On Memorial Day weekend, three fun-filled aqua parks opened at Van Riper State Park in the Upper Peninsula and the Brighton and Holly Recreation Areas in southeastern Michigan.
These three floating playgrounds are fun for the whole family. Many of the courses include a series of connected inflatable slides, runways, jumping pillows, and bouncers that are suitable for both kids and adults (age and height restrictions apply). There is an additional fee and reservations are recommended.
Water Warrior Island
All three water parks opened May 25 and include:
- Water Warrior Island is located on Lake Michigamme in Van Riper State Park in Marquette County. This floating playground includes 20-foot water slides, rock climbing walls, trampolines, floating walkways, and a ninja-warrior-like obstacle course.
- Jump Island situated on Bishop Lake within the Brighton Recreation Area in Livingston County offers the “ultimate inflatable water park experience.” The water course includes an inflatable iceberg, inflatable slides, runways, and other obstacles that give visitors the ability to balance, walk, run or slide on water.
- The WhoaZone on Heron Beach is located at the Holly Recreation Area in Oakland County. The course offers four different routes with four different challenge levels—from easy up to challenging. Visitors can climb, jump, crawl and slide on the gigantic springboard, semi-circle step, the wiggle bridge, half-pipe, and more.
Check out a cool DNR video on the waterparks!
Ticket and reservation information, rules, height requirements, and hours of operation vary between each individual attraction. More information and a map can be found at michigan.gov/DNRwaterparks.
A Recreation Passport is required for entry into most state parks, state forest campgrounds, boating access sites, and state trailheads.