Category Archives: Parks and Playgrounds

North Boulder Park, Boulder, Colorado

Several years ago we visited North Boulder Park. There was a lot of construction fencing around the park and I kept meaning to go back and see what had been done. Finally, last Saturday, we visited the park again. It turns out they added an adult exercise area.

The exercise equipment was very popular with the kids. It is intended for ages 14+ and younger kids could get hurt if not watched carefully. No adults used it while we were there. However, that probably was because it was quite hot. The adult exercise equipment provides a pretty good view of the children’s playground equipment so, depending on the age and needs of your child, it might be possible to exercise while your kids play.

Naturally, since this is suppose to be adult equipment it was over-sized for all the kids.

The children’s equipment was traditional but in good repair.

It had an area for older kids and younger kids.

Calvin spent a lot of time in a lovely tree.

Aside from the playground, the park has a wide variety of activities. There’s a very large field next to the playground which is very popular as a cross country skiing venue in the winter. There’s also a fairly large shelter. It’s right next to the playground equipment but you can’t be under the shelter and see the playground at the same time. However, there are various benches shaded by trees scattered around the equipment area. There’s also a half-court basketball court and table tennis.

Summary:

Features	5-12 playground equipment, spiral slide, spiral climber, fireman pole, monkey bars, climbing tree, basketball court, table tennis, 2 spring riders, digger, 2-5 playground equipment, small double slide, small covered slide, small curved slide, swings, bucket swings
Exercise Equipment	Leg Extension, 2-Level Horizontal Bars, 2-Person Full Bar Exercise, 2-Person Incline Sit-Up Benches, Single Leg Curl, Single Elliptical, 2-Person Chest Press (Accessible), 2-Person Lat Pull-down (Accessible), 4-Person Lower Body Combo
Surface Material	Pea gravel (concrete for exercise equipment)
Restrooms	Yes (May through September)
Water fountain	Yes (very lower water pressure though)
Shade	Shade trees and large shelter. A lot of shaded benches but very little shade on the actual playground.
Picnic area	Yes, covered shelter with several picnic tables. Also have a couple of picnic tables that aren’t covered as well as 2 grills.
Parking	Parking Lot
Pros	Adult Exercise Equipment
Cons	Very traditional playground equipment, not very challenging for older kids.

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Crestview Park, Boulder, CO

Crestview Park suffered damage during the 2013 flood. The renovations were completed just this summer and the playground looks new and shiny.

It’s a short walk from street parking to the playground structure. The original park trees are still there and provide several shady areas for sitting. While Calvin played Julian and I relaxed under one of the trees.

There’s also several benches and a shaded picnic shelter.

The playground isn’t large but it has a nice combination of equipment. It has a basic slide that is built on a small slope.

There’s a bridge from nowhere.

From the bridge you can step on stones, then navigate a net which leads to a house play structure.

Calvin decided he wanted to pose in the little house.

Calvin ignored the swings.

But did walk over and examine the sand pit, play house, and “wood” table and chairs. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to include our sand toys.

No one was there when we first arrived at the park so Calvin wandered around for a bit before laying out on the “log” and complaining there was no one to play with. Fortunately, a couple of kids arrived after that and we stayed until Julian started to get fussy.

Summary:

Features	5-12 playground equipment, slide, bridge, net, play house, sand, kid table and chairs, stepping stones, stumps, and logs, one regular swing, two toddler swings
Surface Material	Poured Rubber
Restrooms	No
Water fountain	No
Shade	Shade trees and shelter. There is some shade on parts of the playground. However, there is quite a bit of shade off to the side of the play area.
Picnic area	Yes, covered shelter with three picnic tables.
Parking	Street parking, requires short walk to playground.
Pros	Nice and new
Cons	No restrooms or water fountain

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Sandstone Ranch (west side), Longmont, CO

Sandstone Ranch was my favorite park when we lived in Longmont. It has a bit of everything: playground for toddlers, playground for bigger kids, tire swing, and, most importantly in summer, a splash pad! When Calvin was young I adored splash pads because he could get wet without me having to be within arms reach of him the entire time. Today I had to run to Lowes in Longmont so we took a detour to visit the park.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get particularly good pictures this time as Julian was fussy. However, hopefully you can get the idea.

