Whereas paying to enter a park is still acceptable, paying this much for a park with this little is not really. The only reason I was here, was because Chicago Botanical Garden had an Art Festival that made it a beehive with long queues, noise, etc. I needed a quiet and calm garden park to demonstrate and teach camera operation to someone.

The cost for Rosewood Park was $30 for 2 hours; ther same as for the nearby botanical garden, but the views are poor by comparison. There are no restrooms in the park. There is a beach attached tho ther park, but it costs a further $10 per person to enter, and only there can one go to the restroom.

So you decide to pay the $40 for 4 hours, to have a picnic with your kids and then step into dog poop left by some kind but careless animal lover. The kids wasnt to play on the beach, so its $40 more, and after 4 hours, you are left wondering what ever happened to the days when parks were places whe you stopped and enjoyed a time of connecting with nature, free of cost...

Maybe this is the local populace's way of saying "You're not really welcome in our neighborhood." Or maybe its capitalisation on the rare little cliff feature overlooking the lake in the otherwise mostly cliffless Illinois beaches.

Whichever it is, I would think twice before returning (which seems to be the exact desired effect).