Dodge #4 State Park — Attraction in Waterford Township

I was not impressed at all with this park as so many others have been. To be honest this is the first bad park experience I've ever had. To start the staff was rude and seemed a bit hostel/uptight. This was my first visit here and because its on a good size lake I thought that the fishing might be good so I brought my 14' aluminum fishing boat to give it a shot. Let it be known I've been to a large number of parks in Michigan so I'm no stranger to State parks or local parks and the general rules. As soon as you enter the park you have the option to go right toward the boat launch area or veer to the left to continue on to the park. As I always do with my first time visits I wanted to go get a lay of the land first so I tried to go left to see the rest of the park. There was a park ranger on golf cart that just about had a heart attack and started getting very upset at my choice of direction. After I explained to him this was no way for him to talk to me(with my wife and son present)he calmed down and explained because I had a boat I could not continue into the park. What???... Please note there were no signs or at least none I had notice(and I looked) that stated this info. My only option if I wanted to see and enjoy the rest of the park was to leave my boat unattended in the boat launch parking lot. Until now I've never been to any park that puts such limitations on its boating guests. If I had a huge boat then I would easily understand but my boat is very small and has never been an issue even at the smallest of parks and to be yelled at like I'm stupid was completely uncalled for. Once I got on the lake it was way to crowded to comfortably fish and when I was heading back in, I was again yelled at by the Park Ranger for making a "wake" that I wasn't making. For god sacks a pontoon boat was passing me port side going faster then I was but they just wanted to make their presence known and I was the closest one to send this message that they were there doing their job. I honestly do not think I will ever go back based on my bad experience but I don't think this should prevent anyone else from doing so unless they plan to do as I did and spend sometime on the water and in the park without being forced to leave there boat unattended and vulnerable. I think the Park should either reevaluate this decision or at the minimum put up some clearly marked signs before entering the park, at the boat launch intersection as well as on the website to avoid unnecessary future problems...

I used to love this park. It's not one of my favorites as much anymore. I fished this park for over 9 years. Never any problems. I now get harassed by the park staff over the spaces where I fish. The beach next to the walkout was never patrolled like this when boats illegally parked on the beach. I doubt if they EVER wrote a ticket. Now they are stating it is a designated area for dogs. I am all for dogs walking and playing on the beach. But I believe the area is large enough for people fishing AND Dogs playing! Especially since the placement of the current fishing pier is too close to boat traffic that is rarely policed. We have to contend with fast boats and jet skis along that stretch. You don't even bother to place the water buoy by the fishing pier. Today I asked a booth worker for more information on the guidelines and he wasn't knowledgeable about anything. So I asked if he could reach out to a Park Ranger to clarify it he said no. I asked for a brochure with an office telephone number. He told me to Google it! Then got rude with me and walked away. All I want is clarification on this. I don't see any signs stating "Dog Beach" nor do I see signs stating "No Fishing Allowed". And I don't believe Anglers should be harassed for fishing in areas that are not marked and should be accessed by ALL people who paid for entry...

This State Park is pretty nice. I do wish it would offer a little more though. The beach itself is really nice as it's very clean and the swim area is very spacious. There is not a lot of sanded area though.

After you park in the beach area, you need to walk over a little brige to get to the actual swimmjng area. One issue I had when I was about to leave was that none of the drinking fountains were working. There weren't any concessions or places to get something to drink or eat either. And I was here at 1pm on a Sunday in July in which the temperature was 85 degrees.

There is a nice little wooded area at the other end of the state park with a shaded pavilion. That portion of the park was quite nice.

There is also a boat launching area. With that said, there were quite a few boats out on the lake when I was here.

The DNR and the park workers were somewhat short with me also. Not rude, but certainly not too friendly. That, however, may be state park workers or DNR in general and not particularly Dodge #4 State Park.

There are geese present here too. Not a bunch but enough to where you do need to watch where you walk.

Overall, not a bad state park. The swimming area is quite nice. I do wish that this park had more to...