Saint-Jérôme, Québec – parc Multisports

Perfection?
As close to it as we’ve seen!

I first heard about this park last year – when it was still in the construction phase – and since its inuaguration on July 14th of this summer, I’ve been waiting (im)patiently to visit. 
With it being about 45 minutes from home, this was a road trip park, so it took some planning, especially since I wanted to be there by 8am to take kid-free pictures, and wanted to visit on a sunny day so the pictures would be pretty.
Finally, on a blue-sky Saturday morning at 7am, we packed up three camera lenses, a backup camera, two children, water, hats, Advil for the slight hangover from the night before backyard bbq, towels…and forgot the bathing suits. Ya, oops. 
AND WE WERE OFF. 

I’d seen some pictures of the finished park and the kids looked slightly alarmed when I said I might puke upon being at the park in real life. 
I DID almost cry. “Are you going to cry?”
“No, I’m just SO EXCITED. This is THE park I’ve always wanted!”

Located at the end of Filion Street, near the l’Aréna régional de la Rivière-du-Nord, the synthetic soccer/football fields and the parc-nature du lac Jérôme, the parc Multisports is a large space that is slated for some additional medium and long-term projects including an outdoor refridgerated rink and facilities for indoor soccer and gymnastics. For now you’ll find a large and AMAZING playground, a modern and funky splash pad, and spaces to relax or picnic. 

Weird, unique, interesting, and accessible; the parc Multisports is great for all ages and abilities. 
The play modules on the colourful poured-in-place rubber incorporate different parkour obstacles allowing children, teens, and even adults to focus on their coordination and balance while climbing, jumping, swinging, and hanging. Cognitive, sensory and physical abilities are also stimulated through various inclusive products such as spinning and auditory panels, and tactile sensors along the Sensory Wave Climber

The innovative playground includes features like super bouncy trampolines, a climbing wall, slides, geometric mounds to climb and jump across (or scoot down on your bum), bars to swing from, a traditional swing and a saucer swing, ramps and bars to maneuver, a play structure and rope course for toddlers, interactive panels, ground-level activities, and a small “playhouse”.
We were only there for three minutes before the now-hard-to-impress 10-year old declared this his “new favourite park and can we come back tomorrow?!”

Located at the top of the stairs and the cleverly built-into-the-hill wheelchair-accessible ramp is the lovely splash pad from Waterplay. With more modern elements, it’s a great complement to the funky playground. Tall jets shoot towards the sky, a giant Solis sphere bubbles water out its top, rotating Spin Sprays are perfect for aiming at siblings, and the Puddles to jump on are THE BEST. Press the silver ground sensor to start the water sequence.

Just a short walk from the playground is the new parc-nature du lac Jérôme. With four-kilometers of trails in a mature wooded area, it’s currently available for walking, cycling, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The wide hard-packed trail is stroller-friendly and nicely shaded most of the way. We walked and walked, hoping to make it to the lake, but without a map at the entrance we weren’t sure how far it was along the trail. It wasn’t until we used Google Satellite that we saw we were wayyyyy far. Hopefully some informative panels will be added eventually. After the heat at the playground it was nice to walk along in the shade beside a bubbling stream.

Shoutout to the city of Saint-Jérôme, Groupe BC2, Les Terrassements Multi-paysages, Carpell Surfaces, and Tessier Récréo-parc who were involved in the design and construction of this fantastic park!

Things to note:
-The water at the splash pad is on from 9am-9pm. Touch the sensor on the ground to turn on the water sequence.
-Neither the play area or the splash pad is fenced.
-There is ZERO shade.
-While there are two porta-potties located near the parking lot at the top of the playground, neither one is wheelchair-accessible, which is a shame as this is a wheelchair-accessible park. 
-Picnic tables, chairs, and benches are located near the playground and the splash pad. There is also a bike rack and drinking fountain near the parking lot.
-To access the playground without going down the giant terraced steps, go towards the BACK of the playground and by the splash pad there are stairs as well as a wheelchair ramp.
-And a special note about traffic! If you’ve ever travelled up north on a Friday evening or Saturday morning, you’ll know about the insane gridlock along Highway 15 from Montreal. We left Montreal at 7am and it was clear the whole way, but on our way back south at 11am traffic on the other side was at a standstill from north of Saint-Jérôme all the way back to Montreal. So plan accordingly 🙂

 

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