Category Archives: Parks and Playgrounds

Carkeek Park Playground, Seattle, WA

A couple of weeks ago Jaeger and I took the kids to Carkeek Park. From a playground perspective, the highlight of the park is definitely the Salmon slide.

Jaeger has been talking about the Salmon slide at Carkeek Park every since he saw it on a walk. However, the kids and I haven’t made it there till now. It’s in a wooded section so it’s nice and shaded on hot days. An interpretive sign says the the Salmon slide, and surrounding other features, “represents the the interconnectedness of the lowland forest watershed environment that is home to many creatures in the Puget Sound.” In addition to the Salmon slide, it also has a pretend tidepools

as well as caves.

There is also traditional playground equipment. It’s not as unique as the Salmon Slide but the kids still enjoyed climbing around on it.

Both of our kids loved the large teeter-totter.

On the west side of the park there is a piano-inspired crosswalk that then leads to a pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks. The bridge is a great spot to watch for trains.

From there, families can walk down to the beach.

After playing on the beach for a bit we ended the day by taking a walk on the paths to get to Piper’s Orchard.

While this park doesn’t have the largest playground equipment around, it has so many other things that it’s easy to spend the whole day entertaining the kids.

Summary:

Features	5-12 playground equipment, large teeter-totter (seats 4), double slide, corkscrew climber, spiral slide, steering wheel, chain net ladder, spring rider, concrete tidepools, concrete caves, concrete Salmon slide, swings, wooded paths
Surface Material	Wood chips (traditional playground), poured rubber and dirt (nature playground)
Restrooms	Yes
Water fountain	Yes
Shade	The nature themed playground is shaded from the trees. The traditional playground doesn’t have much shade.
Picnic area	Yes, lots of picnic tables close to traditional playground structure.
Parking	Several parking lots. However, I suspect parking can be hard to find on nice days.
Coffee	None.
Pros	Unique playground. Lots of additional things nearby: grassy field, watching trains, beach, orchard, paths.
Cons	Really busy on nice days.

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Luuwit View Park, Portland, OR

For Memorial Weekend Jaeger went to run the Bolder Boulder in Colorado so I decided it was another good chance to visit Grandma in Portland. We went down Saturday and checked in to the hotel. When booking, I made sure to get one with a pool so after checking in I let the kids play in the pool for a bit. Then we went to Grandma’s house for supper. On Sunday, the kids had more pool time before we met Grandma and my Aunt for lunch. After lunch I looked around for a nearby park because I thought the kids needed outside time and it was a beautiful day. This led us to Luuwit View Park.

The park is pretty impressive. It’s wide open and spread out. On the west side of the park there is a sculpture mound that culminates in the “Bird” sculpture by Mauricio Robalino.

In the middle there’s amphitheater seating facing a large shelter as well as a large field. When we were there the shelter had picnic tables in it but it also looked like it could be set up for performances.

The east side of the park contains the play areas¹. There are three main play area. The first is for smaller kids, probably preschool age. The equipment looks a little advanced for toddlers, though I did see toddlers wandering around gleefully grabbing on to the bottom parts of the equipment. In the middle was a medium sized net orb for kids to climb on.

To one side was a rubber lined hill that included a double slide.

There’s also a mini-merry-go-round. It looks like it could comfortable fit two, maybe three, but while we were there at least five teenagers somehow managed to climb on at once.

This area also had a little spinner.

Calvin spinning.

Along the path to the next play area there were several musical installments. One was a very large set of vertical chimes kids could bang on. There were also two other installments, one was like a xylophone and the other smaller chimes.

The next play area had a larger net orb that was surrounded by a sloped rubber wall. I expected Calvin would love this, as he always navigates to net climbing. However, he didn’t spend as much time here as I expected. It could have been because he wanted to go back to the hotel for more swimming.

Julian did enjoy climbing up and down the surrounding wall.

I think the highlight of the play area was a sand pit that looks like it has a water feature in summer. Julian enjoyed the sand as is but I bet it’s glorious when the water is turned on.

The sand pit was surrounded by a small shaded arbor tunnel. It looked the perfect size for preschoolers and toddlers to run through. However, it also provided a little shade to adults if they wanted to sit down in the path.

The park design also says there’s a water feature in the area. However, it probably wasn’t turned on while we were there and I completely missed it.

This park was fun to visit and does have lovely views. My only caveat is it’s hard to see multiple play areas at once so if you have multiple small kids it may be hard to keep track of them with only one parent.

