Picnic Grove

The Picnic Grove is a corporate picnic area at both Great America parks. In Gurnee, it is to the very left of the park with it's entrance being between Mardi Gras and Yankee Harbor after Roaring Rapids. In Santa Clara, it is located at the very back, near County Fair.

History
Picnic Grove was opened at both Great America parks in 1982. It was initially themed after the wild west, in homage to The Great Southwest which was never built.

The area is used as a corporate picnic area. In Gurnee, Picnic Grove is situated at the very left of the park, behind Yankee Clipper and Loggers Run, and it's entrances were originally located near the Orleans Place bridge to Yankee Harbor and another near the entrance to the Wilderness Theater (since removed). In Santa Clara, Picnic Grove is at the very back of the park and it's entrance was by the Fairground Junction train station (the train has since been removed).

After both parks were sold off by Marriott, Santa Clara chose to remove the wild west theme while Gurnee kept it.

Not much is known about the history of this area as it is very poorly documented due to it being used exclusively for private events though it can be inferred Gurnee has changed very little in its Picnic Grove by comparing old map drawings of it to its current state.