junction valley railroad

We bought our grandchildren to ride the train and play in the picnic area. They love trains and this one is just the right size for them to enjoy. It's not to big for kids and yet adults have lots of room.The train is a one of a kind and loops slowly around a huge track area over bridges and through the woods. It's a lot of fun for the whole family!The picnic area has many items for kids to play with while we sat back and watched them play.They have a Halloween train, but our grand-kids are only 5, which is a little young for the spooky train ride this year. We will be back again next year to visit to see if they've added anything new.

We’ve been here with our grandchildren several times. We even came one Halloween and that was absolutely hysterical. As others have said, it IS a MUST DO at Halloween time! They go all out for the month of October. Wish we could get there more often but is on the other side of the state for us. It’s summer fare is much fun, is a good park for family. You can see the owners have gone to a LOT of work and imagination. The only down side of this park is that it is old, and it looks that way. Pretty tired and outdated in many areas of the park, which is why I couldn’t give it 5 stars. We’ve gently mentioned this to the owners because we want to see them be successful. It’s a unique place to visit, has much potential value for those visiting the area. But if you aren’t expecting a sharply appointed amusement park, by all means, stop in. We simply overlook its slightly weak presentation because it’s great fun and quite interesting.

This is a MUST DO at Halloween. We have been riding the Spook Train for 25 years it's tradition!! Its a long train ride too. Some years we have even dressed up. The workers are fun and friendly. some spooky, some funny, great for all ages that want something FUN do do during the Halloween season! I hope this Train Never stops!!! GREAT JOB JUNCTION VALLEY!!!

My father and my 5 year old daughter are train lovers. My dad enjoyed the hobby shop, but my daughter loved the train ride. What we didn't know, but will plan for next time was the train takes you to Pleasant Valley, a shady, cool oasis with playground equipment pinic tables, petal cars, scooters, sandbox andcall sorts of fun things. We were starving so we didnt stay long, next time we will pack a picnic lunch and enjoy Pleasant Valley more. They do offer a concession stand there. The staff was very nice, the ride on the train was enjoyable.

The train ride itself is fun, but the place is pretty beat up and a worn down. Not sure why there was so much miscommunication between paying inside and by the time we got outside, but when I got outside I had to shell out for another ticket. Then we had to wait for about an hour while they cleared the tracks from last nights storm. To be fair, I didn't want to be splashed with sludge water either, however...if you knew you were opening for business, wouldn't you have cleared the tracks already?

I found a brochure 5 years ago for this attraction and wondered if it still existed when we visited this area. It was on the way from Detroit to Frankenmuth, so we stopped. The trains are built like small replica's of freight and passenger cars. The train ride around the area is both fun and interesting. It's a long ride. It stops at a picnic and play area where their are bithday parties going on. I loved seeing kids and parents on the foot power scooters, swings and playing. This seems to be a fading activity since most everyone is on their IPod or cell phones today.You can ride the train as offen as you like, sitting in a different car each time.I do hope the children of the owner keep up this attraction. I noticed in some areas, rail cars need maintenance and some painting.

Not impressed. Good for my 9 year old. My 11 year old thought it was lame. The cut outs of the flint stones really sealed the deal on not going back. It is a shame as the Christmas train is beautiful and would recommend that one to all!

Other than the 1 hour wait, it was a wonderful holiday ride. It was about a 20 minute trip with lots of décor and costumed ghouls to scare. My teenaged son was worried it was going to be too much of a kiddie ride - no worries, definitely for all ages. Certainly worth the price of admission. Made us want to go back in the daylight, and see the summertime attraction. Be aware that there are many flashing and strobe lights as well as very loud noises - but lots of fun!

