Candlelight Park – Royal Ave. and Throne Dr.

This week’s post is by guest writer Deborah Fike, who also did the Pacific Park post awhile back.  I’ll be adding my thoughts as well.  Here’s what she has to say:

Candlelight Park is in west Eugene off Royal avenue, to the west of Beltline.  It’s a fairly big park with lots of amenities: a dog park, a playground, a basketball court, a soccer field, and a short series of trails.  Here’s the park on google maps.

There is parking all along the street on Welcome Way and Throne Drive. Parking on Throne Dr. will put you closer to the play area and dog park .  It shouldn’t be hard to find a spot unless there’s an event going on. The park is in a very nice, newer neighborhood, and all the people I have met on the park on three different trips were incredibly friendly.

Melanie says: If you park near the dog park, there is a neat little community board.

When you turn on Throne Dr. from Royal Avenue, the first thing you will see is the enormous dog park.  The dog park is divided into two sections and is separated by a creek from the rest of the park (although I have never seen water in the creek).  The dog park has a lot of plastic chairs for owners to sit on and some wading pools.  Whenever we’ve gone, there are always lots of people out with their dogs, so even though I have never used this part of the park, it seems pretty popular.

Just north of the dog park is the playground:

For swings, we have two kid swings and one baby swing. 

You can also see the trash cans, bike racks, picnic tables, and a water fountain

Two bouncers and a climbing fire truck.

A merry-go-round.

Melanie says: The merry-go-round seemed a lot higher compared to ones in other parks.  My almost two-year old couldn’t get on it by himself (he usually can).  Not a huge deal, but it did make me think I wouldn’t want anyone to fall off of it!

And the highlight of the park, the large climbing play structure.  For any kid who loves to climb, this thing has it all.  You can climb by a circular rope ladder and a climbing wall:

You can also climb up more traditional ladders, up stairs, and through a tunnel with little windows.

Melanie says: My younger son always loves the wheels!

For kids with more upper body strength, you can be a monkey on this twirling hanging bars.

And there are slides for everyone.  A double slide for two kids to go down at once.

Plus the big granddaddy slide that gives you a nice twisty ride from the tallest point of the play structure.

If your kids aren’t much for climbing, there’s plenty of park benches for eating and a basketball court with two hoops.

Beyond that is a very large soccer field with two nets.

If your kids like to go “on adventures” like mine do, there is also a short trail system that connects the back-end of the kids’ playground and the dog park together.

There’s even a cool little bridge going over the (dry) creek.

Dry Creek Bed.

 The playground itself doesn’t have a lot of shade, though, which will make this a very hot place to be in the worst of the summer heat.

Melanie says: I agree, these small trees might make good shade some day, but not yet!

 It also doesn’t have any public bathrooms, so make sure the kids go before you leave the house.

All in all, I love this park.  I often go here with my kids after a trip to the WinCo on Barger.  It offers a lot without having any sand or water features, which can be nice in the summer when you really don’t want to have to clean up after a park trip.

by Deborah Fike, a project manager and marketing professional with two young children.

Melanie Says:  I love how this park is surrounded by fields.  We aren’t a big dog family, but we were never bothered by any dogs, and it’s fun to watch them play in the designated area.

 

Royal avenue is a busy street, and it’s a bit loud, but it’s nowhere near the play area, so that was OK.

We enjoyed this park too.  It’s in a nice neighborhood, has fun structures, and places to explore.  Thanks for the write-up, Deborah!

 

Brewer Park – 1820 Brewer Ln

Head down Brewer Ln. between Norkenzie and Gilham to find Brewer Park; this nice little neighborhood park.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Brewer+Park/@44.0855711,-123.0869286,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x54c0e2126a1d5fc3:0x1476d9dbe078095c

Parking is on the street, but since it’s not on a cross-street, it isn’t too busy and there’s an accessible (disabled/wheelchair parking permit) parking spot as well. Walking into the park, you’re greeted by a nice little mosaic.

Hey look, I made the picture bigger!  I’m learning.  I’m definitely a novice blogger 🙂

There are also little mosaics speckled throughout the paths in the park, some by kids, some by more experienced artists.  They’re cute; check them out.

