This is a large park in Riverdale with 3 separate playgrounds, one play structure for 2-5 year olds and one structure for 5-12 year olds near the parking lot and a wheelchair accessible playground at the top of the hill near the elementary school . I can't tell you how much I love that there are separate structures for different age groups. The park also features a splash pad open during the summer, large restrooms with multiple stalls, lots of benches throughout the park, a covered pavilion, sand volleyball courts and a half mile walking path that circles the park.
The smaller play structure with wood chip base suitable for 2-5 year olds had fun features like a fire engine panel with steering wheel, a rainbow tunnel that connects two area, a second steering wheel and multiple slides including a rainbow tube slide. Most importantly this playground doesn't have any stairs or open panels with a fall height of greater than 3 feet. It also had a shaded bench and most of the playground was shaded during the day. My 4.5 year old really loved the fire engine and spent quite a bit of time at it pretending.
The play structure suitable for kids 5-12 years old had 3 sets of monkey bars, two slides and multiple climbing frames to access the playground. There are multiple benches surrounding this park including one shaded by trees. The playground itself is not shaded. It did appear to have an overhead glider thing at one time but was missing when we got there and was just a long pole.
This playground also featured lots of swings. Unfortunately all 6 of the regular swings were missing and there were only the baby/toddler swings still there. My 4.5 year old was really disappointed that all the "big kid" swings were missing and wouldn't sit in the baby swings.
Update 3/2019- The overhead bar on the swings was cracked and therefore a safety hazard. The parks department replaced the entire swing bar and all new regular swings were reinstalled.
Update 3/2019- The overhead bar on the swings was cracked and therefore a safety hazard. The parks department replaced the entire swing bar and all new regular swings were reinstalled.
The third playground up the hill and closest to the elementary school is part of the city park but used by the school for their recesses. Unfortunately we came during school hours so we were not able to photograph it. Hopefully photos should be coming soon and more information available.
This park also features a very nice splash pad open during the summers right next to the restrooms. The splash pad is in a very large concrete circle with fences around 80% of it to contain the kids. There a big buckets that dump, squirt guns and lots of spraying jets. During the daytime it is also partially shaded by trees.
This park also features a very nice splash pad open during the summers right next to the restrooms. The splash pad is in a very large concrete circle with fences around 80% of it to contain the kids. There a big buckets that dump, squirt guns and lots of spraying jets. During the daytime it is also partially shaded by trees.
I have to say that the biggest thing that I noticed at this park was the fact that there were people of every age group enjoying the park, not just kids and parents. We went there around 12:00pm on a Friday and there were multiple groups throughout the park. There was a couple probably in in their 50s eating lunch and walking their small dogs on leashes, several groups of walkers and a few people on benches eating lunch. We went with a friend and her 4.5 year. Our 2 kids were ironically the only ones on the playgrounds at the time.
I have been told by the parks director that this is their most visited park in Riverdale and during the summer the parking lot is usually full. During the daytime hours, especially on hot days, this park is very crowded with lots of traffic from the splash pad. Some days multiple bus loads of kids from local daycare centers and camps will be in the park.
I have been told by the parks director that this is their most visited park in Riverdale and during the summer the parking lot is usually full. During the daytime hours, especially on hot days, this park is very crowded with lots of traffic from the splash pad. Some days multiple bus loads of kids from local daycare centers and camps will be in the park.
Pros:
- 3 separate playgrounds for different age groups and abilities
- covered pavilions
- lots of shade trees throughout the park including ones shading the
- very large restrooms with multiple stalls for each gender
- large half mile walking path that circles the park
- splash pad open during the summer
- lots of grassy areas to run and play
- multiple swings
- large parking lot
Cons:
- no shade for the older kids playground
- missing overhead glider on playground
- no adaptive swings
- can be crowded during the summer
- can be crowded during the summer
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