The Birdhouse Park

Park Review: Heddie Notz park

Strawberry lane and Webster road Clackamas (parking available on Dolinda St)

Amenities: Large grassy area, nice small play structure, scattered benches.We stumbled upon this park a few weeks ago when our apartment complex lost power for a day. We went to McDonald’s for lunch but when a little boy spat on Arora we decided to play somewhere else. I thought I knew where a park was but got lost and found this one. Arora loves this park! The little “birdhouse” is just her style. She honestly ignores the other structure. The park is on the side of Strawberry Lane but you should   pass it and go to the stop sign at Webster, turn right then, turn right on Dolinda st. There is a place to park at the end of that street and a side entrance to the park . There is no parking on Strawberry Lane.

Pros: I love these quiet neighborhood parks. Arora keeps asking to go back to the birdhouse park.

Cons: Water fountain is broken. Very smelly trash can, that as far as I can tell has not been emptied in a long time. May be boring for older kids.

Alma Myra park

Park Review: Alma Myra Park

Theissen Road, Clackamas Oregon

Amenities: Nice wooded setting, two toddler swings, a teeter totter, wooden play structure. Circular paved path around park.

This is a nice little park. Arora and her buddies really enjoyed playing with all the sticks and pine cones, but watch out for dog poo! Pros: Arora loved the 3 man slide.

Cons: No parking, you have to park on the next block and walk over. The park is right on the side of a fairly busy street, could be a safety hazard for little ones. No restroom, we went once and had to leave right away because a certain little one needed to pee.

Westmoreland Park

Park Review: Westmoreland Park

If you drive between Milwaukie and Portland you have passed this park. It is right on the side of the road when you are going through the tree tunnel. You know, where the trees seem to grown together over the road. It is just off Bybee Blvd.

Amenities: Ball fields galore- baseball, soccer, football. Picnic tables, duck ponds, restrooms, parking lot, play structure. Lots of grassy room to play- watch out for the duck poo!

I love the scenery here. It is full of trees, water fowl and life. There are a few bridges to walk on. It is a nice park for a picnic or a nature walk, not so great for playing on the toys. It kept Arora”s attention for about 5 minutes.We were surrounded by ducks and geese looking for a meal.

Pros: Beautiful!

Cons: Play structure is lame. Right off very busy highway with no fence or barrier. Could pose a safety risk for children who run off.

Willamette Park

Park Review: Willamette Park

1100 12th st, West Linn Or 97068

Amenities: Lots of on street parking, restrooms, 2 large covered picnic areas, Plus other scattered picnic tables. Baseball fields, volleyball courts, boat ramp (where the Tualatin and Willamette rivers meet). Play structure and spray park area.

You can see that the spray area is in quite big it had two large spray areas and then a little pathway with smaller (less intimidating) sprinklers that connect the two areas.Here is a great view of the play area. There are 4 big kid swings and 1 toddler swing. What  I really like about this park is it is mostly shaded. There are lots of big trees right in the toy area and it helps keep it cool even on hot days. It is also nice that there are bathrooms so close to the water area for changing and such.

Pros: Lots of room for picnics and water fun, love the shade.

Cons: Wish there were more benches to sit on around the water area and toy structure.

Arora hardly played in the water or the toys on this last trip to the park. I thought she would be super excited to go to the park becasue we haven’t been going much lately. Do your kids ever just sit on the grass?

*Thanks to Shannon who took the pictures on our play date.*

Rivercrest park

Park review: Rivercrest park

131 Park Drive
Oregon City, OR 97045

Amenities: Covered picnic area (2), large grassy area, lots of trees, play ground, basketball and tennis courts, baseball field and newer spray park. Restrooms and lots of on street parking.

Here you can see one of the covered picnic areas, part of the basketball court and behind that is the spray park. You can see this is a nice nature setting with big trees (and shade!) and grass. The spray park cycles on and off from 10am -8pm all summer long. It is normally busy. There are restrooms right by the spray park.

the water is off here

In another corner of the park is the play ground. Here is the bigger structure. It was fairly hot when we went and not much playing actually happened on the equipment. Here is the little kid equipment. Even though it is plastic it was really hot! There are 4 big kid swings and 2 toddler swings too. Right next to the play ground are a few picnic tables where we enjoyed out lunch.

One thing I don’t understand is this:

slide?do you climb up it?

Risley park

Park review: Risley Park

2350 SE Swain Oak Grove Or 97267

Amenities: on street parking, large grassy area with tall trees, walking trail, basketball court, tennis court, few picnic tables and a play structure.

We have visited this park a few times, it is almost always empty. The play structure seems to be a bit older, and the substrate (wood chips) is well worn down. When it rains the play ground is a mud pit. When it is warm the metal slides are very hot. It is not the best park.  There are two big kid swings and two toddler swings.

big kid side

little kid sidegrassy area

There is a large area to run around in and lots of birds and squirrels live here. There are often dog walkers and we have seen a bit too much poo to really run around here though.

twisty slide

Pros: Probably wont have to share the park.

Cons: No restrooms, most of the year it is too hot or too muddy.

North Clackamas Community Park

Park Review: North Clackamas Community Park

5440 SE Kellogg Creek Dr
Milwaukie, OR 97269

Open dawn to dusk.