Now to the play structures:

They have a mix of the same-old stuff and some unique items.  I haven’t seen this kind of bouncer in many parks, and I haven’t seen any other circular monkey bars like these.

We like the shiny tunnel and baby likes crawling up the safely enclosed stairs.

Bouncer/see-saw and 2×1 swings, or 2 kid and 1 baby swing set-up. You can also see lots of benches, tables, and bike racks hiding in these pictures.

The park was pretty shady, but when we were there the sun was still partly behind a very tall tree.  However, even when the sun passed the tree, there was still a fair amount of shade.

 Trashes and water, but no bathrooms here.  There were a lot of people passing through on bikes and walking dogs, with some people stopping to play.  I like a park that isn’t deserted.

Moving further along, there’s a field with trees and a path and a basketball court.  We didn’t go down the path this time (recuperating ankle), but it appears to lead to a street on the other side called Margaret St.

I liked this park; with its nice, central location and a fair amount of trees.  I’ll definitely visit it again.

When I do a post for any park, I always go to the main government page.  Usually there’s just one picture that doesn’t show too much about the park (why I’m doing this blog in the first place).  With Brewer Park, the picture looks nothing like the way the park looks now.  It’s obviously a picture before the park was renovated.  I have to say, I’m sad to see the changes.  The merry-go-round is gone and the structure used to be made of wood and metal.  I’ll miss those old play structures from my childhood.  I wonder if we are missing out on something by getting rid of those classic play structures, but I guess old things need to be replaced eventually.

Arrowhead Park – Arrowhead St. and Irvington Dr.

Welcome to Arrowhead Park

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Arrowhead+City+Park,+Eugene,+OR+97404/@44.1146326,-123.1574744,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x54c11d5ae6481785:0xc7f11094d1c8ed96

As you can see, the sign is quite a bit away from the actual play structure and picnic area (you can hardly see it way in the distance).  I prefer to go down Arrowhead a ways and park on Merlot, right next to the play structure.  But, if you like a little walk or run, there are some nice paths that lead next to the trees and through the field.

 Don’t worry, there are benches every so often so you can rest.

This is one of those small simple parks.  The play structure is not by the busy Irvington Rd. and you can easily keep an eye on multiple kids.  The play structure has a twisty side and a wheel and some fun things to climb.

Bark chips for sale!!

There’s a bouncy see-saw with 4 seats which tends to cut down on the arguments. And the 2 kid, 2 baby swing structure.

Next to the play structure is a nice picnic area with trashes, benches, and a water fountain.  There are also different wildflowers that bloom throughout the seasons.  It would be a very lovely area for a birthday or baby shower.  No bathrooms here, though.

There’s also a special little path to walk on.  It follows “flat creek” and leads to some other neighborhoods.  It actually ends back on Arrowhead near Spearmint St.  It’s easy to go down Arrowhead St. back to the park or back the way you came.

Want to explore?

A nice little path, but no creek for us on this hot summer day.

A local neighbor told us that the creek comes back in the winter and is frequented by friendly ducks.  Just watch out for poison oak!

Leaves of three, let it be! Shiny and round. It helps if you have someone there to quiz you until you can easily recognize it.

Arrowhead is a bit hot in the summer, but there’s a little shade to squeeze a blanket under. Someday those trees will be bigger and this park will come into its own.

Tandy Turn park – Tandy Turn and Sharon Way

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tandy+Turn+City+Park,+Eugene,+OR+97401/@44.0737652,-123.0746152,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!1m2!2m1!1standy+turn+park+eugene!3m1!1s0x54c0e202f1e18df5:0x8eeac323283dd3b7

This is a special little park for me.  I used to ride my bike past this park almost everyday.  I would use this nifty little path from Lariat drive.

secret pathway!

walk and bike right through to Oakway.

I used to make daisy chains in the fields in the spring.

It’s a shady, secluded, fenced in park. (Fenced in on three sides, so no escaping kids!  Hopefully).

