Location: 1201-1501 NE Legacy Park Dr
Lee's Summit, MO 64063
This park is nestled in between the girl's softball fields and the baseball fields and is fairly easy to find.
Amenities: Someone designed this park well. Situated very close to the playground is the covered shelter with four nicely spaced picnic tables underneath, leaving plenty of seating for parents watching their children. This shelter is able to be rented at the Lee's Summit Parks and Recreation website. Also, there are three benches spaced around the playground area for additional seating.
Due to it's location between the baseball and softball fields, there is plenty of parking. The park itself has approx. 20 spots, and I have never seen it to capacity (although close). If all the spots were somehow filled, there is plenty of parking at the nearby athletic fields.
Joy of all joys, there is also bathrooms! I have been here before in the fall/early spring and have seen them be locked before, but during the summer I believe they are mostly unlocked. They are pretty clean as well, for public bathrooms. Right outside the bathrooms, there are also two water fountains, which I like as well.
The playground itself is one of the more modern ones in Lee's Summit, being built around 2002. It has the larger and more modern play structures, which includes an attached "web climber". Positioned to the left of the playground, there is a swing-set with two lounge-ish toddler swings and two older child swings. Further on there is the tunnels, perfect for little ones to run through, or even better - bring out the tricycle and ride on the paths through them.
The playground and swing area are covered in recycled tire ground cover, which helps if you have a clumsy kid like I do - a lot less injuries. In between, however, is wood chips - which have been in good shape every time I have frequented this park. The tunnels have a concrete path through them, which makes is great for riding tricycles - bad for running and eventual falling.
The playground itself has no natural shade. They have canopies that attach to the playground, like large deck umbrellas - however, they were not out as of yet - and this is May. Here's hoping they get them out soon! I suggest sunscreen for this park anyway, as the swing-set area and tunnel area are also not shaded and the canopies do not cover them.
The shelter has some area of shade at pretty much any time of the day, so at least you can sit in the shade and relax while you watch your kids getting burned! Ah, summer.
The Results:
Pros: This really is a great park, and one that I take my kids to fairly often - they really seem to be able to enjoy themselves here and keep entertained on the equipment for decent periods of time. I consider the recycled tire ground cover to definitely be a pro, as well as the copious amounts of shaded/unshaded seating around the playground. I like the "Tunnel Road", as its a pretty unique feature of this park that I haven't seen at any other park.
Bathrooms, of course, are a wonderful thing to have (when they are unlocked, that is).
Cons: There is a definite lack of natural shading at this park, which is something that happens at a lot of the newer parks - no mature shade trees. Also keeping in mind, that if they do not have the canopies out above the playground, there is no other shade there either.
There is also nowhere to set out a picnic blanket and lie down (to read, in my case. Or nap... I wish). You are pretty much limited to picnic tables or benches.
There is also the case of wind, which is something that I've noticed at this park - it is much windier due to how flat the landscape around the park is. This doesn't always have to be a con, though - if you are in the mood for kite-flying, this is the place you want to be. If you are more inclined to want to partake in a nice lunch under the shelter, be prepared to bring things to anchor your foodstuffs down, because otherwise you'll be chasing them across the playground the entire time.
No comments:
Post a Comment