Shute Park

Hillsboro has some nice parks, and Shute Park is one of the many. I previously visited Shute Park about 8 years ago, and it has definitely been updated in the last couple of years. The primary playground has two sections, one for children 2-5 years of age, and the other for children 5-12 years of age. The additional mini playground has an awesome tree climber, swings, a unique teeter-totter and bouncy rider, which are all located in the far corner towards the big Indian statue. The main playground is primarily a new structure from Landscape Structures with three slides, a small climbing wall, latest spinners, fun monkey bars, numerous climbers (including the fabulous Hemisphere Climber also located at 53rd Ave Community Park), a gyro twister, a large climbing rock, and one of my favorites, the classic wiggle bridge. Kids especially love the fun Comet spinner, along with the nice sand pit, which has a waterspout coming out of the rock structure. The way the primary playground is set up is ideal for parents with kids playing at both the smaller structure, the sand pit, or the big structure because there is a sidewalk in the middle of the two structures, which enables you to see children who are playing on either side. The only negative thing I have to say about this playground is unlike other new parks, tires have not been placed under the main teeter-totter. This is a safety feature I would prefer to see at all newer parks. Despite this minor detail there is so much to explore, and it is a great park to walk around and behold the beautiful trees and learn a little of Hillsboro’s history by the bell as well as Indian culture. In addition, the Shute Library, located right across from the park has just been remodeled, and is a great place to check out books if you are Washington County card holder. Overall, Shute Park it is a fun park to walk around because the primary playground is phenomenal, and there are many things to explore like the huge Indian Statue I previously mentioned, a big bell, fire pit and more. My kids have asked to play numerous times at this park since we discovered it, and I’m sure your kids will be asking the same. It’s a great place to play. 

Click on Hillsboro Parks & Recreation to see their description of Shute Park.

Click on maps to find out directions to Shute Park.

Ridgewood Park

Today we were at St.Vincent’s so we decided to go to Ridgewood Park and play. We have been there a few times and it has always been enjoyable. Sometimes there are dogs off leash, but it has never hindered us from having fun. I don’t know if it technically is an off leash park or not, but it is accommodating for dogs to run in the nice open corner. Overall dogs seem to be preoccupied if they are with his or her owner, and kids can play at the playground. Every time we’ve come there have only been a handful of kids and the big blue plane (maybe dolphin) seems to be the main attraction. The tire swing is also fun, because they can be rare. Another rarity is this playground is manufactured by a company in Grants Pass Oregon. So it is nice to see some features such as the climber and various panels which make this park unique. One thing Ridgewood doesn’t have is a bathroom, but there is a drinking fountain. The last mentionable quality is the park is primarily fenced in except lacking a gate. Overall, I really enjoy going to this park because it is calm and I too like the big bouncing blue plane.

Click on THPRD to see their description of Ridgewood Park

 

Click on directions to locate Ridgewood Park via Google Maps

A.M. Kennedy Park

There are a quite a few new or remodeled parks in the Beaverton/Aloha/Hillsboro area, which makes it hard to decide which park to blog about first. Since my family and I enjoyed playing at A.M. Kennedy Park because of a friend’s recommendation, I thought I’d start with this beauty. First it’s in an amazing location off of Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy (a.k.a OR 10, near Target) and tucked in a neighborhood off of 107^th. Although this park is near a heavy commuted area, the park is remarkably placed in a natural beautiful environment! For instance, you might instantly forget you were stuck in traffic on OR 10 once you get to A.M. Kennedy. Your kids will also enjoy getting wrapped in nature, as they climb over logs, walk amongst trees, pick treasures and play on a brand new structure from Landscape Structures. Although the play structure itself is rather small, the park’s total fun is over 8 acres!  Amongst that acreage there is a community garden, soccer field, Porta Potty, drinking fountains, basketball court, a covered picnic shelter, and both a gravel and paved path.  One thing I like most about this park is the architecture and set up along the soccer field. It is the perfect park for one child to be having soccer practice, while another child plays basketball, and possibly your third or a friend is happily playing at the playground and all fairly visible. For instance, the amazing structural cement seating allows you to see one kid at the playground and another one playing soccer and possibly another playing basketball in the distance. While watching your children enjoy the latest spinners, the fun O-Zone climber (like at 53^rd Avenue Community Park), a fun twist slide, great side panels, and my favorite new feature the RingTangle (specifically b/c younger kids such as 5-6 can use it as monkey barks  and any kid can enter then RingleTangle and climb through) you may also be gazing the beautiful scenery. So stop and enjoy the sights, sound, and adventure at A.M. Kennedy Park

Click on directions to locate A.M. Kennedy Park via Goggle Maps.

Click on THPRD to see their description of A.M. Kennedy Park.

