Defunct "Leap the Dips" Roller Coaster, 1909-1925: Mount Clemens

Mount Clemens was once home to one of the coolest roller coasters Michigan ever had. When it opened on the Fourth of July in 1909, business was booming...people swarmed to the ride that sat on the east side of the Clinton River between the streets of Crocker and Dickinson.

The coaster was named "Leap the Dips" and was so popular, that the neighborhood bars and saloons complained that customers were staying away and going to the roller coaster.

But only one year later, the customer count was already dropping at the coaster. Why? In the summer of 1910, the Bijou Theatre opened, which took the crowds away from the coaster. The local newspaper didn’t help much, either; in one edition they said that "one ride on the Dips is just like another" while the theater showed a 'variety' of films week after week. If the paper had kept its mouth shut, maybe the customers would have started to come back.

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In 1912, payments were being missed, with not as many customer admissions to help cover costs. Once again, the newspaper chimed in, saying the coaster did "a good business for a short time, but now bears the general appearance of a dead one. Lot of good lumber there." Nice subtle hint that they wanted to see it torn down, right?

It didn’t take long for the ‘Leap the Dips’ coaster to be ignored by the public and it sat decaying.

FAST “LEAP THE DIPS” FACTS:
Originally called “Dip the Dips”
Length: 3,200 feet
1923: Declared unsafe
1925: Dismantled

In the 2020s, there are no signs or remnants of the once, but briefly, popular “Leap the Dips” roller coaster...but if you want to visit the grounds on where it once was, go to the Clinton River between Crocker and Dickinson streets, which is now a simple parking lot for city hall. You can identify the area by the gazebo. See some classic photos of the old ‘Leap the Dips’ coaster in the gallery below...