Outdoor Adventure Center — Attraction in Detroit

I brought my 4 year old child with me for my first visit to the DNR Outdoor Recreation Center today. The parking lot was very rough, lots of pot holes and rough areas to drive over. The gate was half open and bent. My car barely fit through. It was gated though, and free! About 200 ft or so from the building. The front area staff member was courteous, and the price was great! $5 for me $3 for him. We came right at opening (10am) on a Friday. I was impressed by how neat and clean the area seemed when we first walked in. There are complimentary lockers (which were great) where you can put in your own combination to secure your belongings! There was a fair amount to do here - like the tree playground (my 4 year old's favorite), some simulation rides/ activities, a waterfall with some river stones to cross nearby (another favorite of his), and a lot of areas where you can learn about nature in Michigan. It was a little disappointing that some of the activities weren't working - like the bike ride simulation (the screen wouldn't start and one of the bikes was practically held together with clear packing tape. The seat was nearly falling off!), one of the hunting simulators was very glitchy, and one of the "look and find" tablets in the hunting blind kept freezing up. The staff seemed generally friendly too. I must say though that there were a lot of field trips there when we went. The kids were very rowdy and it didn't seem like their caregivers were looking after them all that well. They were making huge messes in the cafeteria and the play kitchen (even scooping out the pretend "dirt" from the garden to put into pots and pans on the stove). Many of the caregivers were also not following the rules (such as meeting their children at the top of the tree-house ladder and keeping all food and beverages in the cafeteria). They didn't clean up after themselves at all either. It seemed kind of hectic and was very frustrating for me. I know it is not the DNR facility's fault. I saw staff members consistently reminding children and caregivers of the rules - plus there were many announcements reminding people of the rules. After about 1 o'clock the field trip kids left and it was pretty empty. It seems like that would be a good time to go if you only wanted to spend a couple of hours there. The staff was busy cleaning up as soon as all of the field trip kids left too! Overall we had a good time, and my child definitely loved it. I think we will be back again one day - although maybe at a less busy time. It seems like a great place to go during these long Michigan winters or on...

My group of “18”children and adults had the worst experience ever with management at Outdoor Adventure Center “Detroit” on 8/23/2023. To be more specific the manager’s name is “LINDA”. Linda explained the group policy of Outdoor Adventure of which we were aware. We had the correct number of children not to be considered a group, needing to make a reservation. Linda was so rude to me in front of my group of children. She was irate and loud to the point I asked her to take a few deep breaths and calm herself down. She had no reason to be so outraged with me attempting to bring my children to the Outdoor AdventureCenter to patronize what the city of Detroit advertises as a family place to visit. We unfortunately were turned away because Linda insisted we were a group. Despite the policy posted on the website stating “20” people or more are considered a group. I explained to Linda we were visitors just last Summer, same number of people no reservation. Linda exclaimed to me, “that was last year”. One our seven year young students was so distraught, she explained that “we were kicked out”. One of my colleagues asked Linda “who is your boss? Due to Linda’s erratical behavior. Linda then smirked and explained she was the boss. A husband, wife and two children walked in during Linda’s behavior and became upset the way she was treating our group. The mother explained to Linda how rude and unprofessional she was to a groups of children. The most hurtful part of this situation is being a Detroit resident and owning a business in the city of Detroit and being treated like I didn’t belong. This was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to explain to a group of...

My three kids ages two through five enjoyed the outdoor adventure center. The prices were reasonable, and there were a variety of things for the kids to do. However, I'm not sure I'd go back for 2 reasons: 1) One of the employees, Corene, was extremely rude during the entire duration of my visit. Unfortunately, she kept switching from area to area and was in the same area as us the entire time. I had my three kids there along with a stroller for my baby. She was constantly telling me to move the stroller, although it was not in the way of anything. Strollers are allowed, and if the employees are going to harass the visitors about exact placement of strollers the entire time, they should just say they're not allowed - I was asked multiple times by Corene to move my stroller just 2-3 inches (is that necessary?). She was staring at me and my children the entire time, making me feel uncomfortable (my children are well behaved so I'm not sure why she was). And at the end when my three kids waited in line for the ATV, new people arrived in the line and she suddenly told me only 2/3 of my kids could drive it since people just came into the line behind us. I purchased tickets for all 3 kids so they should be able to experience everything. 2) There were many kids there on field trips so my children had to wait a very long time to do some things, and for others, they could not do them since the field trip kids would not let others waiting...