Getting there is nice and centrally located in Eugene, just off Coburg.  I like to park on Sharon way, since there are sidewalks.  You can park on Tandy Turn as well, but I feel uncomfortable parking practically in people’s yard.

View to Sharon way

View to Tandy Turn

The park has water fountains, trash cans, and garbage, but no bathrooms.  It also has some neat little paved paths that are perfect for scooting around on a balance bike or tricycle.

It has a very simple array of play structures and standard set of 2 baby swings and two regular swings. Two bouncers, one with 4 seats, and one with 2 seats that looks like a motorcycle!  And a metal merry-go-round.

The red structure is kind of a neat bird-cage shaped climbing structure.  We like to pretend that the slide is a bakery.

It has been a sand park as long as I remember, but the Eugene Parks district is currently changing a lot of sand parks to bark chips because it is safer to fall on.  This already happened at Washington park, and is currently happening here too.  In fact, this park was closed yesterday! (Aug. 19th, 2015).  So, I’ll try to update when I know for sure it’s open again.

There’s also a super old looking hopscotch tile.  I didn’t even notice this one until recently.

All, in all, I love this park for lazy summer afternoons, the trees keep it all nice and shady.  Monroe Middle School is nearby, and occasionally I’ve shared the park with older kids, but personally I’ve never had any issues with that.  At different times of the day, different parts of the park are shady, so there’s a nice balance.

Irwin City Park – W. Irwin Way, off Barger

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Irwin+City+Park/@44.0878319,-123.1845031,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x54c11ce3371ba23f:0x56d17666c9f96830?hl=en

When I first headed west on Barger I turned down the first Irwin street I saw, which turned out to be E Irwin way.  Trust me, don’t do that, or you will park here…

crappy parking

It’s not terrible, but you’ll be missing out on this great, shaded, ample parking lot.

oooh, nice

When you have kids in the car, you don’t want to park on the side of the road.

At Irwin, you will come to a nice little covered area.

and your drinking fountains and trash cans readily available.

I love the tiles in some Eugene parks.

I like that you can hang out in a covered area that is right next to the play structure!

lots of shady benches around too, this park has good shade.

A great climbing wall here

do it!

This play structure has a great tunnel, lots of bars for swinging, super slide and small slide, funny mirror, and a bouncy type, see-saw thing…

Fun tunnel time!!!

Bouncer? See-saw? or both?

the standard two baby swing, two big kid swing set-up

Twice the dizzying possibilities of the standard Eugene park

There’s a lot to do in this park.  Did you bring a basketball or baseball?  There’s a basketball court and a baseball diamond.  Both are in pretty good shape.  The basketball hoop has a nice looking net and the baseball diamond seems to be pretty well-kept and smooth.

Let’s take a walk beyond the basketball court, shall we?

nice little trail, benches, and field out here.

Let’s go the other way too, beyond the play structure.

a little bumble-bee, wildflower action.

 neat little bridge.
Found these discarded clothes by the bridge, not sure what it is, looked like someone just threw out a bunch of clothes (maybe stolen clothes that someone didn’t want?)  But mostly I was happy with the lack of debris and litter in the field area, it was very pleasant.

I think Irwin makes a nice park for a playdate.

Rosetta Park (Rosetta Place Park) – Rosetta Ave. and Evergreen Dr.

Rosetta Park (or Rosetta Place, as the sign says), is a nice little neighborhood park; in fact, it’s in my old neighborhood.  When I lived nearby it was just a field, and after that a dog park, but now it is a nice little neighborhood park.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Evergreen+Dr+%26+Rosetta+Ave,+Eugene,+OR+97404/@44.0833996,-123.1271815,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x54c11d90d0d28bc1:0x60107e20b8da9f40

This park is surrounded by a nice field.  Since it used to be a dog park, and is still frequented by dogs, you might want to watch out for dog droppings!  There are usually bags available, but maybe they ran out.
water fountain, picnic tables,  and bike racks too, but no bathroom.

One of my favorite parts of this park is the beautiful mosaic on a bench.  It’s these little touches that make Eugene’s parks beautiful and unique.

