Gotta go to Hell!

Camped there many, many times as a kid in the early 1960s. Believe it or not, it hasn’t changed a whole lot. Haven’t been there since I was a kid. I haven’t lived in Michigan since 1988. Would love to visit Crooked Lake. First time I piloted a motorboat or 4x4 was at Crooked Lake. Lots of great memories. That was the only time when I was a kid that I could tell my Dad to go to hell and get away with it!

Thanks!

The litter is probably from the growing homeless population living there.

It's NOT in Raytown. It's in KCMO, just outside of Raytown.

I been to this place in the early 1990's when I was a kid. I was almost in denial about this place even existing

home sweet home

This park is especially beautiful during holiday season. They have victorian era dressed carolers, hot cider, photos w Santa, candy cane lane, and lots of pretty lights. There are faerie gardens and Monet Garden "a one-acre recreation of the famous Water Lilies series by Claude Monet. It attempts to emulate the style of Monet's famous paintings of the gardens at Giverny."(wikipedia). They have a nice gift shop / cafe too.

Rad

This past week I visited the Detroit area and attended to great events. With that being said, the day that I spent in Heritage Park was outstanding. Walked on several trails, enjoyed a picnic lunch, and had up close and personal experience with a deer. I am not sure when I will be back in the area, but if I am, I will be sure to stop again. Great Park!

i always go there on the weekends and take my pants off, worship satan

Hey, this is a great video,. Are the biking trails in Swope Park only for rugged mountain biking? Or are they smooth enough for lowkey electric bike cruising for the less athletically inclined?

I run summer camps every summer and we used the camp up until like 2010 maybe after. We would bring our groups there have multi camp competitions, hike the trails, etc. So suprised to see it completely overgrown. I think it would make a great haunted trail during Halloween and maybe money raised could help other parts or clear some of the trails.

That song was the song we sang at camp. Did you go there? I was a camper from 80s until it closed in 88 when I was a counselor for the camp. It is a huge part of my childhood and I love every inch of that place.

Proud KCMO native

new subscriber here - love the channel. great music too

Great videos man. You've given me some new ideas on places to go with my family.

What were those Spikes coming out of that Tree!?

We live in this area, it’s beautiful.We go there all the time.

Well made video and great review of not only the trail, but Westin.

You did a fantastic job showcasing the arboretum!

I just stumbled across this. Hi Dan! Long time no see

For those of us who live right down the street from this place and grew up around here before this was a thing, this place has a very jaded and dark history that they try to bury. While it may be a very nice looking place, the way this park developed and how the city of Overland Park annexed massive amounts of land to make it in city limits still leaves a very sour taste in the mouths of those of us still around in this area. I understand progress in inevitable, but the "theft" of land and forced annexation was as dirty as it comes. What Overland Park did caused the state to reform their laws to prevent a city from doing this to anyone else. Sadly though, it is too late for us. And another fun fact, entrance to this place used to be free, but they can't miss out on any revenue now can they.

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to hit this trail soon!

Spent every Halloween here. Pumpkins on parade. Moved 2 years ago, miss this wonderful park. Great video. 👍

It's not abandoned.

Love this! Any change you can upload it to your Facebook page, too? We'd love to share it on our profiles there.

Heritage park is my favorite place to clear my mind and enjoy nature!! Love the video

Great video skills.

Still ain't ever been there and Mr. Thomas H. Swope is a far distant relative perhaps one day I'll visit.

This blew my mind. KCMo. Has a humongous park named: Swope Park. It had its beginnings not as a park for humans but a park for horses to rest and relax on their days off! Seriously. READ ON! History: 1900-1951. Swope Park, Kansas City, Mo. 1900-1951 The camps in Swope Park go back to the very earliest days of the park. The president of the Kansas City Humane Society, Edwin R. Weeks (for whom the Camp Hope dining hall is named), was instrumental in talking Col. Thomas Swope into donating his large farm acreage to the city. Many people opposed to the city accepting responsibility for land that far away---the north boundary would be at the level of 63rd street, and cattle were still grazing on farmland at 32nd (Linwood) at that time. One of the points made for the acquisition was that the land would make a nice place for the hard-working carriage- and wagon-pulling horses to have a holiday, recuperate from their hard lives, and eat fresh food. So, Col. Swope specified that the city should operate a camp---for horses---on the hillside in the southeast. People would bring their horses out, ford the creek by the lake, and then go up to the hill with their tents and camp out and ride around the area, and the horses would have fresh grass to graze on. This was the beginning of the Humane Society connection; by the 1950's, the "Humane Society" was made up of a board that supported the camp operations by actions and by appropriation of money from a trust Col. Swope started by donating a building in the West Bottoms whose rental income would go to support the camp; it had lost its connection to the usual animal-welfare meaning of the term "humane society." The size of trees on the hill indicates there were probably not many there in 1900; even by 2000 there are prairie patches remaining, especially on the dry south hillside above Oldham Road, but also scattered bluestem and Indian grass clumps in the woods and long the road. At that time (what time? 1900? 1900-1951? 2000?) the eastern boundary of the park and the city was along the fence and stone gate east of what we remember as the commissary from the 1950's to the 1990's. The stone building by the stable, used in our day as a nature lodge and then as for maintenance storage when Lakeside Nature Center was opened, was owned by a Mr. Foster for decades was known to old-timers as "Foster Hill". The story is that it was used for gambling parties, and that the indentations in the iron shutters are from gunshots. Sometime in the 1930's or early 1940's, in the time of the depression when so many public works projects were being built--including the bear grottoes at the zoo--two dining halls, seven cabins, and the hogan were built. I believe at least some of the camp construction was done by students at the R. T. Coles Vocational High School of the Kansas City school district. The dining halls were U-shaped instead of T-shaped as the current ones are, with a screened-in eating room connected by a breezeway to an enclosed kitchen. I remember these dining halls from my time with the Burroughs Nature Club (KC Audubon Society) in the late 1940's. Lake dining hall was where it is now, probably the kitchen was built on the foundation of what had been the dining area. The later Commissary was built on the Hope slab, and the kitchen was to the west. There were four cabins with pit toilets for campers at Lake of the Woods; the cabin Nelson and Velta Wieters lived in was one, there was one at Kaw (burned one winter in the 1950's) one east of the dining hall used in the 1950's by cook Alice Miller and often thereafter called "Cook's Cabin", and the one at Franklin. There are two cabins west of the commissary, Patti's cabin and the infirmary, along with the one between the commissary and stables (later the outdoor education office).