It’s a bit tricky finding the playground for the first time. Drive east on 119 past the Walmart and turn right onto Sands One Dr. Take the first right into the parking lot. Turn right again and follow the road as it meanders west until you end up in a parking lot with the skate park, adventure park, and restrooms.

From the parking lot, the first section is the toddler playground. It has a small teepee, cabin, spinner, spring riders, and musical panel.

Behind the first section are farm animal statues for the kids to climb on. There use to be a tractor and a log that the kids could climb through but those must have been damaged beyond repair at some point.

This section also contains a raised sandbox area. It use to have water hooked up which was fantastic. I’m not sure why but the water aspect hasn’t worked for years (possibly sanitary issues?). There’s also a sand area that is level with the ground. There’s a statue of a fish, a frog, and a turtle for kids to crawl on.

The one big downside to this park is it is impossible to watch kids in both the toddler and the older kid section at the same time. There’s wonderful landscaping around the play areas but they obscure the sight lines.

By the toddler section are bathrooms (open in summer), drinking fountain, and a fairly large covered shelter. There’s another shelter close to the splash pad. However, it looks like the other benches will often be in direct sunlight.

The splash pad is one of the best parts of the park. There’s a button to turn the water on. It turns on for several minutes and then there’s an enforced delay of several minutes where the water will not turn back on no matter how many times a child slams the button.

Behind the splash pad is the “tree house” play area. Calvin would play on this area, with close supervision, by the time he was two years old and it absolutely terrified me. The New York Times had recently published an article about the dangers of safe playgrounds which I theoretically believed but is much harder to put into practice. Parts of the structure are high enough I have trouble touching them with my hands over my head. Now Calvin is old enough to play in the tree house area without too much supervision and Julian isn’t mobile yet so our visit today was much more relaxing than prior visits have been.

The climbing options on the opposite side from the caterpillar slide always made me particularly nervous. Naturally, Calvin loved crawling up them.

It’s hard to tell from the pictures that I have but the tree house structure is connected to a small hill with a bridge. There’s a covered slide protruding from the hill.

There is also a tire swing and a rope climbing structure for older kids to enjoy. There are no traditional swings at this playground.

Sandstone Ranch is an entire complex that includes a skate park (close to the toddler play area but mostly hidden from view due to elevation) and sports field. On the east side of the park is a smaller playground area. It has a more traditional-style equipment and I think it has regular swings (though I can’t remember for sure). There are a lot of walking paths that connect various parts of the park and also connect to the St. Vrain Greenway trail.

We don’t visit this park much anymore due to all the great parks in Boulder. However, it’s still worth the occasional visit when the weather is hot.

Summary:

Features	2-5 playground equipment, 5-12 playground equipment, spinner, caterpillar slide, corkscrew slide, covered slide, trapeze steps, leaf steps, small hill, tire swing, water/splash area, sand, spring riders, teepee, statues to climb on, play house, musical panel, rope climbing structure.
Surface Material	Poured Rubber, some bark chips
Restrooms	Yes, open in summer
Water fountain	Yes, on in summer
Shade	There’s several shelters by the park which are available as long as no one has rented them. There’s also trees and other landscaping that provides varying levels of shade. The toddler play area doesn’t have a lot of shade. The older kids’ play area has a bit more due to the height of the structure itself.
Picnic area	Yes, two covered shelters with multiple picnic tables.
Parking	Parking lot
Pros	Nice toddler and big kid areas Splash pad! Sand!
Cons	Hard to see older kids and toddlers at the same time.

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Melody Park, Boulder, CO

Recently the Boulder Rock’n Moms group was discussing parks and one of the other members mentioned that she thought Calvin and I would enjoy Melody Park. Melody Park is a neighborhood park in Boulder. The Boulder neighborhood parks vary wildly in how good the playground equipment is. Some are pretty small but others can be very nice. Melody Park is one of the latter.

2-5 Playground Equipment

The park has playground equipment for both ages 2-5 and 5-12.

5-12 Playground Equipment

In addition to basic playground equipment they also had a “tire” swing which was a huge hit with Calvin. It’s not a real tire, I’m not sure they do that anymore, and the plastic is a bit light which does make it a little tricky to balance unless you have two kids.

I suggested Calvin try the regular swings or the spinner but he wasn’t interested.

He did, however, greatly enjoy the spinner attached to the 5-12 playground set.