Willamette Park (Portland)

This summer while Playing in Portland my family and I noticed a Willamette Park we hadn’t played at.  We’ve played a few times at Willamette Park in West Linn, but never at the Willamette Park in Portland.  I guess, since the Willamette River is 187 miles long there should be a couple of parks named Willamette Park. This specific Willamette Park is quaint, quiet and nice.  It consists of a small modern structure with fun features such as a log roll, spinners, and a four-person-size teeter-totter.  In addition, you may enjoy walking down the path to the boat dock and possibly see boats and skip or throw rocks in the river.  One down side to this park is you have to pay to park.  However, it only cost a $1.00 an hour.  Really I think an hour is a sufficient amount of time to play at this particular park because it isn’t that big.  In fact, in one hour we had time to play at the playground, climb a tree, throw rocks, walk down the dock and get a little muddy in the sand and water.  So for a $1.00 I think it is totally worth a new place to play.  So come check out another Willamette Park and have fun Playing in Portland.

Click on Portland Parks & Recreation to see their description of Willamette Park

Click on maps for directions to Willamette Park.  (To get to the actual playground it is best to drive past parking lot where the boats dock and past the tennis courts.)

Hiteon Park

Hiteon Park has a special place in our hearts because it was the 100th playground in which I can name and count that we have played at! Obviously, if you keep up with my blog, I have a lot to blog about, but it takes a lot of time!  So Hiteon Park is great, but I might be biased because it is our 100th distinct playground. It is a smaller park, but has a great new structure.  In addition, there is shade! Hardly any new parks have shade so this is a BIG bonus. Plus there are cool trees in which kids can climb on and walk across. It makes this park a bit of a nature park with a regular playground structure.  There is also a cool rock structure in the middle and my kids mentioned, “This really feels like a rock.” I had never seen or don’t recall seeing a modern Playworld Systems structure and I really liked it.  The spinning bowls seem extra big, and I like the angle and curves, which hold the structure together. I did put a tag in saying the park is fenced, but I say that loosely. It isn’t entirely fenced in, as it is a wooden fence that can be climbed under, over, and through.  It does provide boundaries, but not full security.  Also the THPRD description says there are bathrooms, and I must have missed seeing them, because I can’t recall a drinking fountain or a bathroom. The good news is when your kids get bored, they can walk across the grass, or on the path to Hiteon Elementary, and play on the school structure, if school is not in session.  At Hiteon Elementary they have an older playground by Landscape Structures with some extra fun features like a wire crawl tunnel, which is rare to come by.  I know that RiverPlay Discovery Village in Eugene has one and there must be more, but I can’t think of any right now. The school playground also has a cool circular hoop like crawl through climber in which I don’t think Landscape Structures makes anymore. There are also structures that aren’t from Landscape Structures, one I think is a cool kind of handle swing in which I’ve never seen anything like it at a park here in the NW.  If I just didn’t have surgery I would have totally swung on one of those!  They also have an old fashion stainless steel slide that is a bit bumpy, but seemed like a whole lot of fun. So it is totally worth walking over to the school and taking advantage of easily playing at two playgrounds in one day.  What more could a kid ask for right?

Hiteon Park

Click on THRPD to find their description of Hiteon Park .

Click on maps for directions to Hiteon Park.

Hiteon Elementary

Holly Farm Park

Holly Farm Park is a nice charming park at the edge of SW Portland.  It has an awesome skate park that your kids may love and even if they don’t skate my kids particularly love watching a tennis ball swerve all around the structure or they like running in the structure themselves. (You may want to grab a ball if you don’t keep one in your car. And of course this is all done when there are no skaters. Please be courteous and cautious.)  The playground itself is average size but has some unique features like a climbing attachment and steering wheel attached to a pole instead of a panel. There is an additional one on a panel, but I like the creativity of Play & Park Structures idea of putting a wheel in a different place. It also has a clatter/wiggle bridge, which is one of my favorite playground features. Holly Farm also has a nice open kind of oval grass area, which is perfect for Frisbee or kicking a ball around.  The only negative factor about this park is if it is a hot day there is no direct shade at the play structure.  There are trees that provide shade, but you might find yourself sitting on the grass or in a tree to stay cool.  Speaking of trees this park has trees that are fun to climb, I actually had to move out of the tree I was resting in because my kids wanted to climb it!  One of the last things to mention about Holly Farm Park is since it borders Tigard and Lake Oswego you could to do some park hopping and stop at Dickinson City Park which is just over a mile away or one of our favorites Westlake, which is just over 2 miles.  Alternatively, you could just stay at Holly Farm and enjoy all that is has to offer and have fun Playing in Portland.

Click on Portland Parks & Recreation to see their description of Holly Farm Park.

Click on maps for directions to Holly Farm Park

Marylhurst Heights Park

Marylhurst Heights Park is delightful.  It is a new, natural, innovative playground that enhances a child’s imagination to explore nature and the wonder of creation at its best. The actual play structure surpasses any other natural play area I’ve ever seen.  For example, in order to go down one of the slides you or your child has to climb a rock/bulldozer. (There is no ladder! It is simply amazing.)  In addition, you will also notice remnants of dinosaurs in various rocks, as well as look upon the astounding water feature, shaped like a dinosaur skeleton.  One thing to note although creation is huge, Marylhurst Heights Park isn’t.  It is large enough to keep your children occupied for at minimum an hour with the splash pad, merry-go-round climber, log crawl, rope links, and large open grass to play in, and If you want more there is a labyrinth to walk through (like Elizabeth Price Park), and also trails for further exploration.  My family and I played at Marylhurst Heights Park for about an hour and didn’t do the splash pad, but we will be back!  We did walk trails, and could have explored more, but I didn’t want to get lost.  One thing we did notice that older kids would love is back past the fence, the walking trail has been transformed into what looks like a trail for mountain bikes.  If you have older children this could be a dream come true and keep them busy while your younger ones played at the rocks and/or fountains.  Regardless of what age your children are, your children will love this park.  I can’t wait to go back, the structure is astounding, and the natural landscape is a perfect playground in itself.

