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