Glen Echo

Glen Echo

 

Location: 7300 MacArthur Blvd Glen Echo, MD 20812
The parking lot is actually at 5801 Oxford Road.

National Park Service Website

and Glen Echo Park Website 
 

My Opinion:

Features:

 No one goes to Glen Echo for the playground, but if you're there for the carousel or a puppet theater performance, having a playground nearby is a nice bonus.  The playground is fairly small with just a couple things to climb on, a short slide, and three swings.  On a nice weekend, the swings are a hot item since there's only three.  The playground was recently redone, with some new equipment and a new spongy rubber surface.

What's Unique:

The real attraction is the carousel.   If you live in the DC area and have never ridden it, make plans to go.  It is a treat for kids and adults.  The 1921 Dentzel Carousel is open Saturdays & Sundays, noon - 6 pm; Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 am - 2 pm. Cost is $1.25 per ride.  We never tire or riding it, at the Wurlitzer band organ that accompanies the ride can be heard all over the park.

The Puppet Co. Playhouse, Adventure Theater, and a whole catalog of classes and activities make the park a great place for kids.  Check their website for more details.

On the playground itself, this new addition seems to be a big hit.  Lots of ways to climb around on it.

This older part of the playground is still a lot of fun.

This tipsy balance beam is also a fun challenge.

Restrooms:Yes

Nicely maintained and clean restrooms.

Sun/Shade:There's not much shade on the playground, but there's a nice group of trees nearby with lots of picnic tables.

Nearby:

Other than the snack bar in the park, The Irish Inn at Glenn Echo is the closest restaurant.  You can actually walk there by going beyond the Cuddle Up and Hall of Mirrors building.  There's a small set of stairs that lead to the restaurant's parking lot.  For other options, a right onto MacArthur will point you toward the Safeway at 4701 Sangamore Rd and some other stores in the same plaza.

Palisades Playground

Palisades Playground

 

Location: 5200 Sherier Place, NW Washington, DC 20016
Finding the park can be a little tricky.  Look for Listrani's Italian Restaurant on MacArthur as a landmark then turn onto Dana.  Check the map.

Park Website

My Opinion:

Features:

This is a cool old park, full of lots of wooden things to climb on and through.  There are two sections, one for older kids and one for younger kids.  Slides, swings, and a sandbox, but the best part is really the wooden walkways, bridges, and little houses.  For some reason the big kid swings outside the fence beside the rec center - I didn't notice them at first.

What's Unique:

This place is full of stuff that you don't see at other playgrounds.  Not sure when it was built, but they don't make them like they used to.  No plastic gear with smooth surfaces and rounded corners here.  Except for the slides, it's mostly wood, metal, and tires. That's right tires!

All the tires look fairly new and seem pretty clean.  My kids were climbing all over them and went home with clean clothes.  There is one ramp covered with half tires that seems unsafe where the tires are coming apart.  They've been duct taped to cover the splits and cracks, but there's wires sticking through.  I told my kids to steer clear of the ramp - they were fine with it - there's enough other stuff to climb on.

Most playgrounds have a climbing wall these day, but Palisades has one made out of wood and it's pretty challenging.  There are two walls, one at a slight angle and a second one that's straight up and down.

This is a good spot for kids learning how to do the monkey bars.  These bars have a slight decline to them if you start on the platform.  It's just a little bit easier to grab for the next bar when it is lower.  Plus one side has bars on short chains so there's enough of a swing to help get you to the next bar.  They're also pretty low to the ground.

Someone was really thinking when they put this car together.  Four steering wheels so there's no fighting over who gets to drive.

Restrooms:Yes

Restrooms are located in the recreation center right next to the playground.  Although there are outside doors to the restrooms, they are only unlocked when the recreation center is open.

Sun/Shade: Partial sun
The area south of the park is wooded and there are some trees on the north side of the playgrounds as well.  The playground area seems to be shaded in the morning and sunny mid-day, although this may vary depending on the season.