Summary:

Features	Double slide, medium-sized net climbing orb, toddler swings, larger net climbing orb, mini merry-go-round, spinner cup, rubber climbing hill, sand pit, water feature (in summer?), tall vertical chimes, outdoor xylophone, chimes, tunnel arbor.
Surface Material	Rubber and fake grass.
Restrooms	Yes, multiple family restrooms.
Water fountain	Yes
Shade	Not much shade. There are trees but they are very young. There is a shelter in the middle of the park.
Picnic area	Yes.
Parking	Parking lot.
Coffee	None.
Pros	Big spread out park. Sand pit looks like it will be lots of fun in summer. Sturdy looking musical chimes.
Cons	Hard to supervise multiple play areas at the same time.

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It turns out there is also a north east section which I didn’t notice while there that contains (or will contain) a teen area, basketball courts, picnic area, and community garden. ↩

Discovery Park Playground, Seattle, WA

A couple weeks ago the kids and I finally ventured over to Discovery Park. The playground at Discovery Park is pretty new. According to this ParentMap article it was installed at the end of 2017. It’s a really nice playground that has something for everyone.

We parked in the Visitor Center East Parking Lot and then walked down the path on the east side of the visitor’s center to get to the playground. The playground is lovely and is surrounded by large trees. In fact, one of the critiques in the ParentMap article is that there’s so much shade that you may need extra layers in the cooler and wetter months as well as towels to dry off the slides.

In addition to nice, but fairly traditional, play structures the playground also had a lot of climbing options.

Julian particularly loved climbing up the stacked climbing disks.

Though he also enjoyed the rope bridge.

Calvin’s favorite activity was definitely the zip line.

They had some interesting wooden half arch bridges that Julian enjoyed scrambling over.

The large play structure was very tall. At the top it has a window that kids can look through.

The structure also had a lot of different panels that the kids could play with.

Overall, it’s a great playground and definitely worth visiting again, particularly on a hot day when one wants shade.

Summary:

Features	2-5 playground equipment, 5-12 playground equipment, tall slide, infant swing (2), regular swing (1), swing with back (1), net bridge, double Bobble Rider (mini seesaw), bongo drum panel, small wooden ladder, curved rope climber, spinner, double slide, small curved slide, marble panel, gear panel, rain sound wheel panel, ring-a-bell panel, SwiggleKnots™ Bridge, small fake rocks to climb, Disc Net™ Climber, steering wheel panel, half moon arch
Surface Material	Wood chips
Restrooms	Yes, but not close. There’s a porta potty halfway between the playground and the visitor’s center.
Water fountain	No
Shade	Lots of tall trees surrounding the playground. May still get sun when it’s directly overhead.
Picnic area	Yes, several picnic tables close to playground structure.
Parking	Parking at visitor’s center. Might be crowded on nice days and weekends.
Coffee	None.
Pros	Big playground with lots of things for every age. A lot of climbing options.
Cons	Restrooms too far for kids in the middle of potty training.

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Westmoreland Park Nature Play, Portland, OR

A couple of weeks ago we decided to go down to Portland to visit my grandmother. We decided to stay at a hotel downtown near OMSI¹. I was delight to discover that our Pacific Science Center membership included a reciprocal agreement with OMSI, along with other science center/museums, for free general admission. We all went our first day. However, on our second day Calvin wanted to go back but Julian wanted to go to a playground instead. Several years ago my mom sent me an article about a trend toward natural playgrounds in Portland. I had been wanting to visit one for years but the timing was never convenient. However, Julian’s wish to go to a playground seemed like a good time to try one out.

Julian and I hopped into the car and, trusting Google maps, successfully found the Westmoreland park. There didn’t seem to be a parking lot but street parking was adequate, at least for a drizzly day². The first thing we saw was a grassy area with a bunch of picnic tables.

From the picnic area we crossed a bridge to get to the play area.

View from the bridge.

Julian immediately headed for a group of logs installed horizontal to the ground.

He was so proud when he was able to stand up and walk on them.

These logs led to a tower of rocks for kids to climb.

There were a variety of other wood climbing options but they were too big for Julian. I think Calvin would have enjoyed them if he had been there.

They also had some logs propped against a small hill. Julian seemed to enjoy climbing them but they didn’t keep his attention as much as the horizontal logs did.

There was also a sand area which Julian enjoyed.

It looks like in summer there may be an option to play with water in the sand which would be fantastic.

Overall, it was a fun playground and a lovely park to visit. However, I’m not convinced the “natural” play area has any innate advantage over the more traditional playground.

