Cliff Nelson Park

This is without a doubt, one of our favorite parks!  It has a massive shaded playground, clean bathrooms (inside Cliff Nelson Rec Center), and an irresistable walking trail.

The playground is all connected, and while there is a small structure for little children, they aren't really separated.  This play structure has tons of climbing activities, bridges, tunnels, more slides than you can count, monkey bars, a pretend store front, lots of spinning apparatus, and four swings (two infant, two regular).

Larger structure

Smaller structure 

Spinning! 

Awesome playground!

A wooded path off of the playground leads you to a pond with fish and turtles.  It makes for a nice shaded walk.

Pond and fountain

Since we generally are only going to a park to play, I won't review all of the 'extras' at this park, but the rec center is just feet away from the playground and has restrooms.  One of our best friends held a birthday there last year, and it is a nice facility.

Cliff Nelson Center

Cliff Nelson Park is located on West Bardin, between Green Oaks and Kelly Elliot.
4600 West Bardin Rd
Arlington, Texas 76017

Treepoint Park

Treepoint is one of the newer parks in Arlington - small and packed with family usability.  Many people call this neighborhood playground the butterfly park, and it's easy to see why.

As you walk up, you encounter a huge caterpillar walkway that turns into some climbing hills (his head).  Just past the entrance is an irresistable to climb butterfly.

The play structure itself is geared for younger children (no monkey bars or high falls).  It has several climbing structures with slides and poles.  It, too is butterfly themed, with 

There are several spinning apparatuses and a two-person teeter totter.  Also, two baby swings and two big kid swings.  There is also a tiny walking trail (paved) and a little three-station work-out area for grown ups, so you could do some sit-ups while supervising playtime.  :)

The piece of equipment that my own children (and the friends that met us there) wanted to repeatedly be on was the 'giant swing' - a sort of conical trash-can lid attached to ropes.  Three or four kids could lay on it and swing or we got 7 kids easily sitting on it.  What fun!

The only drawbacks to this fantastic park is lack of bathroom and substantial shade.  The structures have shade built in, but there are no trees, and the shade moves depending upon times.  This park is out of the question in the summer!

Treepoint Park is a neighborhood park, located near 287 and Little School Road - kind of on the edge of Arlington and Kennedale.  

Treepoint Park

5403 Treepoint Drive

Arlington, Texas 76017

Woodland West Park

This is such a beautiful, shaded park, sharing a parking lot with the Dottie Lynn Rec Center.  This park has the feeling of a neighborhood park, but has a basketball court, a swimming pool (open during the summers), tennis courts, and a picnic area shaded by huge oak trees.  The best part is the awesome playground (with areas for big and little kids).

The play area for the bigger kids has a climbing wall attached to a rope wall, plenty of climbing bars, slides, a spinning chair, bridges, and a little store front.  There is also a free standing spinner, which I couldn't keep my kids off of.

The play area for the under-five set is smaller, but it has two slides, a bridge, and some bells to bang on.  There are also two baby swings and two regular ones.  The ground covering is wood chips.  There are lots of shaded benches all around the playground, and the tennis courts, pool, and rec center are all within walking distance.  

Woodland West is located on Norwood Drive near Park Row.  It is directly behind Duff Elementary.
Woodland West Park
3200 Norwood Drive
Arlington, Texas 76013

Duncan Robinson Park

The best thing about this park is the name for this Spurs fan.  :)

Duncan Robinson Park is a very small neighborhood park, consisting mostly of a playground, which is great for us, since that is mostly what we love about parks.  The playground is definitely for older kids - several monkey bars, a climbing wall, and some really high up moving bars, which I couldn't keep my girls off of, despite them not being able to do them alone.  The sign says ages 5-12, and it's pretty accurate.  There is no play area for littler kids at this park.  There are two baby swings, though (along with 4 regular ones).

There is a picnic area in a field across the parking lot.  My kids loved that there was a 'rabbit hole' in one of the trees there.  We've been to this park twice, and both times, we were the only ones there.

Duncan Robinson Park is located on West Turner, which is just off of Bowen, past Pioneer Parkway.  It is right next door to Hill Elementary.

Duncan Robinson Park
2100 West Tucker Street
Arlington, Texas 76013

H.A.D. Dunsworth Park

In my former life (as a first grade teacher), I used to take my students on 'walking field trips' to this park.  This park is located right behind Foster Elementary, and everyone there just calls it 'the blue park'.  Until today, I had no idea what it's real name was!

Dunsworth Park is a tiny neighborhood park - just a playground and some picnic benches.  Unless there are some Foster Elementary kiddos there (the cutest kids in Arlington, save mine and yours), this park is always empty!

This is one of the few parks in the city that doesn't have split play areas for younger and older children.  I would say that this one runs more towards older children, although there is one baby swing.  There are ton of climbing opportunities, a bridge, and several slides here.  Also a big tire swing and a free standing spinner.

Dunsworth Park is located on Waverly Drive.  This is so close to the Parks Mall - if you are shopping and have some time to kill, this is a great little park.  And if you are there on a weekend, you can walk across the small field to the elementary playground!
1100 Waverly Drive
Arlington, Texas 76015

Vandergriff Park

This has to be one of the largest parks in Arlington, because it is massive!

playground

The playground at Vandergriff is great.  The brightly colored 'little kid' part of the playground has low to the ground climbing spots, slides, and a little pretend storefront counter.  The big kid playground is gigantic and fun for any kid who likes to climb.  There is even a cute (raised, shaded) observation deck for any parents whose kids are old enough to play solo.

This one's for big kids

And for the littles!