Click on City of West Linn to see their description of Marylhurst Heights  Park.

Click on maps for directions to Marylhurst Heights Park.

Wilshire Park

Wilshire Park is a nice park for all ages.  It does a good job at accommodating the imagination of little ones through fun play structures that consist of an airplane, boat, train and car. In addition, there are bigger structures such as a stainless steel slide, triple sand pit, 4 teeter-totters, a merry-go-round, two tire swings, and a wooden structure.  Although, Wilshire Park might not captivate a mid-to-older elementary child for long, maybe they will make friends and run around and play hide-and-seek behind the big trees.  My oldest did, and is capable of playing for hours under the beauty, shade, and adventure that is provided by countless NW trees in parks across the city.  In fact, I was thinking I would even like to run and play under the trees at when I saw the nice dirt/bark chipped path that circled the outer area of the playground.  Even while my kids were playing, there was a group of adults running and doing yoga that made this community park, feel vibrant. One plus and negative factor about Wilshire Park is, it is dog friendly.  I love dogs, but some children are scared and/or allergic and this park seems to lack a secure dog area.  The dog portion of the park is slightly fenced off, but could be better.  Other than that minor detail, this park seems to imply what The City of Portland aims at: “Healthy Parks, Heathy Portland!”  So get out, and have fun Playing in Portland.

Click on maps for directions to Wilshire Park

Click on The City of Portland to see their description of Wilshire Park.

 

Ibach Park

Ibach Park is one of the greatest parks in the metro area to discover, learn, and play. You might be surprised that it has been around for a while, but it hasn’t lost a bit of its splendor. It actually has been around so long, there are dinosaur bones!  Well that’s a bit of an exaggeration, it isn’t THAT OLD, but there is a replica of dinosaur bones in which you and your kids can walk and/or dig through. Because there is so much to learn and explore at Ibach Park, it reminds me a lot of RiverPlay Discovery Village Playground in Eugene. (Which according to Spoonful.com ranks among “The World’s Best Parks and Playgrounds.”) Ibach and RiverPlay Discovery Village specifically have a few features that are the same such as the ferry, canoe, and turf representing a specific river. They are also both designed by Landscape Structures and teach Oregon history through one of the best ways of learning – play.  However, if for some reason your child gets tired of discovering the great history of the Tualatin Valley through play, they can either pretend to canoe to the other side of the river and cross the meteor and/or dig in the sand, which also leads to a slide and climbing structure. In addition, they can run across the grass, and twist and spin on a whole other playground. My only reservation about the main playground is just like Pirate Park the incline hill is a slippery slope for children.  My children, as well as others have gotten scraped knees and elbows from the turf and sand rubbing against their skin as they have run or slid down the hill.  Be careful.  (I tell my kids if they want to slide down the hill, slide down the actual slide. That is what it is there for.) Despite this minor per-caution Ibach Park is wonderful, and I forgot to mention always calm!  Truly its greatness must be unknown to many because Ibach Park has endless opportunities for your child(ren) to imagine, discover, create and explore.

Click on The City of Tualatin to their description of Ibach Park.

Click on maps for directions to Ibach Park.

Woodard Park

This week we discovered a hidden Tigard treasure, Woodward Park. The park reminded me of two parks we have visited, George Foege Park because of its peacefulness, and Center Street Park because the structure is bigger than the one at George Foege Park.  While we were at Woodard Park my family and I found out there are various trails and entrances that lead to the playground, so if you feel like your walking a bit, don’t give up.  You will find it.  One entrance has a small parking lot, but we didn’t park there.  We had to walk across a bridge and turn left and then we eventually found it.  Once you find it, you will notice the not-so-great porta potty, as there isn’t a bathroom.  One of my children used the porta potty and said it was NASTY!  Therefore, you might want to make sure everyone has gone to the bathroom before getting to this park.  Alternatively, a positive factor about this park is the shade and open field.  The field is like a sanctuary for kids to run in. Another positive factor is Symposium coffee is now in downtown Tigard, just minutes from this park.  So grab yourself a great coffee, and head out to this Woodard Park as it is relaxing, quiet and an overall refreshing park to play at.

Click on City of Tigard to see their description of Woodard Park

Click on maps for directions to this park.  (I parked on Johnson St. when my family and I went to this park, but I believe you can park your vehicle at the small parking lot if you go to SW Katherine St and turn on SW Karol Ct.)