Tawas City, Michigan: Animal Playground

Fun little playground full of handmade animal sculptures. Some animals have slides attached, and there are a couple that you can climb inside. The playground is located at Gateway Park right on Lake Huron, so the views are great, too!

The cement sculptures around Tawas City, such as Mike Wazowski and the dog (usually known as "Clifford" when painted red), were made by resident Gordon Clute, and many of them were found in his front yard. He died a few years ago (previous to 2008) and left his statue art to the city of Tawas City.

One of his more memorable sculptures is the Indian on the Horse, which used to greet people as they entered into Tawas City: Clute's former home was near the mouth of the river, and the Indian and many other creations greeted many visitors. After a while, Clute installed benches for people to pose for pictures next to the statues. Many of Clute's artworks can be found in Gateway Park (including a sea gull slide) and in the Tawas City park/beach. Favorites included the castle (which I hear is now gone for safety reasons), a whale that kids could sit inside, and a large fish the kids could sit inside, too.

Some of Clute's creations were found about the Tawas city-owned properties, such as City Hall, but these days it's hard to tell where they'll end up. My kids' favorites were Eeyore, Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger.

What better way spend some vacation than cruising along the Lake Huron coast line searching for roadside attractions.

I headed to Tawas City especially to see Mike Wazowski the alien cartoon character! But, after driving the lakeside road and back, I stopped at the large city park where the concession stand girl told me that "The city took him out." No reason given, but Mike is gone!

However, at the south end of town, the park features several pieces of animal playground equipment, including a large dog slide (that you have to go in from behind to go down it!).