Helen Wessler Park

This little neighborhood park could use a facelift.  It is a fun, well shaded park, but is a little run down.
Wessler Park has two separate structures for big and little kids, a covered sand box, a shaded covered bench for caregivers to sit, two baby swings and two regular swings, a small bike/walking path, and plenty of room to run around.

The baby playground is fairly small, but would keep a toddler occupied for a little while.  It has a doubleslide and a small tube slide, a miniature tunnel, and a little 'truck' wheel inside.

The 'big kid' playground would also be fairly safe for older toddlers, and has the much coveted bouncy bridge that my own kids love so much.

Helen Wessler Park backs directly up to Veda Knox Elementary school's playground, so you could walk there (as long as it's not during school hours) when your little ones tire of this playground.

The playground is a mixture of wood chip covering and a small area of rubber surfacing.  This is an old park, so there are several beautiful oak trees which provide shade.  It has a lot of potential, but needs to be revamped.  It is located at 2200 Greenway Street, Arlington, Texas 76010, at the intersection of Sherry and Greenway.  The Sherry street entrance has a large practice field that we didn't visit, since we are playground seekers.

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