A Hidden Treasure – The Wizard of Oz Park in Mapleton, Illinois

On a recent road trip to Grandma’s house, I discovered a fun little Wizard of Oz-themed park. I drive within 5 miles of this park on almost every trip to Grandma’s AND I’m always looking for fun stops along the way so I’m not sure how I missed it before.

Let’s visit the Wizard of Oz Park in Mapleton, Illinois…

The Hollis Park System has created a fun Wizard of Oz-themed section at Butler Haynes Park. They also host a Wizard of Oz festival every year.

Let’s look around the Oz Garden

This video shows a walk through the park (with a few cameos by Vacation Mouse!)

How many of these features of the garden did you see in the video?

• Dorothy’s farm in Kansas
• Professor Marvel’s stage
• A rainbow
• Munchkin land
• Yellow brick road
• Scarecrow, crows, and an apple tree
• Tin Man’s house
• Cowardly lion
• Flying monkeys
• The Wicked Witch’s castle
• The Emerald City gates

A few still pictures of the park. The weather was so great the day I visited!

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Check out the Annual Oz Fest

This video is from the 2016 festival and they’ve moved the garden to a different part of Haynes Park since then but it’s a great peek at the fun you could have at OZ Fest.

Oz Park Reviews

I met a local man visiting with his son and he told me that there are usually even more characters on display as well as lights and sound effects. He thinks that they are removed during the winter and put back out in the summer. Since it was mid-April when I visited, the park staff was just beginning to get things out again after the winter.

I enjoyed a nice, quiet visit with the park mostly to myself which was perfect for being able to film and take pictures. However, I’m sure that on summer days, there are lots of kids playing there and enjoying a trip to the land of OZ.

Now that I know this place exists I’ll be sure to stop again on a future road trip to Grandma’s house. I might even bring the kids with me next time. Haha!

More Wizard of Oz Fun

Check out these other Oz posts I’ve written

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