Saddlebrook Park

This was a bit of a puzzling playground. For me, because I over analyze things. The kids were like “Park, Yeah!”
There’s a newish BIG climber by Jambette that is FULL of all sorts of ways to climb, swing, balance, and slide. There is a safe staircase for the littles, that leads up to tandem slides. But that’s about it for younger kids besides the ground level puppet theatre window and crawl tunnel. Bigger kids can cross the rope bridge, scale the rock-climbing walls, swing from the circular monkey bars, climb the various ladders, cross the flat spiderweb, and play with the pop-up hats panel.

The toddler mosquito rope structure is a few steps aways from the big climber (more on this at the end)

Then scattered throughout the rest of the sand area are big swings (there used to be an adaptive swing but seems to be missing in 2016); more big swings and baby swings; and four spring-riders which are a mix of newer plastic and two very old, very splintery wooden ones. My 7-year old said “I think they should replace these soon”. I don’t think even all the coats of paint will protect little legs!
There’s also a cute seal see-saw, an old wooden and metal stand/sit balance board, and a brand new pirate/nautical-themed climber, again from Jambette. More safe stairs lead up to portholes (to spy on your brother), a trilingual ocean map, binoculars and slides. Both my kids were able to safely cross the spider web to the other side and zip down the slide. There’s also a metal ladder that was juuuuust a bit too far from the platform for my toddler. The best part was probably the hammock underneath, the perfect spot to sip a Tim’s raspberry lemonade!

The rest of the park (which is huge) has soccer fields, basketball, baseball, tennis, hockey, beach volleyball, drinking fountain, a chalet, and during the summer there are portable washrooms. 

By BIG problem with this playground is that the base of the mosquito rope climber is 8 feet (I measured) from the parking lot/parking spaces. And while there is fencing on the other side of the lot near the soccer fields, there is a whole open side to the playground. I can just imagine how busy it is on soccer and baseball nights with kids all around and cars pulling in and out……and kids playing eight feet from the fronts of cars pulling in. *shudder*

p.s. Access to the playground is on Woodbine near Post, NOT St. Charles. 

Feature
Toddler park (2-5)
Fenced toddler park
Baby swings
Big kid park (5-12)
Big kid swings
Parking lot
Street parking
Shade
Water fountain
Picnic tables
Benches
Seasonal Bathrooms
Green space
Soccer fields
Baseball field
Tennis courts
Basketball
Splash pad
Pool
Reduced mobility swings
Dep nearby

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.