Summary:

Features	Many climbing opportunities on logs, stumps, and stone, small slide, sand area, water area (I think) in summer.
Surface Material	Wood chips
Restrooms	Yes
Water fountain	Yes
Shade	Lovely mature trees that look like they might provide a nice amount of shade.
Picnic area	Yes, though main picnic area isn’t within site of the play area.
Parking	Street parking.
Coffee	None.
Pros	Natural aesthetic makes for a nice change. Large sand area
Cons	Not much for really small kids.

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Still my favorite science museum. ↩
Contrary to what the pictures show, the park had a lot of people in it. I was just trying to avoid taking pictures of other people. This is one reason I haven’t done a post about Gas Works Playground yet. It’s always mobbed and impossible to avoid pictures of other children. ↩

North Transfer Center Playground, Seattle, WA

One of the things I like about our current house is we live within walking distance of three playgrounds. The North Transfer Station playground recently re-opened¹. It’s nature themed so Julian refers to it as the “tree playground”.

The main play structure looks like a tree fort. Complete with little critters hiding in the tree.

Julian enjoyed walking up and down the climbing logs.

There were also fake tree stumps dividing the main play structure from the climbing net. The stumps were handy for the parents to sit on.

The logs were fun to balance on.

Across the road, on the transfer station side, there’s a variety of equipment for stretching and some strength exercises. Technically, they’re not for kids but Julian enjoyed them anyway.

Overall, it’s a fun park and Julian has requested we visit several times since our initial visit.

Summary:

Features	5-12 playground equipment, slide, log climber, ladder, Centipede Climber, talk tube, periscopes, net climber, logs to walk on
Exercise Equipment (on other side of the road)	Springer, bench, stepper, pull-ups, sit-ups, stretch
Surface Material	Mainly wood chips and some poured rubber
Restrooms	No
Water fountain	No
Shade	Not much.
Picnic area	A couple of small picnic tables.
Parking	Street parking.
Coffee	About a block from The Essential Baking Company.
Pros	A nice basic playground.
Cons	No bathrooms. Not much for really small kids.

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It had been closed due to substandard initial work. ↩

Webster Park, Seattle

Back in November Julian and I went to the Webster Park Playground which is near our rental house in Ballard. It’s right next door to the old Webster school¹. I loved the bright colors of the playground equipment.

This playground looks primarily designed for ages 5-12². There wasn’t a playground structure designed for 2-5 year-olds. However, they did have swings for both young and older kids. In addition, there was a sandbox with some community toys!

Julian particularly loved climbing on the net rope strung between two large climbing boulders.

The playground is “interactive”. I didn’t try it, but there’s an app you can download from Biba to use with the playground.
Biba app sign with info on how to download the app to play with it in the playground.
The park also has a basketball court, grass lawn, and a sundial.

Summary:

Features	5-12 playground equipment, bucket swings, regular swings, molded plastic seat swing (without straps), telescope, drums, interactive Biba app, wheel panel, gears panel, rope ladder, tunnel, climber, double slide, curved slide, climbing rocks, rope net, number panel, sandbox, community sand toys
Surface Material	Wood chips
Restrooms	No
Water fountain	Yes
Shade	Leafy trees. (Not sure if they would shade the play equipment in summer).
Picnic area	No.
Parking	Currently there’s a parking lot by the old school. That will disappear if the school opens with its current proposal.
Coffee	No.
Pros	A variety of options for older kids. Sandbox!
Cons	No bathrooms.

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This use to house the Nordic Heritage Museum which recently moved to a new location. ↩
With the caveat that my kids start playing on the 5-12 equipment by 2 1/2 or before . . . ↩

Update: Wallingford Playfield, Seattle

Update
I’m doomed. I just read on the Wallyhood blog that Wallingford Playfield’s playground is now closed. Given my past experience with construction projects I have no faith it will re-open before we move or my kids are too old to appreciate it¹. That said, the proposed play structures do look very nice.

Original
Last 4th of July I was by myself because the kids were with Jaeger’s parents and Jaeger was still in San Francisco. I headed to Gas Works Park to view the festivities but it was a little crowded for my taste so I decided to wander around and see what houses were for sale. I like walking around neighborhoods because you see things that aren’t as obvious when driving. On my quest, I ended up walking through Wallingford Playfield and was delighted to see that it had a large wading pool.

We ended up buying a house within walking distance of Wallingford Playfield² and, on one of our numerous visits to the house, the kids and I dropped by the playground.

Wallingford Playfield has a traditional-style playground. It has both a very nice structure for older kids as well as a smaller structure for younger kids.

