Meadowbrook Park

Meadowbrook Park - this is the FIRST park ever built in Arlington!  We stumbled upon it driving home from somewhere else, and were pleasantly surprised.  The history of the park is noted on a placard at the entrance to the playground, and it was actually quite fascinating.

There are two playgrounds, aged 2-5 and 5-12.  Both play structures are shaded by a large umbrella, but the younger one is truly shaded by trees.  It has two slides, plenty of lower climbing opportunities, and two baby swings.

 The larger structure was enormous, with spiral and bumpy slides, a super tall slide, tons of climbing and levels, a monkey bar roundabout, some spinners, and two regular swings.  There is also a two-seater car that bounces when rocked.

 This park has a recreation center (with clean restrooms inside), basketball courts, shaded pavilions, plenty of benches, and a 9-hole public golf course (apparently Arlington's oldest course) in case dad needs a break from the park.

 And, we were lured into walk in the heat by the promise of a sculpture garden.  While the walk was pretty (and shaded), and the sculptures were lovely, we could only spot two sculptures.  Still, pretty cool, but not sure it makes an entire sculpture garden.

Meadowbrook Park is right off of Abram Street.
1400 Dugan Street
Arlington, Texas 76010

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

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