Dunn Forest Amusement Park [RCT2]

[HowieP]

In 1965, Michigan's department of agriculture approved a forest preserve named Keenshaw Forest Preserve near Gaylord, Michigan to be converted into an amusement park.  What brought this on was the fact that the forest was previously having a ton of its trees being cut and people wanting to save what was left of the forest.  So a man named Robert Dunn decided to purchase the clearing where the trees once stood to build an amusement park.  In agreement with the D.A., he would not cut down the remainder of the forest's trees and would plant more trees within the park to restore some of the forest aesthetic.  Also, there would be two height restrictions in place to keep the forest aesthetic intact.  There would be a soft restriction of 100 ft. and anything higher than that would need the approval of Ostego County, and the hard restriction would be 150 ft. and could not be any higher than that.  Keenshaw Forest would be renamed Dunn Forest, and the park would carry the name Dunn Forest Amusement Park.  While the park itself would be fenced off, the rest of the forest would be preserved to its natural beauty.  In 1969, construction of the park commenced and a few rides and a restaurant and gift shop would open on the property.  The park would also have a star attraction in the John Allen-designed wooden roller coaster, the Comet, by Philadelphia Toboggan Company.  The park would open its doors in 1971.

 

The inaugural logo for Dunn Forest.

A look at the park layout.  There is a lot of room for future expansion, provided no trees are removed from Dunn Forest.  Part of the forest is visible on the top of this picture.

The main entry plaza with the gift shop and restaurant.  Plus the carousel right at the entry.

Here are some of the other rides in the park, thus far.  We have the Ferris Wheel that goes over the midway, plus a Round Up ride called Psylo, a Scrambler, Swing Ride, bumper cars, and the Dunn Skyway Chairlift that takes you over to the main attraction if you don't want to walk over there...

...which is The Comet, a PTC, John Allen-designed out-and-back wooden roller coaster.  It stands at 90 feet tall with an 85 foot drop.

One of Comet's trains flying over an airtime hill before going back to the station.

The Skyway saves people from having to walk towards the Comet if they don't want to walk there with nothing between the other rides and the coaster.  Plans are already underway to add more rides in this area soon.  Also, as part of the growing of the park, in agreement with the Michigan Department of Agriculture, Dunn Forest will replenish trees within the park, and they had already started doing so around the chairlift.  These trees can never be removed ever, unless one of them dies.  The trees don't have to be planted immediately, but as areas of the park get more rides in it.

What will Dunn Forest build next for the 1972 season?  Wait and see!

[HowieP]

1972 has rolled around and Robert Dunn has added a new ride to Dunn Forest.  It is a Sellner Tilt-A-Whirl, which is really popular on the fair circuit.  Rumor has it that Arrow Development is working on a new coaster design that will revolutionize the amusement park industry.  Robert wants to be one of the first to get in on this new design, but for now, he will be adding some smaller rides, though he is in talks with Arrow to build the 1973 attraction building up a good relationship with them.  Let's look into the 1972 season of Dunn Forest.

New for 1972, the Tilt-A-Whirl.  It's right across from Swinger and next to the bumper cars.

The Comet is slowly building up ridership.  Many wonder if Robert Dunn will add another coaster down the road.

The Dunn Skyway helps transport people from the midway to the coaster and is one of the park's most popular rides.

Here we are at the park's entrance.  There are talks about some expansion happening here in a few years.

The entry to The Comet wooden roller coaster.

Another look at the Tilt-A-Whirl, the newest addition to Dunn Forest.

With the addition of Tilt-A-Whirl, guests' concerns about the size of the park are being relaxed as Robert Dunn promises more expansion to his park down the road.

And here is Dunn Forest itself along with Keenshaw Lake, the one part of the forest retaining the original Keenshaw name, paying tribute to its past as Keenshaw Forest Preserve.