17 of the Coolest Playgrounds in Ann Arbor
Summer is fast approaching and it’s bringing summer vacation with it! Soon, our children will be out of school and hankering for fun things to do around town. Luckily, Ann Arbor isn’t lacking in the family-friendly activities department!
A2 is packed full of entertainment centers, educational opportunities and some amazing playgrounds. In fact, the Ann Arbor area is home to more than 90 playgrounds, each offering something new and exciting for your family. But when there are so many options for outdoor play, how are you supposed to know the best places to go?
Don’t worry! We’ve done the hard work for you, scouring Ann Arbor (and Ann Arbor With Kids’ incredible family-friendly blog) to find the best and coolest free places to play in the area. Below, you’ll find 17 of Ann Arbor’s playgrounds, offering everything from slides to climbing walls and seesaws. Have fun!
Spanning 8 acres, Allmendinger Park is nestled on Pauline Boulevard between Hutchins and Edgewood Avenue. It offers a mix of open space and oak woods, along with softball fields, a restroom facility, a tennis court and a basketball court. The playground is accessible via an asphalt path and is surrounded by a picnic area, public restrooms and tall trees that offer some much-needed shade on hot summer days. Inside the playground area, you’ll find classic playground staples like slides and monkey bars along with some more unique features like a climbing wall and a classic merry-go-round.
Encompassing a whopping 69 acres, Gallup Park is Ann Arbor’s most popular recreation spots. As one of the most accessible parks along the Huron River, this makes sense. In addition to three different play areas, Gallup Park offers access to the Gallup Canoe Livery, picnic areas and grills, two picnic shelters, an open field for play, and more than 3 miles of asphalt trails that are available for biking, rollerblading, walking and running. One of Gallup’s most popular playgrounds, Bilik-Orbach Play Area, offers a twist slide, a double slide, a suspended walkway, a tire swing and more. Because of its size, we recommend it for small children like preschoolers or young elementary students.
Burns Park covers 15 acres adjacent to Burns Park School. It was once the site of the county fairgrounds but today offers a small shelter with restrooms and a drinking fountain, five tennis courts and a practice court, a basketball court, a sledding hill, a small parking lot and playground equipment. This park is also the only one in Ann Arbor with a pétanque court, a sport similar to bocce! The play-area itself offers two structures, the smaller being great for toddlers. You’ll also find monkey bars, climbing chains, a sandbox with plenty of toys, and a funnel ball hoop (which you’ll need a ball for).
County Farm Park is one of the most popular playgrounds in the Ann Arbor area, offering a large play structure with tall slides, a zip line, a rope and several other climbing challenges. You’ll also find swings—including two adaptive ones—rockers, bouncers, small climbers and more. In addition to the play area, County Farm Park is also home to the Parcour Exercise Trail, the Britton Woods Nature Area, the County Farm Nature Area, the County Farm Park Gardens, two pavilions, public restrooms and a community garden.
Located just 5 miles northwest of Ann Arbor, Delhi Metropark offers 52 acres of mature oak trees, open, grassy lawns, playgrounds, softball diamonds, a picturesque iron bridge and more. Because the park is nestled against a bend in the Huron River, it has become a popular fishing and canoeing destination—both great activities to enjoy all year long! While you’re there, you may even spot a great blue heron, turtles or a white-tailed deer. The sprawling playground is a child favorite, featuring a large, tall slide, several swings, monkey bars and more.
Foxfire North Park is a neighborhood park known for its soccer fields, basketball court, play structures, swings and more. The playground itself is a classic one, boasting several tall slides (one double and one curvy), along with monkey bars, educational spinners and four swings (two regular, one baby and one adaptive). If you’d like to take advantage of the soccer fields or basketball courts while you’re there, we recommend bringing a ball with you.
While the most popular summer attraction at Fuller Park is the Fuller Park Pool — an outdoor, 50-meter pool with an adjacent waterslide — the park’s 60 acres are also home to one of the city’s largest playgrounds. The massive wooden structure offers things like obstacles and towers rather than the usual slides. You’ll also find climbing walls, monkey bars, a tire swing and even a smaller playground area for toddlers. If you want to make a day out if it, take the short journey across the pedestrian bridge to Island Park, where there is another exciting playground!
