Prairie View County Park — Attraction in Schoolcraft Township

This is a wonderful park with a very reasonable annual fee of only $25 allowing you access to both Prairie View and River Oaks Park.

While I haven't had time to experience other parts of the park beside the dogs park, when driving past the main area it looks very well kept up and nice.

Although there is a fee to enter the park, it's barely anything, especially considering the nice dog parks offered at these locations. For a whole year it costs only $25 which is a steal for what you get and if you're visiting it's only $5 for the whole day, you can leave and come back.

Prairie View dog park is very nice and offers four sections, more than River Oaks dog park offers. There is an East and West section, a small 25 lb. dog section for little dogs and a wooded area of three acres. Upon my first visit there the East section was open as they rotate between East and West so that one area can grow while the other is used. Sort of like pasture rotations. The East section, just like the West is very well maintained, has water fountains to fill your water bowl, many benches scattered about, and a poop station. When I went to take a walk in the wooded area it was very nice, the only downside is it was so small, aside from that it's very pretty out there. The small dog area is nice looking, I don't have any use for it though since I don't own any small dogs.

Overall, Prairie View dog park is super nice and I'd highly recommend it to anyone with a dog-friendly dog. I feel safe there and there are so many nice dog owners you can meet.

Tips: *bring a water bowl as none are provided, simply the water [expect to share it also] *while you can bring a tennis ball and Chuck It, it's not really advised since some dogs may not do well with sharing [note: this is a totally "free access" dog park in the idea that there is no evaluation that deems dogs okay or not okay for a dog park, enter at your own risk] *make sure your dog is totally okay with dogs as rough can get play and if a dog isn't that good with dogs it could turn into a fight *only have your dog in a flat, anything else isn't allowed and for good reason [you may bring you dog in a prong, chain, or head collar, however, it must be taken off once in the dog park]. many people ignore this rule, but seriously, follow it, it's in place for the dog's safety. *come in the morning for cooler weather and fewer dogs if you like that *evenings will have more people but not nearly as many as on the weekend *weekends are busiest, Saturday especially, so if your dog doesn't like huge crowds I'd avoid then *bring you camera if you have one as there are many great photo...

Extremely bad experience. We went there today to grill out and swim. Unfortunately there were no picnic tables to sit at except for the shelters (which you needed to rent in advance) and only two picnic tables strategically placed by the front gate. As we were unpacking our stuff at the picnic tables a park ranger walked over to us to inform us that we needed a permit if we were going to have more then 8 people. We only had 10 at that point (two families) but we’re expecting a few more. We literally have 7 people just in our family (5 kids, 2 parents). So we were basically kicked out and left no options. So trying to figure out what to do we asked to buy a permit and were told the office (how you buy these required permits) isn’t open on weekends. We asked to rent a pavilion and again, were told you have to do that through the office which wasn’t open. We asked to give them cash to buy a “permit” to process on Monday and again were told they couldn’t do that. So then after a lengthy heated discussion she allowed us to stay this one time but took our name and number and issued us a “warning”!!! Some people left and asked for a refund on their $5 admission and were told “no refunds”. We had only been there (in their plan view) for about 20 minutes. Beyond confused and offended!?!

I had already noted (when driving around trying to find a picnic table) that all their picnic tables were stored away stacked 3 high by a maintenance shed. So my only assumption is that they keep the tables packed away so that you have to rent a pavilion. The whole permit thing for any gathering of 8 or more people is beyond outrageous and extremely confusing. I have never heard of such a thing. And to come over to us a basically kick us out for having 10 people is again, beyond crazy. Horrible experience and will never, never be back. Highly recommend you don’t either. Looking back I guess we should have just said we didn’t know each other? Idk. Craziest thing I’ve ever heard of. Just to note we were not being loud or anything. We just had 3 adults and 7 kids at the time the park ranger approached us and had only been there about 20 minutes. Horrible, horrible experience. Wish I had asked the park rangers name but she was young and small stature. Very rude and had no personal skills. I guess she doesn’t make the rules but definitely could have handled the...

Pro: very nice, quaint, and nicely kept. Con: No place for my kid and baby-loving dog to swim. Yes, I'm aware there's a dog park. No, I don't think that my 85lb shepherd/husky dog would appreciate playing outside in that area on a day when it's 80+°F out lol. That would be irresponsible and lead to him being in stress and possibly overheating. I know not everyone likes dogs, and there are rules for dogs not to be allowed in the beach area. Thus, with that being said, I abided by that, and kept my dog out of the beach area, off of the sand, and on the grass, FAR away from where anyone else was residing. I'm always conscientious of others when I've got my dog with me so as to be respectful and mindful of how his presence may impact another being (e.g., some people have "dog trauma," allergies, etc.). Well.....I still got kicked out in less than 15min of being to the left of the beach area, and out of everyone's way. Do better, please. I'll be back when you adjust your...