My sister and I ran across this place and almost passed it by because you can't tell from the street how awesome this place really is. When you take the train ride down into what appears to be a railroad town and then get to stay and look around for as long as you like, it is just impressive that this is family built and owned and the cars are built right there. The family and workers are friendly and helpful and there is just so much to see. We are thinking about having our grandchildrens birthday party there. Well worth the time and price

The train ride isn't much to write home about, but the playground area was easily worth the price of admission. We only wish we had had longer at the playground.This was our second time doing the train ride; the first time the train ride was much more interesting because someone gave a running commentary about all the types of bridges and about the trains themselves as we were going. This time it was total silence, so the train ride itself was kind of boring. You really end up going over the same small space a dozen different ways, basically looping around and around the playground area, so the view never really changes. BUT, eventually the train stops and you can get off and use their playground area. This was the great part. They had a dozen or so pedal cars, the majority of which were big enough to accommodate adults, and they had a whole layout of interconnected pathways and bridges to drive around on. Unfortunately, it took the kids (boys ages 9-12) and adults (ages 40-75) a few minutes to find cars that fit them (we found out only towards the end that they are all adjustable), but then after that they had an absolute blast zipping around. They also have the largest seesaw I have ever seen; the person in the up position was at least four feet off the ground. The adults were laughing hysterically as they did that. They also had a number of large metal swing sets. The huge bummer was that only 10 minutes after stopping, they announced that we either had to get back on the train or we would have to wait 45 minutes for the next train to come. Maybe they have liability concerns, but it was really kind of silly because it would have been an easy five minute walk back to the parking lot; they even have a bridge over the tracks that comes down right into the playground area. It was already late afternoon and we still had a three hour drive ahead of us, so the adults opted to leave, but a regular comment from all the kids for the rest of the day was how it would have been really fun to stay longer in the playground area. I did notice that there were at least two families who appeared to have made a day of it; they were already there when our train arrived and they stayed when the train left, and it looked like they had full picnic provisions.It's worth noting that even though we went in mid-August, they were only running one train, and it only went out every 45 minutes. We really lucked out by arriving just moments before the train was departing, but I don't know how things would have gone if we had been told that we would have to wait 45 minutes for the next departure.The kids hope to go back there on our next trip, and next time we'll build a couple hours for it into our schedule so we can stay at the playground for a while.

Family owned and operated!! Only quarter size railroad and it is amazing! Go for a ride on the train down to the picnic area, where there is so much to do! Great place for a family get together!!! And it will amaze you that they built all the train cars right there! A hobby shop there too for the train freak!!!

We went to Junction Valley for the first time last week. The quarter sized train was fun to ride and I find it cool that a guy built the whole set up out of his imagination. We had fun riding the bikes and playing on the playground with my 3 year old son. Some of the playground equipment did seem giant sized and a few bikes needed repairs but that didn't stop us for having loads of fun. We plan on going back for my son's birthday. You can eat a picnic lunch at the picnic tables anytime so you can make half a day out of it. I definitely recommend going!

this place is great for family outings, picnics just all around good time the Spook train at holloween is the best! also enjoy railroad days and visit the workshop where everything was built; and the roundhouse

I find it funny that one review on here is concerned for lack of safety, while another says they weren't allowed to walk the tracks to the parking area (presumably because that would be unsafe). But anyway, Here's the deal - the quarter size railroad was built as a hobby by the original owner, not really intending to make a "theme park". So, to the people who have ill words to say about this place, i challenge you to find a more unique attraction. That being said, it is open to the public and every time I visit I see new paint and different things they are working on renevating. It is quite remarkable all the effort it takes to build and maintain this railroad just from an upkeep standpoint. I was told that the valley itself floods every year - sometimes more than once. It's an affordable place to bring the kids for a unique play area. But make sure you have a few hours - this isn't a drive-by sort of park. I have found them on facebook and see that they are doing new things for summer events. And, of course, the one thing you don't want to miss is their Halloween Spook Train. Been there, done that - going back again!

I had my 4 year old grandson pumped up about a train ride at a field trip to the Saginaw Zoo. It cancelled due to the weather so this crazy Grandma decided to take him to Junction Valley Railroad! We were the only ones there! Geared with Arby's and new umbrella's, off we went! We had the best time! We rode all the bikes around and around, in the rain!!! Outdoor fun and for us,best waterpark ever!! He wanted to do it again! Grandma and pregnant Mommy were too pooped but we promised to visit it again this summer! Thank You JV Railroad for everything!!!!