Hooray! The first park that I'll be putting up on here will be Burrus Old Mill Park in Blue Springs. I had never been to this park before today, so it was a good chance to get out there and find a new park - and what a park it was! I drug my brothers and daughter out there with me for more input, and the verdict was quite nice! We really only checked out the 'Linda Sloan Lippert Playground', and didn't look at the many other amenities that were there, so I can't say for sure what the quality of those are, but if the playground was any indication, I'm sure they are quite nice as well.
This park has quite a bit of history in it. This is one of the oldest parks in Blue Springs, and undoubtedly has the most history. Where the park now sits was once the site of where the city of Blue Springs was founded. South of the park and across Walnut Street, you will find the fresh water spring that bore Blue Springs it's name back in the pioneer days. A permanent settlement eventually was erected, along with a grist mill - all where this park now sits! Interesting, yes?
Location: 112 NW Woods Chapel Road, Blue Springs, MO 64015
It was really pretty easy to find as you can see the sign for the park from the road as well as the playground up the hill. I'm a pretty big fan of google maps, so if you plug in the address you should find it with no problems.
Amenities: Of course, the playground first. There are two separate playground sets; one for ages 2-5 and one for ages 5-12. Regardless of the age restriction, my little monkey-pants had fun on both. The equipment seems to be in decent shape, a little sun-bleached (but what do you expect from 12 year old sets? There is a plethora of slides and bridges for playing on, and running about on, as these are some of the larger sets we've seen. There is also a few little mounted toys for the littler kids to jump/swing on, as well as a tire swing (tire is made of plastic).
I counted four benches for seating settled around the outside of the park. There is more seating in the covered picnic area a bit up the hill, but the view of the playground is not as well, and would make it hard to see your kids. However, there is a stone wall towards the back of the playground that looks like it could be substituted as a sitting spot if, for some reason, all the benches are occupied.
There is decent enough parking between the playground and the skate park. Not all of the parking is shaded, although there are a few choice spots that are for those hot summer months. However, I can see the parking lot getting full on a busy day, there is additional parking just up the street near the covered picnic area.
They have bathrooms, which for any parent with little kids is just frosting on the cake. It always seems that as soon as you get on the road (or to a park) that the kids have to go "now!!". No peeing behind the bushes here! I think bathrooms should be a "must" for any park. I love bathroom'd parks!
The Results:
Pros: I loved this park! It had plenty of things for most ages of kids to do (2-12ish) as well as lots of room for other things (say, if you wanted to take a walk, there is a walking trail that could also be used for tricycles and bikes, I'm sure). For the 12+ ages, there is a skate park, so I think that the whole family could potentially enjoy this park. It is easy to find, easy to park, and easy to like.
Cons: The playground has the potential to get *very* muddy. It is mostly wood chips (in a few places, recycled tire tiles) on the ground, however, it seems like it's been a very long time since they have gotten new wood chips and if it's been raining, the playground is a big puddle of mud. The kids may not think this is a problem, but for the parents who have to put a muddy kid in their clean car and wash 2 tons of mud off of them at home, it can be a real problem. So, something to keep in mind before you rush out to check out the playground, if it's been raining wear old clothes and shoes and expect to get your kid back sopping in mud.
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