There are several fun free standing pieces of equipment also - a wobbly balance beam, a three-seater bouncy rocket ride, a low-to-the-ground spinning chair, and two standing spinners.  There are two baby swings and two regular ones.  The ground covering is wood chips.

We love Vandergriff Park!  It is a little overwhelming because it is so huge.  In fact, the first time we went there, it took us 10 minutes just to find the playground once we got to the park.  Once you figure it all out, it's worth it... besides a spectacular playground, Vandergriff has baseball fields, a HUGE covered pavilion, miles of fields and walking trails (not heavily treed), bathrooms, horseshoe pits, tennis courts, and probably more that we haven't explored.  It is also the site of the Bob Duncan Center.

Vandergriff is located on between Center Street and Matlock.  The best way to get to the playground is by entering at Bob Duncan and turning left towards the pools.  The Marrow Bone Springs entrance will take you to the pavilion, tennis courts, and horseshoes (but you can't access the playground from that lot).
2800 South Center Street
Arlington, Texas 76014

Mary & Jimmie Hooper Park

Hooper park is kind of a hidden treasure.  It is almost always nearly empty whenever we go.  It is small with a lovely view of a lake.  It has a baseball practice field, a basketball court, and a spectacular playground for small children.

This is one of the few playgrounds in which my children are completely content to stay on the equipment designed for their age-group.  The 'little kid' playground has plenty of slides, climbing apparatuses, tunnels and fun!

Little kid heaven!

The 'big kid' playground is also lots of fun, with a climbing wall, tall slides, and lots of monkey bars and firemen poles.  The ground covering is wood chips.  There are two baby swings and two regular ones.

This one's for the bigger kids

The pavilion can be rented (the sign designating whether it is reserved is directly in front of the pavilion), and is just feet from the water, making it a beautiful place to eat lunch.  There are only two tables underneath, so it would have to be a small gathering.

Hooper has a small baseball diamond and a basketball court.  I didn't' get many pictures, since there were lots of people playing and didn't want to look like the paparazzi.

We also found this sign.  How cool!

Hooper Park is located on Pleasant Ridge, between Bowen and Cooper.  It is tucked away, so you may have driven right past it and not realized what you were missing!
2303 Pleasant Ridge Rd
Arlington, Texas 76015

FJ 'Red' Kane Park

Kane Park is an older park with beautiful views of a fountain and pond.  It, like most Arlington parks, has separate structures for big kids and little ones. 

The 'big kid' playground is pretty awesome.  It has a three story climbing structure (as tall as a 3-story building) with three huge slides.  The top level (accessed only by a rung-ladder) is really high up.  I took my kids to this park when they were still toddlers, and it was too scary to let them play on.  But for 4 and up, it is great.  It also features two rock climbing structures and two big kid swings.

This one is for big kids!

The 'baby' playground is fairly small, and may not hold the attentions of an older toddler for long.  There are two baby swings.  

The little kid friendly side

This park boasts a pond with fountain feature, basket ball court, paved walking trail (around the pond), a  flock of friendly geese and ducks, and bathrooms.   There are several picnic tables (in the shade of large trees) to have lunch or do crafts, and plenty of benches for parents of older children to sit and watch.

Basketball court

Pond, dock, and geese

Picnic area

Kane park is located on Southbound Cooper Street, just past Hardisty Dr.  

6500 S. Cooper St

Arlington, Texas 76001

California Lane Park

California Lane Park is one of the few parks in Arlington with a splash pad or spray ground.  These features are open in the summer (and turn off when AISD school starts).

splash pad / spray ground

The playground is separated into two sections - one for smaller kids and one for larger.  The park can be rented out for parties, and there is a bulletin board near the entrance that tells you whether it has been reserved at all that week.  Be warned - the parking lot is small.  We attended a birthday party at this park once, and had to park  at the school across the (very busy) street.

Both playground structures are fun and fairly safe for all ages.  They are fairly new, and have a shade screen above each.  They have wood chip ground covering.  There are two big kid swings and two baby swings.

For little kids 

For bigger kids

There is a small covered pavilion, containing two picnic tables located near the splash pad and playground.

This park has two basketball courts that have stayed fairly active on our few excursions there.  There is also a soccer field, which we loved practicing on.  It is built in a bit of a bowl, so I would imagine that it gets really muddy after a rain.

Basketball court & soccer field

There is a short walking trail, leading to a pond with a fountain.  We didn't see any ducks, but I would imagine there are some occasionally.

California Lane Park is located between Bowen and Fielder Rd, directly across from Short Elementary.
2001 California Lane
Arlington, Texas 76015

Clarence Thompson Park

Clarence Thompson is a fairly small, older park.  It has lots of large shade trees, a small practice field/open space, an interesting play area, and a few picnic tables.

The play space for bigger children is fairly unique.  It is almost all climbing apparatus - lots of ropes, bars, and futuristic looking spinning devices.

Futuristic for big kids!

The playground for little ones is fairly modern in style, with slides, tunnels, periscopes that the kids can't help but look into (they work!), and a tiny little store front for pretend play.  There is also a spinning chair low enough to the ground for my preschoolers to climb into on their own.

For littler kids

Between the two there is the only merry-go-round I've seen since I was a child.  It is net-roped for safety, but one of my girls managed to fall out the entry 'hole' while a parent was spinning it around, so tell your kiddos to sit down and hold tight.  The playground features two baby swings and two regular ones.

Spinning seat and merry-go-round!

Thompson Park is on Brown Blvd, between Ascension and Collins.
1600 Brown Blvd
Arlington, Texas 76011