Julian enjoyed moving the rings back and forth on the smaller structure.

Calvin was excited to see that the playground has a traditional merry-go-round. It also has a traditional tire swing.

Julian loved the digger. Unlike most playground diggers, this one isn’t in a sandbox. It’s just digging the surrounding dirt/mud. Julian also loved climbing the rocks that surrounded the play area.

The wading pool had been drained for the season but I’m looking forward to taking the kids there next summer.

Summary:

Features	5-12 playground equipment, bucket swings, regular swings, molded plastic seat swing (without straps), tire swing, 2-5 year-old play structure, merry-go-round, digger, rocks, trees, large half-circle climbing structure, circular monkey bars, seasonal wading pool, climbing wall, curved slide, tunnel slide, ladder, fireman pole, tunnel, chain net, steering wheel panel, corkscrew climber, simplified abacus panel, small curved slide, bridge, double slide, tennis courts, soccer fields
Surface Material	Mostly wood chips. Parts are surrounded by poured rubber
Restrooms	Yes
Water fountain	Yes
Shade	Leafy trees. The larger structure has a roof on some sections and underneath is fairly shady.
Picnic area	Yes, multiple picnic tables.
Parking	Street Parking
Coffee	No.
Pros	Nicely balanced play structures. Something for every age. Has both merry-go-round and tire swing
Cons	No coffee.

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Right before we moved to San Francisco the Balboa Park Pool closed for renovation and is still closed. ↩
Jaeger claims I think everything is within walking distance, which is somewhat true. However, this is also within walking distance for Julian. ↩

Roxhill Park, Seattle

Ok . . . it’s been a while. So much stuff has happened and I didn’t have the time or energy to record most of it. However, I took my kids to Roxhill Park today¹ and I got inspired to do another playground post. The last one was when Julian was a baby and we still lived in Boulder, CO.

We went to Roxhill Park on the recommendation of the Seattle Family Adventures book. It’s down in West Seattle so driving was the only practical way to get there for us. Google Maps took us to the southern side of the park. However, we did find both the playground and parking lot located near the northwest corner.

South side of playground with playground structures and swings.

Roxhill Park has two castle structures. One for ages 5-12 and one for 2-5. The smaller castle was cute and had a small double slide.

Small structure with double slide.

The structure for older kids was much bigger. Though, it also only had one slide.

5-12 Castle Playground Structure

While this playground does have things for smaller kids to do, it excels at climbing options for older kids. On the north side of the playground there is a large dome-like structure that has various types of climbing nets for kids to climb.

North side of playground. Shows the climbing options.

Then, there’s another structure that has plastic climbing holds to scramble up.
Structure with plastic climbing holds.

It also has more traditional playground equipment such as monkey bars and hanging rings. Julian particularly liked the balance poles.
Julian crossing the balance poles.

As I mentioned, the playground does have some things for smaller kids. In addition to the small play structure, there are also swings for all ages as well as a nice sand play area.

Summary:

Features	5-12 playground equipment, curved tunnel slide, corkscrew climber, money bars, bucket swings, regular swings, molded plastic seat swing (without straps), 2-5 year old play structure, small double slide, sand, small climbing wall with rope, rope climbing structures, other climbing structures, new-style merry-go-round (seats 4), balance poles, small bridges, fireman pole (attached to rope structure), rope ladder, skate park, ball fields
Surface Material	Wood chips
Restrooms	Yes
Water fountain	Yes
Shade	Leafy trees. Depending on the time of day, significant parts of the playground are in shade.
Picnic area	Yes, multiple picnic tables.
Parking	Parking lot.
Coffee²	Starbucks in nearby Target.
Pros	Really nice climbing options Target (with embedded Starbucks) one street over. Convenient for emergency diaper pickups and coffee. Sand play area.
Cons	Not as much stuff for little kids to do compared to other playgrounds.

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Yes, we now live in a Seattle. Everyone is still a little surprised. ↩
This is a new category for Jaeger. ↩

Tantra Park, Boulder, CO

Tantra Park was the first park we visited last Sunday. Based on the map I knew the park was tucked away behind the houses but the park sprawls in an odd shape and I wasn’t sure where the playground structure was located. I looked at the satellite image and misidentified a catch basin as the likely spot.

We parked by the tennis courts on W Moorhead Cir and crossed the street to enter via a path. The path curves behind the subdivision houses and marks the beginning of a dramatic elevation increase. As we walked along the path in search of the playground I saw a sign strongly advising against sledding down the hill because it was steep with no flat area to slow down before you hit hard objects. Of course, now that I’m back with internet, I see that Tantra is a very popular sledding hill in winter. Who knew?¹ According to Boulder Families the hill can get quite packed. This site gives you a feel for how it looks in winter. While I can see how some parts of the hill may be too steep I think there are probably other sections that are fine.

