Deer Valley Park - Lee's Summit

It was another one of those beautiful days - the ones that make you feel horribly guilty if you don't do something outside with your kid... especially when she gives you the "Doe-eyes", so we went to Deer Valley Park. It is within walking distance of our house, so it's a nice park for us to go to if I don't feel like driving anywhere.
However, it's kind of a trade, as I'll explain in here.

Location: 1400 NE Neawanna Drive
Lee's Summit, MO 64086
This is one of the harder parks to find if you don't know the neighborhood or area well. A good way to get there is to take Mulberry to Amanda to Neawanna Dr. It sits tucked into the surrounding homes pretty well and makes for a good neighborhood park. If you are not familiar with the neighborhood, it would be wise to look up directions before you go.
Amenities: Starting off with the playground equipment - this is one of the more medium-to-smaller playground structures in Lee's Summit. While the sign says that this playground is intended for ages 6-12, they do have a smaller playground structure with shorter slides that would be alright for younger ages (with supervision, of course). They also have 2 toddler swings, as well as 2 normal ones.
There is also a large open "sandbox" area in this park, so bring your shovels and spades! This is one of my daughter's favorite things to do at this park - get filthy dirty in the sand area and cart a pound of sand back into my car in her shoes! Since it is an open sandbox, it's usually a good idea to make sure the neighborhood cats haven't left any presents in it before you allow your toddler to play!
The equipment is around 10-12 years old and shows the wear of that time. There is also quite a bit of bad language written inside and on the slides, which my 8 year old pointed out to me verbally the last time we were there ("Hey Mom! Someone wrote f**k inside the slide over there!!"... I've had prouder moments...). I've seen attempts to clean some of the writing off, but it seems to just show up again and again.
An unique feature of this park is the climbing rock! Four sided goodness for older kids, with some sides being easier than others - so if your kid is looking for a challenge, this rock does the job well. My (now 8 year old) son used to have some problems with it, as far as being able to get up, but being too scared to get back down. It's both a good and bad thing - good as far as the kids think its "totally awesome!", and bad as far as you have to be a constant shadow to your younger kids if they are climbing this. Falling off of it doesn't feel too pleasant and both mine and my neighbor's kids can attest to that.
There is not any shade on the playground at any time of the day. Maybe a bit in the evening, the swing set may get some shade, but that's it. Bring your sunscreen because it is so super easy to burn at this park. The one bench that is there for the playground equipment is black and not shaded - two things put together to equal very uncomfortable. I usually bring a blanket and stretch out in the sun since the trees around the park are not mature yet and don't offer much shade.
Other amenities in Deer Valley is a walking trail that's about 1/2 mile around the open area of the park, as well as a bridge over a fairly active stream. The bridge and stream area is forested and shaded, as well as being very beautiful (during the spring, anyway). This park also hosts a water-fountain (and doggy fountain attached to that). There is also a little un-shaded cul-de-sac for parking that can fit about 5-6 cars if people park correctly.

The Results:
Pros: A personal pro to me is that this park is within walking distance. This would be why we frequent it often. My daughter also really enjoys the sandbox, which is not found at too many of the other parks. My son would say the climbing rock is also a 'pro' due to its "awesomeness".
The fact that there are toddler swings in an older kids' park is also always a good idea.
Cons: The climbing rock due to it depleting my Band-Aid stockpiles. It still is a neat feature, just hard on the parents...
The location of this park ranks in the 'Very Hard to Find' category.
There are NO bathrooms! The horror!
It is also designed for older kids and the younger ones may find it hard to go down some of the slides.
There is NO shade. You will burn without sunscreen.
My son reads the slide walls and feels compelled to tell me every dirty word he finds within earshot of other parents and their kids - I look like a failure. Not awesome.

A decent park - not the best or biggest Lee's Summit has to offer, but a good little park to go to if you live close and don't feel like driving very far. It works well as a neighborhood parks, but does not really stand up next to some of the other parks Lee's Summit has to offer.