Maple Park

Went yesterday with my friend, our five year old daughters, her baby boy, and my one year old son. Great time. We ended up spending the entire day there.
When we got there, there were about 6 shady looking guys in their 20s on bikes all hanging out by the slide. They left shortly after. Once they were gone– the girls had a blast. Plenty to do so they wouldn’t get bored! So many slides! Monkey bars. The rolley slide I remember from being a kid — and loved! My son was able to climb everywhere! And it was midday so it was pretty empty.
We ended up walking around the park and it was awesome and huge with friendly people everywhere. They have a dog park, baseball fields, tennis courts. And it’s all beautifully maintained. PLUS bathrooms with real toilets– great because my daughter REFUSES to use port-​a-​potties. We left to get some pizza about 3 blocks down and came back to a bunch of kids.
They were big kids so I figured we would be leaving. NOPE. Most well behaved big kids I’ve ever seen. They were crazy– don’t get me wrong. Jumping off the tops of slides and walking across fences– but they NEVER crossed the line. All these kids were so cautious of the little ones and avoided them. I’ve never seen anything like it. I absolutely love this park and the people there. Plenty of benches to sit and double fences to stay off of Harlem ave.
Now the bad– there was a scary squirrel that LITERALLY followed us and was trying to get into our babies strollers. It literally followed us as we ran away. And KEPT coming back. It may sound crazy but it was really scary. The squirrel had a large, raw sore on its back that looked really infected and hat creeped us out– especially watching out for it following us AND our kids on the playground.
I also found a condom on the ground. I kicked it away and to the side. I was letting my one year old walk around and I would have been horrified if he picked it up. Other than that– everything was great– I’m sure it was a fluke. Stuff happens– we live in Chicago. Anyways. I love this park and we will be going all the time.

Roller slide for the win!
Nice big park with ample trees and a really nice kids playground (not much for the under-​2 set). Also well-​fenced on one side keeps my mom-​paranoia under control.
Downsides: lots of road noise and some questionable garbage/​litter in the park due to it being so close to Harlem Ave.

Large park great for kids 2 and up. They don’t have swings at this park, but there are a lot of great slides and climbing equipment. There’s also a large, grassy area perfect for flying kites or playing tag. My boys love this park and refer to it as «the big park.»

The people here make this park a great place to take your dog. Owners are responsible and friendly. There is basically a small community of owners that are very welcoming. It would be nice if the park was bigger and had some grass. Thankfully toys, water, and waste bags are provided.