Penrose Park (22204)

Adam and I drove down to South Arlington one day on a hunt for new playgrounds and were delighted to discover Penrose Park.   This large community playground has a wonderful variety of play features sure to appeal to all ages.

The playground area is divided into two large sections, one for younger kids, and one for older kids.   In between the two areas is an open space with soft rubber surface and one lone play house that looks like a train passenger car.

Adam was immediately drawn to the big kid area, so we’ll start there.

Older Kids Play Area

It has a large play structure with numerous slides, places to climb and explore.

It also has a really cool climbing wall.

Adam had a great time playing on all of it.

This side of the park also includes big kids swings and an accessible swing.

You can tell they’ve made an effort to make the park accessible because there is a soft rubber (wheel chair friendly) path that leads to different areas of the park.  There’s also a paneled wall with the sign language alphabet on it, which seems like a nice touch.

The big kid side also features some fun spinning action.  They have a bucket spinner, and a pole spinner, both of which are becoming more common.  But also a “swing and spin” pole that I had never seen before.  It’s probably the least assuming piece of equipment in the park and possibly the most fun.

Moving over to the little kid side of the park …

Younger Kids Play Area

It features a smaller scale play structure, a boat-themed sand area (with nice white sand!), four bucket swings and a couple of rocker seats.

There isn’t much to dislike about this park.   My only complaints, if any, are it needs a bathroom and ideally, a little more shade. We were there mid-day and there was a little bit, but for the most part, we were in full sun (on a somewhat cloudy day).

Other observations about the park:  it is completely fenced, has a covered pavilion with picnic tables, as well as some more picnic tables under the shade of the trees, and a water fountain.   There is also a basketball court that would be good for gliders, assuming it’s not in use (it was, when we were there).

If you haven’t been to Penrose Park, I suggest you check it out!

Looking for more places to play? Check out my reviews of other Playgrounds, Parks, and Play Areas in Arlington and the greater Metro DC area.