Category: Rope Climber

Sandy Hawley Park

4/29/2022

Area: North Oshawa (2500 Kentucky Derby Way, Oshawa, ON)

Age Range: toddler and up

Parking: small parking lot with 5 stalls plus 2 accessible stalls

Ground Cover: mulch

Main Equipment:

3 slides
1 swing
1 bucket swing
1 infant swing
3 spinners
1 teeter rocker
1 giant climbing boulder
1 musical station
1 farm gate sales stand (ok we made that up, but it is a great pretend play barn!)

Accessibility Features: music station, bucket swing

Facilities/Other:

Sandy Hawley splash pad
half basketball court
soccer pitch with 2 long team benches

Surrounding Park Area: A small green space in front of the park, and a bike lock station

Seating: 3 covered picnic tables between the playground and splash pad, 2 park benches by the half basketball court, and two long metal team benches behind the playground in the soccer pitch

Shade: none over the playground

Overall assessment: A cool new themed park based on the old Windfield Farm site (neat fact; the climbing boulder was original to the old Windfield Farm and was incorporated into this playground design). The kids loved the barn 'loft' and the really steep racing slides. They look steep but don't go quite as fast as you'd expect. One of the neat features we haven't seen very often anymore is a climbing ramp with rope to pull yourself up. It uses all kinds of coordination and muscles! They've already asked to go back to the 'farm playground' so I guess the theme was a hit!

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Lakeside Neighborhood Park

7/19/2018

2 Comments

Area: Southeast Ajax

Age Range: 5yrs and up (it's a bit more intermediate)

Parking: some street parking on Audley Rd S / Hoile Drive (they merge around the curve right in front of this park)

Ground Cover: mulch

Main Equipment:

1 slide
3 swings (1 bucket style, 1 saucer style)
2 hammocks
1 climbing rope structure
2 blue rock climbing walls
2 standing spinners
music station

Accessibility Features: music station, hammocks, bucket and saucer swings

Facilities/Other:

close to Carruthers Marsh Splash Pad and Ashbury Park (5-8min walk away)
also almost beside the Waterfront Trail Parkette swings

Surrounding Park Area: A small green space around the playground, right on the Ajax Waterfront Trail

Seating: 2 benches right beside the park, large rock retaining wall structure around the playground, and several benches in the area along the Ajax Waterfront Trail

Shade: none over the playground, some shade in the surrounding trees along the waterfront

Overall assessment: This park was built for obstacle course racing! It has two standing spinners that act as great starting points for a team race through the playground. The saucer swing is amazing as it has a beautiful view of the lake off in the distance to the West. Maybe you can catch a sunset here? The best part is that there are more swings across the field behind the park at the Waterfront Trail Parkette, and it's just a few minutes walk away from Ashbury Park and the Carruthers Marsh Splash Pad!

2 Comments

Horne Park

7/12/2018

0 Comments

Area: Northwest Ajax

Age Range: infant and up

Parking: some street parking on Horne Ave

Ground Cover: sand

Main Equipment:

5 slides (2 metal ones on the larger play structure)
4 swings
2 infant swings
2 teeter rockers (one whale, one atv)
1 climbing rope
1 rock climbing wall
1 fireman pole
1 playhouse mansion (that's two small houses put together)

Accessibility Features: talking tubes in the sand of the larger play structure area (so not very wheelchair accessible with the sand)

Facilities/Other:

Horne Park Splash Pad

Surrounding Park Area: A small green space around the playground, and a small field behind the splash pad

Seating: 1 picnic bench in the shade pavilion behind the toddler playhouses, three curved benches facing the playgrounds closest to the infant swings

Shade: none over the larger playground, some late afternoon shade over the smaller playground playhouses, and a lot of shade in the surrounding trees

Overall assessment: A great park for multiple ages. The playground mansion (because it is the largest park playhouse we have ever seen) is perfect for toddlers and younger kids. The sand in the toddler playground area is finer and has less rocks than the larger playground side (we suspect it had a fresh dump of new sand this year) and with the new splash pad right next to it, makes the perfect combination for sandcastle building when the kids are tired of sliding, swinging or climbing. It's a great local park and has amazing grassy shaded areas in the trees for picnics too! I just wish there was a seasonal washroom here when we visited....maybe next year?

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Iroquois Park Sports Centre

9/15/2017

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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!

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Guiness Park

9/12/2017

0 Comments

Area: North Ajax

Age Range: 18 months and up

Parking:
Weekdays: at the mailbox centre on Hinsley Cres
Weekends: at either St Josephine Bakhita or Da Vinci Public School parking lots

Ground Cover: mulch

Main Equipment:

3 metal slides
1 curved slide
4 swings
2 infant swings
2 rockers (1 is a motorcycle)
1 large curvy rock climbing wall (beside the smaller structure)
1 rock climbing wall (on the larger structure)
1 huge rope pyramid climber
1 standing teeter totter
1 log roller

Accessibility Features: none

Facilities/Other:

none

Surrounding Park Area: A large green space beside the playground, close to the following other parks;

Seating: 5 park benches, and 4 picnic tables!

Shade: no shade over the playground, some shade in the surrounding trees, and a shade pavilion over the picnic tables

Overall assessment: Wow! This is a great park for climbing, between the huge rope pyramid or curvy rock climbing wall! Even though it is geared towards bigger kids, with a small slide, some rockers and the amazing short infant swings we first saw in Whitby, it makes for a great toddler park too! These shorter infant swings limit how high they can swing and are great for first timers.

Wow this neighbourhood has three tot lots all within walking distance of this great playground! It's a great central park area for the community. If you live in the area, take a walk to check your mail and take the kids to the park for a bit. If you don't live in the area, come on over for a park hopping tour and park at one park but walk to three more!