Area: South Whitby

Age Range: infant and up

Parking:  plenty of parking at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre lot off of Gordon Street

Ground Cover: mulch 

Main Equipment:

• 4 slides
• 2 swings
• 2 infant swings
• 2 music stations
• 1 standing spinner
• 1 spider web rope climber
• 1 double teeter rocker
• 1 single rocker
• braile station
• multiple climbing apparatus

Accessibility features: ramp access to the smaller play structure (but not to the slide), music stations, braile station, driving station

Facilities/Other:

• 6 illuminated tennis courts (read more from the Whitby Tennis Club)
• 3 illuminated tournament quality baseball diamonds
• two unlit ball diamonds
• fully lit tournament quality soccer pitch
• washrooms (only during hours the Iroquois Park Sports Centre is open)
• Iroquois Skatepark 

Surrounding Park Area: A paved walking path weaving through the Athletic fields to the East parking lot where you will find the Iroquois Park Skatepark

Seating: 2 park benches

Shade: no shade over the playground, some shade in the surrounding trees


Overall assessment: I almost thought I would find Spiderman at this playground! Seriously though it is definitely the place to go for rope climbers! The intricate larger play structure is a circle of climbing apparatus that has a tall slide attached to one side. There is a ramp on the smaller play structure, but it sadly doesn't lead up to the small slides (there are a few steps in between), but it does lead to two music stations, a driving station, and a couple other stations along the way. I think when my preschooler is older I will definitely be bringing her here to climb all day long!

Area: Port Perry waterfront

Age Range: infant and up

Parking:  large parking lot off of Water Street

Ground Cover:  wood chips

Main Equipment:

• 1 swing
• 1 infant swing
• 5 slides
• 1 train
• 1 spider web climber
• 1 rock wall
• 1 playhouse structure

Accessibility Features: wheelchair accessible smaller play structure all the way to the slides, playhouse structure

Facilities/Other:

• see Palmer Park Splash Pad post
• 1 softball diamond
• Millennium Trail access

Surrounding Park Area: treed park space, boardwalk beachfront path, access to Millennium Trail, and local favorite The Perfect Scoop right across the street for an icy cool treat

Seating: a few benches scattered throughout the park and along the boardwalk

Shade: none over the playground itself, surrounding trees shade the grassy park field, and a gazebo offers plenty of shade for an impromptu picnic

Overall assessment: A great park for a day trip because there is the adjacent splash pad to cool off in and places to eat surrounding the waterfront park. The variety of climbing equipment will keep young and old entertained for quite awhile (we know from experience!). 
​

Area: Pickering South

Age Range: 5 to 12 years old

Parking:  limited street parking along Rosebank Road

Ground Cover: mulch

Main Equipment:

• 2 slides
• 2 spinners 
• 1 rope web 
• climbing apparatus 
• train noise button (behind the slides)

Accessibility Features: ramp to the top of the slides, play stations beneath the slides

Facilities/Other:

• train viewing platform

Surrounding Park Area: small green space and nice garden path through the park

Seating: 2 park benches, rock seating wall along the back edges of the playground, and rock seats by the pergola at the top of the slides

Shade: early morning shade provided by the park retaining wall, no shade through the rest of the day on the playground, pergola offers shade for top park bench


Overall assessment: One of Pickering's newer playgrounds that has a fabulous accessible slide!  This is a fabulous park to go if your child likes to watch the trains go past along the train tracks.  The raised seating area provides a fantastic front row seat to the trains passing by. A neat feature (I am told) is the train sound button behind the slides. Sadly the batteries were not yet replaced when I visited in the Spring, but they are checked every year.

Area: South Pickering

Age Range: 2 to 12 years

Parking:  parking lot off of Front Rd.

Ground Cover: mulch

Main Equipment:

• 2 slides
• multiple climbing apparatus
• wind chimes

Accessibility Features: ramp to entire structure

Facilities/Other:

• gazebo 

Surrounding Park Area: sizeable green space beside playground, great to have a picnic on, beautiful lake front view

Seating: picnic tables under gazebo, benches facing out to lake

Shade: the gazeo provides shade, but no shade over the playground or the surrounding green space. 

Overall assessment: A great park for young tots just starting out and older children as well! Generally a quiet park with little foot/bike/car traffic. If you have kiddos who will run, it is right on the lake, but doesn't have lake access, so may be a better option then the park right on Frenchman's Bay beach.

Area: West Ajax

Age Range: 18 months to 12 years

Parking:  McLean Community Centre parking lot off of Magill Drive

Ground Cover: wood chips

Main Equipment:

• 4 swings
• 4 infant swings
• 3 plastic slides (1 spiral slide)
• 2 metal slides
• 1 rope wall
• multiple climbing apparatus

Accessibility Features: both the small and large play structures are fully ramp accessible with multiple access points and multiple Accessible play stations on each structure, the larger structure includes an accessible monkey bars and parallel bars structure on one ramp, talking tubes, braille station and sensory tables. Safe Space to Play fencing around the entire larger play structure and swings.

Facilities/Other:

• Splash Pad
• McLean Skatepark
• accessible washrooms  (open 8 am-dusk daily) 

• 2 slow-pitch diamonds
• 1 basketball court
• 1 soccer pitch

Surrounding Park Area: plenty of surrounding pathways and walking trails connect to the McLean Community Centre park grounds, and there is even another playground just south of the athletic fields from this park (review coming soon).

Seating: 1 park bench (very limited seating available at this playground), but the adjacent Splash Pad has 4 picnic tables available for seating

Shade: some shade over the swings at the smaller playground structure, no shade directly over the playground itself, but plenty of shade in the surrounding trees


Overall assessment: This is a great accessible playground with plenty of different ramp access points as well as climbing structures and stations for imaginative play.  It is next to a great little Splash Pad and of course the McLean Community Centre itself.

​UPDATE JULY 2016: ​The larger play structure is now Canada's first Safe Space to Play as noted by Autism Ontario Durham (a local not for profit organisation)​. A few photos have also been updated to show the larger structure is now completely fenced in with a latching gate.