Island Park is a 35-acre park located on Island Drive that encompasses a 5-acre island located in the middle of the Huron River. This gorgeous park mostly consists of open space with riverside trees and shrubs but also contains a few picnic shelters, a Greek Revival shelter, a play area, a restroom facility and walking paths. The Island Park playground is a small one but is still just as fun as the others on this list, offering spinners, a truck steering wheel, slides, swings, bouncers and more!
The second play area in Gallup Park, the Livery Playground, will be any prospective sailor’s favorite! While it doesn’t have a traditional play structure, your kids will still love playing on canoes built into the ground, swinging on the swings, or climbing up to the top of the many rock walls. The playground—which features a rubber mat base instead of mulch—also has a slide built into a hill, spinners, animal sculptures and more.
One of the largest parks on this list, Mary Beth Doyle Park, covers more than 81 acres and is home to one of two disc golf courses in Ann Arbor. Other attractions include a basketball court, open fields, a neighborhood ballfield, picnic tables and benches, and an unpaved trail that travels along Malletts Creek and through the woods and wetlands. The playground is pretty iconic here in A2—featuring a playground with a famously long slide, climbing rings, rope webbing, a seesaw, swings, a bouncer and bouncing platform, all perfect for any child obsessed with American Ninja Warrior.
Quiet and picturesque, Mushroom Park is a small neighborhood park nestled behind the homes in Dicken. It offers a small play structure, some giant concrete mushrooms for climbing, swings (including a few for babies and an adaptive swing), and even a small theater where your kiddos can perform some home theater for you and your family.
Olson Park offers 54 acres of fun for the entire family, including the dog, because this park is home to one of two off-leash dog parks in the city! Visitors will also find a wonderful fishing pond, paved pedestrian trails, a mountain bike trail, premium athletic fields available for use by permit, a basketball court and a play area. The non-traditional playground is complete with several climbing structures, a sand digger and sand funnel, and a little free library.
Placid Way Park is a 1.32-acre neighborhood park located between Placid Way at Tuebingen and Omlesaad. This quiet park contains a playground, benches, and picnic tables, and has a barrier free asphalt walk connection through the park. In addition to the classic play structure, Placid Way Park’s playground has several exciting and unique features that children will love exploring, like a massive, star-shaped climbing structure, a funnel ball court, spinning cups, a seesaw and more.
The third and final playground at Gallup Park is the newer Rotary Centennial Playground, which also happens to be one of the most unique playgrounds we’ve ever seen! Not only does it offer universal access and features available to those with limited mobility, it‘s also geared towards children of all ages. It has a castle-like play structure with a slide, a unique water feature, river access, a large four-person seesaw, rocking boats, a large sandbox, a climbing wall and so much more.
Located on the Huron Parkway, Scheffler Park is a small neighborhood green area containing a playground, a volleyball court, a half-basketball court, a rollerblading/hockey court, picnic tables and grills, a softball field, a drinking fountain and a portable restroom in the summer. In addition to the large green play structure—which includes several slides, monkey bars, a rope bridge, and climbing sections—the playground also includes a seesaw and spinner cage.
Bright green, orange and purple, the playground at Winewood Thaler Park is right out of a Nickelodeon daydream! The play structure itself includes a few slides, climbing walls, monkey bars and a flexible bridge. Outside of the structure, your kids can enjoy playing on the merry-go-round and dinosaur bouncers.
Located on Edgewood between Madison and Third, Wurster Park is a 5.5-acre park offering an accessible asphalt path connecting new play equipment, an open field, a sledding hill, horseshoes, a picnic grill and a champion-sized oak tree on the national registry of historic places. The play area features a quiet but exciting play structure, a twist slide, monkey bars, swings, a small sandbox and more. While you’re in the area, don’t miss the chance to stop by Washtenaw Dairy to pick up some ice cream or donuts for a sweet treat on the ride home.
Have fun!
The Ann Arbor area is home to more than 90 playgrounds, so we know we missed a few. If we missed your favorite playground, make sure to let us know in the comments below!
