Catalpa Oaks County Park

Catalpa Oaks County Park is 24 acres of genuinely well-kept green space in the middle of Southfield, run by Oakland County Parks rather than the city itself, with sports fields, a universally-accessible playscape, and an .8-mile perimeter path that’s become a reliable loop for locals who just want a walk that isn’t a treadmill. Leashed dogs are welcome on the path, which puts it on the short list of dog-friendly options in a city better known for office parks than open space.

The real claim to fame, though, is the Annual Great Marshmallow Drop — a Good Friday tradition that draws more than 5,000 people to watch 15,000 marshmallows dropped from a helicopter for kids to collect. It’s a genuinely strange and delightful piece of local culture, the kind of thing that doesn’t show up on a “best of metro Detroit” list but that anyone who’s lived in the area for a while already knows about.

On our radar for a reliable dog walk, or for timing a spring visit around one of the more charmingly weird traditions in Oakland County.