This week my daughter and I visited Maine Park, part of the Park Ridge Park District, and I have to say I was pretty impressed.
First, let's talk about the playground. It's huge! There are two main structures, with a third if you go at the right time. The third structure is in a fenced in area attached to Maine Leisure Center (bottom right in photo above) and is used for preschool and camps; therefore, it is closed to the public Monday through Friday from 9 am to 3 pm. But if you are there on evening or weekend, like we were, your kids can use it too! With three structures to use, there was plenty of room for kids to run around without feeling too crowded. Maybe it is the nostalgia, but I love that this playground has bikes and planes on springs and teeter-totter elements, like I played on when I was a kid. It also has a small rock climbing wall on one side, a roller slide, and a zip line (on a track of course).
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There are also a ton of interactive parts to the playground that inspire both imagination and learning. As a parent, I loved to see a tic-tac-toe roller game, a maze game, math rollers, and ABCs incorporated into the playground along with steering wheels, noise makers and more. I am all for my child running around and getting her energy out, but I also love see her learning while she plays, and this playground has plenty of ways for her to do so.
I know that at some point, this size of playground isn't going to be as fun for bigger kids. But I do think they do a great job of incorporating all kinds of sizes and pieces. While my two year old isn't riding the zip line, I remember loving that when I was a little older than she is now. There are tall slides and small slides; some are steep and others not as much. There are tunnels to crawl through and places to climb up.
For the parents, there are benches and picnic tables close by to sit down on. There are also two tables for chess or checkers!
There is also so much more to this park. It is also home to the Maine Park Leisure Center and Wildwood Nature Center. I could do a whole other review on Wildwood Nature Center, but I won't today. I will just give you some quick highlights. They have a Nature Nook interactive nature play room (see their website for open hours) for the kids. The nature center has over 35 live animals! They have regular feeding times on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:30 am and 3:30 pm (these are listed on my calendar) along with a Critter Connection time weekly on Saturdays at 10:15 am. They also host birthday parties, scout groups, school groups and all kinds of park district events. You can rent a fishing pole to use at their fishing ponds and so much more. The Maine Park Leisure Center also hosts all kinds of activities, has room rentals, a preschool and more. Check out their website for all the details.
Park Details:
- Maine Park is located at 2701 W Sibley St, Park Ridge, IL 60068.
- The park is open from dawn to dusk every day.
- Indoor restrooms can be found in Maine Park Leisure Center or Wildwood Nature Center.
- Maine Park Leisure Center is open Monday - Thursday from 8:30 am to 8 pm, Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm and Saturday from 9 am to 12 pm.
- Wildwood Nature Center is open Tuesday - Thursday from 10 am to 6 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm.
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