The best playgrounds in St. Louis

Looking for a fun (and inexpensive) place to take the kiddos? Look no further than one of our region's many expansive playgrounds.

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Sometimes kids just need a safe place to run around. (And sometimes parents just need kids to have a safe place to run around.) When you're a little one, it's hard to beat a day climbing through a castle, or racing down a slide. Lucky for us, there are plenty of places around the region to do exactly that.

Zachary's Playground at Hawk Ridge Park

Located in Lake Saint Louis, Zachary’s Playground is worth the trip. There’s an “octa-net climber,” a web of red ropes tied between blue poles that’s the next best thing to climbing a tree. The castle-themed playset has a variety of slides and climbing structures, including stairs, ropes, ramps, and rocky cliffs. A nearby ship has a popular roller slide, and a large “sway fun” toy is like a cross between a restaurant booth and a teeter-totter. With several play structures specifically designed to accommodate wheelchairs, this is not only the region’s best playground but also one of its most accessible.

Fox Park

In the summer, kids crave water. If you don’t want to pay for a pool pass, the sprayground in Fox Park is a free alternative. The splash pad has fountains, sprayers, and jets. The most popular is a suspended diamond-shaped bucket. It fills slowly, building suspense. Kids stand below, giggling nervously until the bucket tips, dousing them in a wall of water.

Turtle Playground

Created by legendary City Museum founder Bob Cassilly, this southern slice of Forest Park features several concrete turtles, ranging from 7 to 40 feet in length. The space was renovated in 2021 to include separate play areas, including one catered to children ages 2 to 5 that features activity panels for counting and vocabulary development. There's also a play space for kids ages 5 to 12.

Shaw Park

The fenced playground near Shaw Park’s north parking lot has a treehouse theme, complete with a slide that appears to be made from a hollow log. Ramps make structures accessible. There’s a music area where kids can play xylophones. It’s the perfect place to pretend that you’re one of Peter Pan’s Lost Boys (or Girls).

Millennium Park

One of the best spiral tube slides around can be found at Millennium Park. Kids climb up a set of steps, crawl through a gray tube, then up through an orange one to the top platform. The slide is blue, which makes it pretty dark inside. It’s thrilling without being too scary—although, as Powell found out, the tubes on the way up are narrow enough to prevent all but the thinnest parents from accompanying a nervous youngster on the ride. Millennium Park also has an excellent teeter-totter, with thick shocks for softer landings.

Tilles Park Playground

This playground is home to a challenging set of monkey bars. There are three distinct sections. In one, kids swing between metal triangles. In the next, they climb across a suspended spiral, and in the third, they dangle from wheels. It’s an ideal training ground for mini American Ninja Warriors.

Anne O'C. Albrecht Nature Playscape 

We’ve been waiting for this one: a 17-acre natural playscape smack in the middle of Forest Park. Unlike traditional playgrounds, there’s no metal equipment, just huge sandy areas for digging, logs to balance on, boulders to climb, and fun water features. The playscape is surrounded by gardens and boardwalks, and is a great place to get hands on with nature. It’s located behind the World’s Fair Pavilion where there’s lots of street parking and plenty of bike racks.

Swansea Kingdom at Schranz Memorial Park

The builders of this Metro East playground took the castle theme seriously. There are several towers to climb, where your child can pretend to be a princess, or perhaps Rapunzel, and there are several dragon paintings for young knights to tame. For imaginative lords and ladies, this is fertile ground.

Deer Creek Park

This Maplewood green space has become known as Rocket Park for its unique playground. Kids who climb to the cockpit can pretend to pilot a spacecraft, manipulating dials for cabin pressure and speed. The fastest way back down is Powell’s favorite slide, a tube with a surprise twist halfway down. And don’t miss the nearby dune buggy. 

Indian Camp Creek Park

Trike around the paved trail at this lakeside playground, say hi to one of Bob Cassilly’s many wandering frogs, then climb to the top of a new three-story modern play palace. The playground here underwent t a major overhaul in 2021, and is now 13,000 square-feet of accessible fun on a cushy, astroturf pad.

Veterans Tribute Park

This playground meanders around a hillside and is scattered with equipment for all abilities. Be sure to check out the shady, elevated boardwalk: kids can skip across the wooden path, then launch down a slide to explore the rest of the playground. The music area has a big set of chimes that are really fun to bang on, too.

Broemmelsiek Park

Installed in late 2021, Broemmelsiek’s newest playground has all the good stuff: ramps, slides, swings, towers, bridges, a teeter totter and more. The playground is covered in cushioned turf and has shaded benches.

Faust Park

Known for its classic carousel and the Butterfly House, Faust Park is also home to a wonderful playground. It boasts a large undulating climbing wall for older kids, with a shorter section for littler tykes. It’s a free, outdoor, kid-sized version of a rock-climbing gym.

Watson Trail Park

Whitey Herzog and Rainbows for Kids teamed up for a major overhaul of this Sunset Hills park. The result is a truly ADA-accessible playground with a swing and merry-go-round that can be ridden while in a wheelchair. The park includes a variety of swings, metal and plastic slides, challenging climbers, and musical play areas.

Queeny Park Playground

This unique playground has a massive tiered pyramid that looks like something the ancient Aztecs might have built. Tunnels and slides lead between and through the levels. Like Super Mario, kids descend through a pipe for an underground adventure. Although this isn’t the area’s most accessible playground, it might be the most fun.

O'Day Park 

Ready for adventure? O’Day was built with older kids in mind, incorporating lots of challenging climbing areas, a full rope course, and group swings. Parents of little ones need to stay alert around the naturescape water features, which are made of slippery-when-wet concrete. Bring grippy water shoes for good traction.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated from an earlier version.

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