Yunker Park — Attraction in Mokena

MEMBERSHIP ONLY PARK!!

We travel full-time and have visited parks all over the country — and we almost never leave negative reviews. But our experience with Yunker Park in Mokena, IL was so frustrating and disappointing that we felt obligated to share this.

We were excited to visit, but ended up wasting our time and energy due to poor communication, outdated systems, and misleading information.

The biggest issue is that this park is membership-only, but there is absolutely no mention of that anywhere on the website — not in the dog park section, not in the amenities list, and certainly not on the homepage. Most towns that charge for access make it clear, often in the park name or with a bold notice. But not here. We showed up, ready to enjoy the space with our dog, only to be turned away at the gate with no prior warning. How much research should someone have to do just to visit a local dog park? We’re not applying for a mortgage — we’re trying to give our dog some exercise. The fact that this information is hidden or buried is unacceptable and completely avoidable.

To make things even worse, the Google Maps pin leads to the wrong entrance — a literal “Do Not Enter” road that is both confusing and potentially dangerous. This isn’t just an oversight — it’s a basic failure in usability. It honestly feels like a Boomer set this up in the early 2000s and no one has touched it since. It’s long past time to hand your digital presence over to someone who understands how websites and map listings work.

And the justification for membership — requiring vaccine records “for safety” — is weak at best. People who use dog parks are the very people who care about their pets’ health and already vaccinate them. This feels less about safety and more about outdated policies and township gatekeeping. We’ve traveled to 49 states with our dog and have never seen this level of red tape surrounding a public dog park. Only in the southwest suburbs of Illinois have we run into this kind of nonsense. It’s just another reminder of why we’ll never move back to Illinois.

This state is already one of the most expensive and over-regulated in the country. Now even parks — which should be welcoming and accessible — are being locked behind vague policies, paywalls, and bureaucracy. You charge the public, then make it as difficult as possible to actually use what they paid for.

To the Mokena Park District: fix your Google Maps location. Fix your website. Make it crystal clear that this is a membership-only park. Respect people’s time and stop hiding behind outdated systems and excuses.

Until then, this isn’t a community park. It’s a paid-access headache pretending to be public space and a gated...

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