Amenities: 4 baseball diamonds, large covered picnic areas (2), picnic tables and other benches around the park, protected stream area with two little bridges. Large parking lot, rose garden pavilion that can be rented out. Large play structure. Lots of trees and nature-y surroundings. Dog park. Restroom facilities (3).

This is a large park! The parking area is big but is not very close to the play structure. We don’t mind because we love to walk through the nature area and over the bridge. The play area is nice and big which is nice because this park is often busy. With people from the dog park or siblings tagging along to baseball games. There are 3 restrooms, but none are close to the play area. There are lots of benches and lots of shade which helps keep the structure cool. One thing I do not like about this park is the substrate. It is made of wood chips that are tiny. You do not want to wear sandals here, you will get splinters. I was pulling tiny slivers out of my feet and sandals for a few days.Here is another view of the park. The park structure is recommended for 5 and up but Arora (2.5) could do most things.  I think adventurous 3s’s would be fine. There is also an “area” for smaller kids. It only has two toddler swings and one rocking toy. It looks like there used to be more equipment but was taken out.Here is David pushing Arora on a big kid swing. This was her first time on the big kid swings.  I had always been too timid to put her on one. She did great, held on with both hands and even went fairly high.  She loved the swing. She played on the swing for a good 30 minutes that day.Over view:

Pros: Lots of room to run and play, love the nature setting.

Cons: Wood chips/bark dust for substrate, bathroom is not close to play structure.

Canby’s Legacy Park

Park review:

Canby’s Legacy Park

1200 SE 13th ave Canby Oregon

Parking: Smallish parking lot for size of park, I have seen it full a few times.

Amenities: Covered picnic area, baseball and soccer fields, large grassy area, two play structures, restrooms and walking path.

Here is a view of both play structures. The closer one is for younger children 0-3 or so. You can also see one of my favorite features of the park. The floor is made from rubber mats. I think it is all recycled tires. It is nice and soft which is really nice for the younger kids. We went here once with my nephew who was just starring to walk. He was able to have a great time even though he fell down a lot.  There are two toddler swings, but no big kid swings. There is also a small balance beam and teeter totter.

Between the two structures are some small trees and a few places to sit. Which you can see here.The older park has a sign that says the recommended age is 5-12 years.  I think adventurous 3s and 4s would be okay with  most of the equipment. My two year old loved  this slide (okay I thought it was really fun too!) but could not get up on the equipment with out help. It is a bunch of pipes that roll under you. So you go really fast. *I broke my sandal on this slide. There is just enough room between the pipes to get a sandal strap, or maybe a baby finger, stuck so be careful!*This is another view of the big kid area. We have visited this park a number of times and love it. If there is a ball game going on the park will be packed so we only go in the morning and not on the weekends.

Pros: the rubber floors and that the little kid area is the perfect size for Arora.

Cons: I have heard from a few people that Canby has a gang problem. I have never seen anything that made me uncomfortable at this park. It is connected to Ackerman middle school so maybe that means it is safer then other places in Canby.

Max Patterson park

Park review:

Max Patterson Memorial Park

400 East Exeter Street, Gladstone Oregon

Parking: A few parking spots but mostly curbside parking.

Amenities: Restroom facilities, a few benches, two small covered picnic areas, large play structure, large grassy area, two tennis courts, baseball diamond. There is also a fenced in spray park area.I used to play at this park when I was a kid. It used to be a huge wooden structure but they took that out and put in new equipment about 10 years ago. It is still tall equipment. There is a merry-go-round, two swings, tire swing. Three slides and many things to climb on. It is set up like an obstacle course.If you look at the picture close up you can see the drop off oat the end of the slides far from the ground. My 2 year old could barely get down with out falling.Here is a look at the spray park. I could not find the hours for the  spray park or when it opens for the summer. I believe it is weather sensitive, when it is consistently over a certain temperature it will be on every day. I like how there are bathrooms right by the spray park.  I also like how it is fenced in.

This park is really for older children. Most of the equipment requires a good amount of climbing. I would say it is for 4-5 year olds and up.

My overall rating of this park is 7. I like how it has the spray park and the large grassy areas to play in. It lost one star for lack of parking. Lost another star because it is quite filled with garbage. If you look at the picnic area photo close up you will see the mess. And the last star was because it did not have much that smaller children could do.

Stringfield Family Park

Park Review:

Stringfield Family Park‎

3614 SE Naef Rd, Portland, Oregon 97267

Located off McLaughlin Blvd between Gladstone and Milwaukie city limits.

Parking: Off street and very close to play equipment.

Amenities: Park has restrooms that were very clean. Many benches and picnic tables. One large covered picnic area. Large grassy areas, small “stream” and two bridges that cross it. Walking path that circles the park.

Play ground equipment: 2 big kid and 2 toddler swings. One area that is more for little kids, stairs, “mountain climb” and small slide.

little kid area

Larger area for bigger kids with 2 slides and many things to climb up on. The “official” recommended age for this park is 5 and up. I would give this park the okay for 18 months  and up in the little area, and 3 or 4 and up in the big kid area. The substrate is small wood chip, so avoid wearing sandals as splinters are likely.

Over all I give this park 8 of 10 stars. It lost one star because there are many many dogs that walk here and we saw a little too much dog poo to really run around in the grass. The other star was lost because the restroom is frequently used by public workers (post men, construction crews etc) Which meant there were a lot of people coming and going that were not there for the park. I just had a little bit of a weird feeling with all the bathroom traffic.