REVIEW OF MONROE PARK OGDEN, UT

850 30th Street Ogden, UT 84401


This is one of Ogden's newest park playgrounds that opened spring 2019. Park amenities include two play structures, swings, merry go round, sound/sensory elements, pickleball courts, baseball fields, large grass area, covered picnic tables and restrooms.

One of the things that we love about this park is that it is always crowded. Always a plus when your kids want to play with other kids and make friends. When we visited the nearby Catholic school was using it during a recess (maybe for the preschool) and even after they left there were about 10 kids at the park at lunchtime during the week. 


The main thing that you notice when you get to this park is the big 2 story structure rated for kids 5-12 yrs old. It has 1 slide accessible from the lower level and 2 bigger slides accessible from the upper level. There is a long staircase to access the first level and a ladder to reach the second. 


At the top level there are benches to sit on. There are no open panels on the second level, making it safer for younger children. I also like that there is plenty of room under the structure to play and different ways to climb up. 

There is also a separate play structure rated for kids 2-5 years old with shorter slides, low drop offs and shorter steps. This is a huge plus for the stay at home moms with toddlers and preschoolers.  


Past the toddler play structure there is a xylophone type music toy and a set of 3 bongo drums. 


On the East side of the park there are 2 bays of swings. There are currently 2 regular swings and 2 toddler bucket style swings. I had talked to the Ogden parks director and there was talk in Spring 2019 that they were working on getting an ADA accessible high back swing, but to date there is not one installed. I think this would be a great addition to the park to make it more accessible to kids with special needs. 


This is one of the newest Biba enabled playground, an app that you download and it gives challenges to keep kids moving at parks. It does require an adult to handle the phone and give instructions. A review of this is hopefully coming Summer 2019 with 1 or 2 testers at our local parks. 


There is street parking on 30th street and some parking in lot on Quincy Ave (does not connect to 30th street)
Pros:

- large new playground with separate structures for age groups

- merry go round

- nearby restrooms

- very large grass area with ball fields

- swings

- sensory elements with drums and xylophone

- benches surrounding playground

Cons:

- in rough neighborhood downtown Ogden

- playground not wheelchair accessible

- no adaptive/ADA accessible swings

- no shade on playground




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