Nearby:

A left back onto MacArthur will take you to a few restaurants...  Listrani's, Bambu, and DC Boathouse farther down.  I haven't been to anyone of them, but from the street they look like they're a little too fancy for bringing kids after a good run around a playground.  There's also a Starbucks in that direction.  A right on MacArthur will get you to a Safeway, CVS, and a Marvelous Market.  Good spot to grab a quick sandwich, coffee, pastry, juice, etc. and definitely kid friendly.  There's also a DC public library right across the street.

Cabin John Regional Park

Cabin John Regional Park

 

Location:
7400 Tuckerman Ln, Rockville, MD 20852

Park Website

My Opinion:

Features:

This playground has it all.  Slides, swings, and lots of things to climb on.  The closest area to the parking lot has a nice toddler play area with train cars to climb through.  Moving around in a circle, the play areas get progressively bigger, so there is really something here for any age child.  Both of my kids where excited about the big slides and enjoyed climbing up to a balcony on the big kid playground and then navigating their way through tubes and over bridges.  The entire playground is big enough that it got a little tricky keeping track of where they were.  Both of them agreeing to stick to one area at a time helped.

What's Unique:

The most popular aspect of the park is probably the miniature train ride.  The train leaves the station every half hour and takes a relaxing fifteen minute ride through the wooded areas of the park.  On nice weekends, every seat fills up, so it's worth waiting in line to board.  If you show up right before the train is scheduled to leave, chances are you won't get a seat and end up waiting a half hour for the next ride.  I'd suggest choosing a car near the back of the train.  Even though it looks like an old time steam engine, there's a gasoline engine under the hood.  If you're tempted to sit up front thinking you have a better view, the fumes will have you wondering the the engineer is really just mowing the lawn.

The park also includes indoor tennis, an indoor ice skating rink, lots of trails, a nature center an amphitheater, and campground. Check their website for details.

Standouts on the playground include this little contraption.  The blue part on top spins, and it's at a slight angle so a rider's weight helps keep it spinning.  The label says ages 5-12, but I'm convinced they put this in for the parents.  Kids will get a kick out of hanging on to the ring as you give it a spin, but don't let them have all the fun.  Get a running start and grab on.  You'll feel like Peter Pan as the centrifugal force pulls your feet outward, and you'll be surprised at how long you can keep yourself spinning.

One of the smaller play areas has the maze-like structure.  I'm always surprised at how long kids can entertain themselves in one of those plastic playhouses, going in and out of the doors and peeking out the windows.  These little cubes with all their doors and windows multiplies the fun.

This one brought my four year old running from the other side of the playground.  He's totally into construction equipment, so he had a blast climbing all over this and pretending to make it go.

Kids also thought these little climbing blocks were fun and had a good time dropping down into the "trap door."  It seems like kids are savvy enough to recognize the same old same old, so even something as simple as blocks to climb on stands out when it's something they don't see every day.

I thought this climbing bridge was pretty cool to.  These days, most playgrounds seem to have some sort of climbing wall, but being able to climb along the length of this made climbing more fun, and pretending there was actually water under the bridge (with alligators!) made things more interesting too.

Restrooms:Yes

Several single stall restrooms are very close to the playground.  Each has a Vacant/Occupied slide lock on the door.  This makes it a little easier for a family trip to the restrooms.  But these facilities out in mother nature... when we stopped by they were less than perfectly clean and a couple bugs had found their way inside.

Sun/Shade: Partial sun.  There are many large trees surrounding the playground, and it covers enough area that at any time during the day there should be some part of the playground that is shaded.

Nearby:

Take a left out of the park onto Tuckerman and there's a small shopping plaza with a CVS and restaurants just a minute down the road.  From there a right on Seven Locks Road will get you to a McDonald's. 
A right out of the park, and then another right onto Westlake Drive will take you to Montgomery Mall as well as other plazas with restaurants.