The 5-12 playground equipment blends traditional equipment with more modern options. There are several slides and rope ladders but also features like large plastic rings stacked on top of each other that can be climbed.

Overall it was a very nice park to visit. Calvin obviously enjoyed it as he’s already asked if we can go back to this park.

Summary:

Features	2-5 playground equipment, 5-12 playground equipment, spinners, slides, bucket swings, regular swings, “tire” swing, a variety of types of ladders, hanging pod link, balancing steps, rope ladders, rope bridge
Surface Material	Poured Rubber
Restrooms	No
Water fountain	No
Shade	At this time of year (March) there isn’t much. There might be more when mature trees on surrounding yards leaf out. There’s also smaller trees that are planted in the park that will eventually provide more shade. In addition, there’s a covered picnic area and there is some shading on the playground equipment itself.
Picnic area	Yes, one covered picnic area with a picnic table. There’s at least one more picnic table in the field next to the playground.
Parking	Convenient street parking
Pros	Really nice mix of equipment for older and younger children Fairly large playground that can keep kids interested for quite a while
Cons	No restrooms or drinking fountain

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Horizons K-8 School Playground adjacent to Admiral Arleigh A. Burke Park, Boulder, CO

In 2013 the City of Boulder Parks and Planning and Horizons K-8 School partnered with other organization to update the Horizons K-8 school playground which is adjacent to Boulder’s Admiral Arleigh A. Burke Park. The project was completed in September and I was curious to see what had been done. The playground is accessible to the community during non-school hours.

Based on the website it was unclear to me whether the park itself had a playground or only the school grounds. Driving up, it became apparently the park did not have a playground. However, it did have a shelter with a picnic table and some benches.

Thunderbird Lake is within the park and there are walking paths all around it.

The park also contains a wood deck which was designed by a University of Colorado class for outdoor classes and meetings. The deck was suppose to be bigger but a pared down design was required in order to finish it by the end of the semester. There were big signs about not allowing skateboarding which the structure really looks ideal for.

The playground itself is on school property. It has swings, a tire swing, and a tether ball. It also has new playground equipment which appears to use both the PlayBooster and Evos equipment from Landscape Structures. Calvin immediately gravitated to the roller slide. He slide down it once in the traditional style and spent the rest of the time pretending it was a treadmill.

I think the Dakota Ridge Park was the first place I’d seen the Evos equipment. It’s very different from the equipment I had growing up with but Calvin loves playing on it and it provides him quite a bit of climbing and strength exercise. I’m now a fan.

It’s hard to tell from a still picture but these circles rotate.

After spending time on the Evos equipment, Calvin transitioned to the more traditional style equipment. He started with the fish net climber.

The spring bridge was also fun.

I’d seen a lot of double slides before but this was the first triple slide I’d seen.

And finally, he had to climb up the Corkscrew Climber.

Also on the playground was a sand area. However, there wasn’t any built-in equipment for it and I hadn’t brought any of our toys so Calvin ignored it.

All-in-all, it was a very nice school playground.

Summary:

Features	Swings (no bucket swings), tire swing, tether ball, roller slide, climber, O-Zone climber, Swiggle Stix Bridge, Gyro Twister, Fish Net Climber, Spring Bridge, Triple Slide, Corkscrew Climber, Loop Arch Climber, Covered Slide, Rush Slide
Surface Material	Bark Chips
Restrooms	No
Water fountain	No
Shade	No.
Picnic area	There’s a covered picnic table but it’s not very close to the playground.
Parking	Fairly convenient street parking
Pros	Nice new equipment Lots of climbing options
Cons	Playground not available during school hours No restrooms

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Playground at Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, Scotland

The absolute best playground we visited in Scotland was on day two at the Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh. The playground is located on the far western side of the park. The park map we saw neglected to mention there was a playground and we trudged the entire length of the park, Calvin complaining the entire time, on faith having heard a rumor there was suppose to be a playground somewhere.

I was very relieved when we found the park to see it was worth the trek. The park is spectacular. The main playground equipment is setup like a play castle.

It has all the normal playground features such as slides, monkey rings, rope bridges, etc.

There’s also a climbing wall so you can storm the castle.

The playground also had a wide variety of spinners ranging from single-person spinners to a giant rope climbing apparatus that also spun.

There’s also a little kids area and the obligatory themed spring rider.

And, of course, a log swing that looks like it could be used to ram open (fragile) castle gates.

