yorker," "Narrative Magazine," and the Poetry Society of America. Her work is forthcoming, or has appeared in "New England Review," "Western Humanities Review," "Sarah Lawrence Review" and others. She has been writing professionally for seven years.