This blew my mind. KCMo. Has a humongous park named: Swope Park. It had its beginnings not as a park for humans but a park for horses to rest and relax on their days off! Seriously. READ ON! History: 1900-1951. Swope Park, Kansas City, Mo. 1900-1951 The camps in Swope Park go back to the very earliest days of the park. The president of the Kansas City Humane Society, Edwin R. Weeks (for whom the Camp Hope dining hall is named), was instrumental in talking Col. Thomas Swope into donating his large farm acreage to the city. Many people opposed to the city accepting responsibility for land that far away---the north boundary would be at the level of 63rd street, and cattle were still grazing on farmland at 32nd (Linwood) at that time. One of the points made for the acquisition was that the land would make a nice place for the hard-working carriage- and wagon-pulling horses to have a holiday, recuperate from their hard lives, and eat fresh food. So, Col. Swope specified that the city should operate a camp---for horses---on the hillside in the southeast. People would bring their horses out, ford the creek by the lake, and then go up to the hill with their tents and camp out and ride around the area, and the horses would have fresh grass to graze on. This was the beginning of the Humane Society connection; by the 1950's, the "Humane Society" was made up of a board that supported the camp operations by actions and by appropriation of money from a trust Col. Swope started by donating a building in the West Bottoms whose rental income would go to support the camp; it had lost its connection to the usual animal-welfare meaning of the term "humane society." The size of trees on the hill indicates there were probably not many there in 1900; even by 2000 there are prairie patches remaining, especially on the dry south hillside above Oldham Road, but also scattered bluestem and Indian grass clumps in the woods and long the road. At that time (what time? 1900? 1900-1951? 2000?) the eastern boundary of the park and the city was along the fence and stone gate east of what we remember as the commissary from the 1950's to the 1990's. The stone building by the stable, used in our day as a nature lodge and then as for maintenance storage when Lakeside Nature Center was opened, was owned by a Mr. Foster for decades was known to old-timers as "Foster Hill". The story is that it was used for gambling parties, and that the indentations in the iron shutters are from gunshots. Sometime in the 1930's or early 1940's, in the time of the depression when so many public works projects were being built--including the bear grottoes at the zoo--two dining halls, seven cabins, and the hogan were built. I believe at least some of the camp construction was done by students at the R. T. Coles Vocational High School of the Kansas City school district. The dining halls were U-shaped instead of T-shaped as the current ones are, with a screened-in eating room connected by a breezeway to an enclosed kitchen. I remember these dining halls from my time with the Burroughs Nature Club (KC Audubon Society) in the late 1940's. Lake dining hall was where it is now, probably the kitchen was built on the foundation of what had been the dining area. The later Commissary was built on the Hope slab, and the kitchen was to the west. There were four cabins with pit toilets for campers at Lake of the Woods; the cabin Nelson and Velta Wieters lived in was one, there was one at Kaw (burned one winter in the 1950's) one east of the dining hall used in the 1950's by cook Alice Miller and often thereafter called "Cook's Cabin", and the one at Franklin. There are two cabins west of the commissary, Patti's cabin and the infirmary, along with the one between the commissary and stables (later the outdoor education office).

Looks like a pretty awesome place Thank you for showing it

looks fun !

Nice Video KC..... almost has an 'Adventure Archives' feel which is always good....I'm a Michigan hiker /backpacker as well so I'm slowly working my way through some of the well known and not so well known (even newly developed by me) backpacking trails across the state. .... Ive subbed and look forward to your future videos.... atb Dave Mc

Love these videos! Thank you for making these ❤️

Thank you! There are more rumored hiding places for Jesse and Frank James than (ulp) Carter has Little Liver Pills.🙃🙂🤚✌🙏👍🤞

Thank you!

Absolutely beautiful! Thanks for the hike and information. I enjoyed it.

The erosion doesn't seem to be too bad there. What did you think? Further north in Muskegon its really bad, I know.

I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother.

Wow! How have I missed this one? Pulling at my heartstrings right now.

Beautiful scenery and terrible puns. What's not to love? Will have to plan a trip!

Very beautiful trail! Will have to check it out soon.

Love the Tolkien-esque font on intro. Lot's of performance and installation- especially at 4:11!

fireeeeee

Groovy

I'm happy to report that Cave Spring Park has added some additional signage on the trails since this video was produced. Thanks!

Really nice job making this video!

I found your channel from the watermark on a picture I found on AllTrails. Keep it up!