Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Park

We’ve been meaning to come visit this park all summer, but it kept getting pushed back and back.
Finally, we wandered over super early on a Sunday morning and the playground was already full of kids.
It’s seems to be a regular meeting place for families, and with the great toddler area, large big-kid climber AND fenced and gated splash pad you can see why it’s popular.

While the toddler section is fully fenced and gated, the latch to actually close the gate is broken off so it swings wide open. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.
Everything in this section is on sand and includes two big plastic spring riders (the adorable bee and ladybug) that are both quite high off the ground so my little guy needed a boost up. There also a small double ride-on in another corner. 
The baby swings were packed with kids, and while there are already four swings, it seems like the playground could use some more!
We really liked the two climbers from Landscape Structures  that are here. There’s a large one and a small one, but both have stairs/platforms so they are quite easy-to-climb for all. The larger of the two climbers has a mountain summit climber, monkey bars, a bridge, periscope, steering wheel, curved rock climbing wall, crawl tunnel and a twirly slide. There was enough room to walk around and play even with all the kids on it.

Just beside it (and also directly beside the splash pad fence) is the smaller climber. There’s an adorable Critter Canyon with embossed critters, a window to peer through, a couple of platforms to get up to the small slide, a tunnel, and some musical chimes. It’s a perfect size for the littlest guys. 

While you can see the splash pad super clearly from the toddler park, to enter it you need to exit the sand area, go around the path and enter the gate which is closer to the road. 
The splash pad by Vortex Aquatic Structures is a good size and has picnic tables and benches inside the fence. There are spinning flowers and dumping buckets, sprays coming out of the ground, jets to turn, and a little section that seems geared towards small kids with a water “umbrella” and a gentle “mushroom” fountain.

Then, there is the big-kid section across the unkempt garden. The climber here is challenging with lots of rope walls and ladders, metal rungs and ladders, monkey bars and rings, high slides, and a climbing wall with rope. It’s on a wood chip base that needs a fresh layer as it’s old and isn’t going to give much protection in a fall. There are six big swings and surrounding the play area are benches and some picnic tables. There is just one section of fencing here closest to the road. 

The rest of the big park consists of a baseball field, greenspace, a large dog run (where we heard dog owners screaming and swearing at each other, charming), and an outdoor adult gym. This is the third park in a row we’ve seen with this outdoor equipment and it’s so cool! It is way down by Sherbrooke and away from the playground, so you’re definitely not working out while the kids play 😉

p.s. the playground is closer to Avenue Marcil and Chemin de la Côte-Saint-Antoine and we were able to find street parking right in front.
I gotta say, while we liked the actual playground equipment and the splash pad, the maintenance here seems to be lacking. The gardens are overgrown and weedy, there’s mud trailing off into the splash pad, broken gates, overgrown hedges by the splash pad entrance, and too much litter for my liking. 

Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce – NDG Park and Splash Pad from StrollerMom on Vimeo.