 

Since this is a newer park, the trees are young and don’t provide too much shade.  But we also like sitting on the benches under the play structure.

 

   

A metal merry-go-round, which is always nice, and a bouncy-style see-saw

 

Another view of the play-structure which has a neat little climby wall.  Two baby and regular swings.  Bark chips for the ground around the play-structure.

 

 

Here’s my dad in the little hut at the top of the play-structure.  It has a nice little bench.

It’s a little hard to separate the soft spot I have for this park from my opinion, but if I try, I guess the park is probably just OK.  It’s mostly surrounded by a road, not a busy one, but still the road feels very present.  This isn’t one of your “hidden away” or “private” parks.  Not worth going out of your way for, and pretty hot in the summer, but it’s a pleasant little place if you live nearby.

 

 

Sladden Park – Cheshire Ave.

Sladden park is nestled right between the Willamette, I-105, and the railroad.  If you want to park by the playground, you’ll actually want to go down Adams. Here is a map.

This park has plentiful shade.  It has many very tall pine trees, reminiscent of Emerald park.  A lot of the trees have little seed pouches and things falling off them, that some of the kids complained had gotten stuff in their feet.  It’s a sandy park that’s a bit overgrown, so maybe not the best if your kids loves being barefoot.  But very pretty, just the same.

The play area stayed pretty shady, in fact, with the wind it was almost a bit chilly.

 nice old fashioned see-saw

 we love the “real” metal merry-go-rounds.

2 baby swings and 2 kid swings, side by side

An old wading pool made a fun place for the kids to run around.  Hopefully they’ll rehabilitate it someday and turn it into a little water fun park.

The bathrooms looked nice from what we could see, but unfortunately they are closed ’til October!
 water fountains, at least.

Lots of field space to explore, picnic areas, and even frisbee golf!

 tennis courts too!

Very sweet little park, I just love trees.  I wish they would weed the sand area, if they did that, it would be much better.

Awbrey Park – River Rd. and Sprink Creek Dr.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Awbrey+Park/@44.125196,-123.140052,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x3274f5fdc38ef595

I like Awbrey park, and not just because it’s about 3 minutes from my house, although that is really nice.  It has an overall shady feel and it’s nice and quaint.

 a little bulletin board as you walk up.

    put a blanket there!

two play structure areas with bark chip ground.

 I don’t know what this is, but we like it.

 some good swings, although mostly always in the sun (2 baby, 2 kid).

Looong slide and some science related play things by Game Time.

 here’s a close-up of the “log roll” complete with flattened beavers, lol.

Bathrooms yes, but port-a-potties They aren’t the ickiest, but they aren’t very clean either.  They are also frequently used for bathroom breaks by people who drive trucks: UPS, Sanipac, USPS, Street Sweepers.

Quite a few shaded barbeque pits and tables.

Now for an adventure.  Awbrey park has a large field and beyond that there are some little trails and treasures.

Here’s where we are going, a bit of a distance from the play area.

Watch out for poison oak, but at least it’s identified.  So, you can have a teachable moment about what Poison Oak looks like and why you don’t touch it.

  Horseshoe pit

A lovely little butterfly garden.  We saw three butterflies, but alas they didn’t stay still long enough for a picture.

    

Bridge to some trails over a creek.

   Log for climbing!

Now for an unpleasant opinion.  It’s Eugene, and yes there will be some sketchy behavior at parks.  Awbrey park does have it’s share of people who park in the parking lot and sit in their cars.  No kids or dogs along for the ride.  are they just taking a break from driving?  Are they doing something else?  At any rate, I don’t usually go to Awbrey park alone in the winter, when I am the only person there.

  some broken glass by our car, looks like a discarded pipe.

The only other downside I would add is that lots of people bring their dogs to the park, and not everyone picks up the dog poop.  So watch your step in that field!

Welcome to Eugene Park Guide!

I like to find new parks to explore, but the pictures on the parks website and google often leave a lot to be desired.  So, I wanted to create a way for caregivers to see what kind of park they’re taking their kids to before they go.  We’ll be uploading pictures of parks and our opinions all summer.  Thanks for stopping in!