Hills & Dales MetroPark — Attraction in Kettering

If I could rate them negative stars I would. Not wedding friendly even though they list themselves as wedding venues. I personally went to the park and spoke with the park manager prior to booking a wedding site and a reception site a year in advance. Emails from the park confirming our reservations all stated I needed to upload a liability insurance policy 30 days before the event. I purchased this non refundable policy but when I attempted to upload it 30 days before the wedding it would not let me. I contacted the park and was informed I did not need a liability policy. I’m reviewing the event however suddenly there was an issue in that the Dee Jay and food truck were not allowed, however due to miscommunication they were going to allow it but I had to purchase a special permit. I did so as it was too late to change the venue. The day of the event the person who issues the permits harassed us, stopping by during set up of the reception to make sure we were following their guidelines, went to the wedding site 13 minutes before the start of the ceremony and told the Dee Jay he was not permitted at the wedding, only at the reception site leaving us with no music for the bridal party to proceed to and causing a considerable delay in the start of the wedding as we scrambled to adjust. It was our Dee Jay that notified me, as the woman’s notification was an email that I didn’t see until the next day. What parent is checking their email 13 minutes before the start of the ceremony? Later at the reception s Park Ranger came through and rudely barked at one of my guests holding my car door open for me that alcohol was not allowed off the shoulder of the shelter grounds. My guest was drinking sparkling grape juice, and his glass was empty at the time anyway. Also, reserving a shelter does not reserve the parking lot at the shelter so you may or may not have a place for your...

I booked the Dogwood Pavilion for a 10 person intimate wedding ceremony. Reservation was created March 8 for the September 20th event. I called today to double check my reservation on a whim and found out that my event was cancelled back on May 31. I supposedly received an email notification (which possibly went to my junk mail) and my fiancé’s credit card refunded our money. The park is not allowing reservations for weddings even of 10 people or less due to Covid. I am understanding that Covid has presented challenges for many and is unlike anything we have ever experienced. However, I would have thought a wedding reservation would deserve a personal phone call or voicemail over an email. Very unprofessional. The lady in the phone was trying to be helpful and stated that all the shelters will be open on a first come first serve basis which makes zero sense in practicing social distancing as compared to a restricted group who made a reservation. Who would want to risk that for a wedding? I’m glad I called before sending our invitations to print. I now have less than 3 months to re-plan what I thought was a social distancing compliant event. Very...

This park is long and narrow. It has great views of golf courses on both sides during the winter when the leaves are off the trees. Being so narrow, most of the hikes are out and back instead of the loop hikes that I prefer. There are numerous historical points along the way. A statue of Patterson on a horse being the prominent one. Patterson used to own this land including the golf course off of Dorothy Lane. My understanding is that he deeded the land to the public in his will. Patterson used to own a business and he frequently rode horseback with his employees on this land. The park also has a stone tower that is supposedly haunted as well as many older stone buildings. The West End of the park has a playground and a picnic area. The central area of the park has a pond with waterfall and a picnic area as well. It really is a beautiful park, but it would be nice to have access to loop hikes. It is a nice mix of a city park (thank playgrounds and shelters and man-made water features) and a more outdoorsy...