After meandering along the path we found the playground structure backing up to the east curve of Tantra Park Circle. However, I’m not sure there is a way from the street to get behind the houses. Possibly the tennis courts are as good a place to park as any.

The playground structures are pretty good for such a hidden park. They have equipment for ages 5-12².

Overlooking the 5-12 play area is another area designed for younger kids that includes a play house and bucket swings.

I decided it was time to see what Julian thinks of swings: he approves.

Calvin was excited that Julian is finally doing something he can relate to and joined us on the swings.

If you look really (really) closely you can see Julian’s two brand-new teeth, discovered the prior day.

Beside the younger kid play area there is a covered structure with a picnic table. The picture shows steps from the 5-12 age play area but there is a path curved around the back that allows access to strollers and other wheeled contraptions.

Calvin played briefly with some kids but didn’t spend a lot of time on the larger structure.

Instead, he wanted to show off for Julian.

The playground equipment was mostly fairly traditional with the exception of . . . something I can’t find the name for. Basically it’s a raised flexible tube, with springs in the middle, that kids can jump on while hanging on to poles. It looks pedestrian when only one kid is on it but if you get multiple kids it can get quite bouncy.

Both Calvin and Julian had lots of fun at this playground and if we’re around for winter we’ll need to come back and see if we can do some safe tobogganing.

Summary:

Features	5-12 playground equipment, curved slide, bridge, ladder, corkscrew climber, driving wheels panel, spiral slide, money bars, tube bouncer, tire swing, bucket swings, moving maze panel, 2-5 year old play structure (mainly house but also a sand tube oddly positioned no where near sand)
Surface Material	Small gravel for the larger play area and poured rubber for the younger area
Restrooms	No
Water fountain	No
Shade	Small shelter plus trees to the side of the playground
Picnic area	Yes, one in covered shelter.
Parking	Street parking – Parking across from the tennis courts on W Moorhead Cir about as good a chance as any.
Pros	Apparently a fairly popular sledding hill
Cons	Very long hike if you need a restroom in a hurry. Not for those being potty trained.

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Actually, given my husband grew up here, I expected him to know but possibly it’s too far south for him to think it worth mentioning. ↩
Whenever I say “5-12” you realize I’m just quoting the official ages, right? My son was ready for the 5-12 equipment by 3 at the latest. ↩

Martin Park, Boulder, CO

We went to two parks on Saturday: Tantra Park and Martin Park . I’m starting with Martin Park because it was a much shorter trip. Calvin seemed to get an attack of self-consciousness when he learned there was a birthday party happening and didn’t want to be around the other kids.

Martin Park is a neighborhood park but it has a wide variety of amenities including tennis courts, ball fields, a good size shelter, and of course a playground. The playground has equipment for both younger and older kids.

The bigger equipment has several different types of slides as well as a bridge.

The little equipment has a slide and a tic-tac-toe panel.

Bear Creek runs alongside the park. The side of the park next to the creek has a fence (with openings) presumably to make it harder for children to bolt the moment their guardian looks away.

Overall, even though our visit was very brief it seemed like a nice park.

Summary:

Features	5-12 playground equipment, tall spiral slide, regular slide, spiral climber, stacked circles that can be climbed but also rotate, covered slide, small double slide, bridge, spring riders, 2-5 equipment, tic-tac-toe panel, bucket swings, regular swings
Surface Material	Small gravel
Restrooms	Yes
Water fountain	Didn’t see one but could have missed it
Shade	Large shelter with several picnic tables. Also trees that shade one edge of the playground
Picnic area	Yes, covered shelter with several picnic tables.
Parking	Street parking – parking in the culdesac on Dartmouth Ave is a good location
Pros	A lot of amenities for both adults and kids Restrooms!
Cons	Nothing obvious

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Kiesa's Mutterings

Rarely updated entries on my life

Category Archives: Parks and Playgrounds

Carkeek Park Playground, Seattle, WA

Luuwit View Park, Portland, OR

Discovery Park Playground, Seattle, WA

Westmoreland Park Nature Play, Portland, OR

North Transfer Center Playground, Seattle, WA

Webster Park, Seattle

Update: Wallingford Playfield, Seattle

Roxhill Park, Seattle

Tantra Park, Boulder, CO

Martin Park, Boulder, CO