If you’re looking at the park facing south, you can see the play castle overshadowed by the real Edinburgh Castle. (The sun was not kind to my pictures.)

Summary:

Features
Surface Material	Mostly poured rubber
Restrooms	Yes, relatively close, it appears you usually have to pay but we didn’t the day we were there
Water fountain	Can’t remember
Shade	Reasonable amount of shade
Picnic area	Can’t remember but the park itself has a ton of benches.
Parking	No
Pros	Nice playground equipment Very scenic backdrops
Cons	A bit tricky to find if you don’t know where it is.

Playground at Highland Folk Museum, Scotland

I’ve been meaning to post pictures of the Scottish playgrounds we visited but kept procrastinating. While Scotland isn’t quite as overflowing with playgrounds as Hong Kong is, we visit several nice ones. On our seventh day in Scotland we visited the Highland Folk Museum. We arrived toward the end of the day so didn’t have nearly enough time to wander around. However, right within the entrance is a pretty nice playground area for kids.

Among other things, they have the best tire swing I have ever seen. It’s huge.

The main playground area had a rustic feel to it.

However, they had several more modern pieces of playground equipment also. I’m pretty sure one of our Boulder parks has this one:

They also had a fantastic spinner. I think it would have been even better with more people on it.

There was also a single-person spinner and a wobbly balance beam to walk on.

Away from the main playground area there’s also a digger, fairly close to their sawmill building.

Summary:

Features	Modern age 5-12 playground equipment, log-house style playground equipment, wooder spring rider, amazing tire swing, large spinner, individual spinner, wobbly balance beam
Surface Material	Mostly bark chips
Restrooms	Yes, relatively close
Water fountain	Can’t remember
Shade	The more modern playground is shaded by the trees but the wood-based playground elements don’t appear to get shade.
Picnic area	Can’t remember.
Parking	Parking for the museum
Pros	Best Tire Swing Ever Nice variety of equipment
Cons	N/A

Columbine Park, Boulder, CO

After Salberg Park I decided to drop by Columbine Park which was just a few blocks away. Earlier in the morning when I was trying to decide where to go I stumbled across a Boulder City post about their Top 10 Nature Play Parks. Columbine Park was on the list but I wasn’t sure if it was going to be large enough to amuse Calvin for more than a couple of minutes.

Columbine Park was a very pleasant surprise. It doesn’t have any traditional playground structures but still had enough elements to keep Calvin amused. The first thing he did was run over to the “OmniSpin Spinner” which appears to be a modern equivalent of a merry-go-round. It’s definitely a cut above most modern merry-go-rounds but I found it difficult to get up to a nice speed (being pregnant probably doesn’t help). Even though it goes slower, it’s pretty comfortable to sit in. I relaxed in it for a bit and let Calvin (briefly) spin me.

Next up, Calvin climbed aboard the “Oodle Swing” (at least, I think it’s an Oodle swing, definitely similar if it’s not that exactly). Add some pillows and I think it’d make a nice hammock-like swing for a kid to read in.

The playground also have several rocks with rope ladders to climb up.

A unique feature of this park is its extended balance path consisting of pretend tree stumps, rocks, log balance beams, and log tunnels. Calvin enjoyed running back and forth on them.

The park also had a fake “stream” wandering around one edge of the playground area with rocks providing more balance options.

The final feature of the park is a tree. Normally, I just mention the man-made structures. However, this was a perfect playground tree. Its branches hang low enough to the ground that children ducking under toward the trunk are nicely hidden. Plus, the branches are low enough to the ground that children can climb up the (sap-leaking) tree. This is probably not an officially approved activity but I liked Calvin have the opportunity to climb on something actually natural, not just nature-imitating. Calvin didn’t go up more than a couple of branches but enjoyed that bit of climbing up by himself.

I was amused to see a sign indicating the playground was designed for ages 5-12. I know they have to do this for safety reasons but there was a lot that younger kids could get from this park. I think it’s one we might go back and visit once 2.1 is born.

Summary:

Features	Multi-person swing, merry-go-round substitute, lots of balancing elements, several rocks/ropes to climb, good climbing tree
Surface Material	Poured Rubber
Restrooms	No (though there’s an elementary school behind the park that might be available if you get desperate)
Water fountain	Yes, it was even turned on
Shade	Yes, there’s quite a bit of shade provided by a picnic structure and mature trees.
Picnic area	Yes, one covered picnic area with a couple of tables, including wheelchair friendly tables.
Parking	Fairly convenient street parking
Pros	Lots of balancing options Merry-go-round-like equipment Good climbing tree Interesting multi-person swing
Cons	No traditional playground equipment, may bore some kids? No restrooms

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Salberg Park, Boulder, CO

October has been unnaturally warm. It’s almost the end of October and today was sunny and almost 80 degrees. On the weekends Calvin has a tendency to get stuck in the family room playing with Legos all day. I love Legos but I also think that outside time is important. So I decided it was time to go and explore a couple of parks.

We first went to Salberg Park. Calvin and I have been to this park before but it was in the pre-photographing of park era. It’s a nice park with restrooms! (Though it appears the restrooms may only be open in summer as they were locked today).

The park has a nice-sized traditional playground structure. It’s mainly designed for “older” kids but does have several things underneath for younger kids. An example is a little bucket swing.

Calvin enjoyed climbing across the rope wall.

The playground also has two regular swings and two bucket swings for babies. (Calvin hasn’t learned how to swing himself yet so I don’t have any pictures of them). I had forgotten that Salberg park has a very nice sand area. I should have brought our sand toys. Even so, Calvin was able to amuse himself with the built-in sand equipment: two regular diggers, a wheelchair accessible digger, and an elevated sand table.

As always, Calvin enjoys climbing on the rocks.

I think the playground might have been upgraded since I was there last. It has two structures that I don’t remember. The first is some equipment that I believe is suppose to mimic a sailboat (note it’s also surrounded by blue poured rubber). The entire structure can be rotated, with some effort.

The other structure provides more climbing opportunities.

Summary:

Features	Small double slide, curved slide, swings, bucket swings, mini-swing, rope wall, sand diggers, accessible sand digger, elevated sand table, stylized sailboat structure, climbing wall
Surface Material	Poured Rubber and some sand
Restrooms	Yes (possibly only open for summer)
Water fountain	Didn’t see one but seems like there should be one by the restrooms
Shade	Yes, there’s quite a bit of shade provided by a picnic structure and mature trees.
Picnic area	Yes, one covered picnic area and additional nearby picnic tables.
Parking	Dedicated parking lot
Pros	Good equipment Easy to park Sand!
Cons	N/A

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Pineview Park, Boulder, CO

Several weeks ago Calvin and I made it to another park. However, then life got busy and I never got around to posting about it. We visited Pineview Park which is relatively close to his preschool.

It’s a nice playground with a “nature” theme that was just remodeled in 2013. It even has sand!

The playground structure itself has a lot of different climbing options. Calvin ventured out on the rock but didn’t want to try climbing down that way.

He did venture up the petite climbing wall though.

And the ladder.

An interesting feature is the “tree trunk” was created to be hollow to allow climbing ladders up and down.

The park also has a nice covered area for parents to sit on and both regular and bucket swings. As an aside, the Boulder park website claims there are restrooms, a water fountain, and a parking garage which is incorrect I assume that must be a copy/paste job from another park.

All-in-all, it’s a cute park and is close enough to Calvin’s preschool we might visit it again.

Summary:

Features	Curved slide, “wooden” ladder, rock, small climbing wall, tree house, swings, bucket swings, accessible digger
Surface Material	Poured Rubber and some sand
Restrooms	No
Water fountain	No
Shade	Seating area for parents in shaded and there are some trees, though I’m not sure it’d shade the playground
Picnic area	Yes, one picnic table
Parking	Street parking, the best parking is on Cloverleaf drive then you walk down a path and over a bridge to the play structure
Pros	Nice new equipment Secluded Sand! and a large field by the playground for running around
Cons	No restrooms

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Kiesa's Mutterings

Rarely updated entries on my life

Category Archives: Parks and Playgrounds

North Boulder Park, Boulder, Colorado

Crestview Park, Boulder, CO

Sandstone Ranch (west side), Longmont, CO

Melody Park, Boulder, CO

Horizons K-8 School Playground adjacent to Admiral Arleigh A. Burke Park, Boulder, CO

Playground at Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, Scotland

Playground at Highland Folk Museum, Scotland

Columbine Park, Boulder, CO

Salberg Park, Boulder, CO

Pineview Park, Boulder, CO