The Best Playgrounds in St. Louis

Testing playgrounds is a hard job, but somebody's gotta do it.

by

William Powell recently became a parent, but he’s still a kid at heart. While researching this issue, he spent countless hours at parks around the region, hanging from monkey bars, climbing ropes, and testing out tube slides. Here are his 10 favorite playgrounds, along with a can’t-miss feature from each. They’re places where kids can let their imaginations wild, where they’ll surmount an obstacle and exclaim, “Mom, did you see that?”

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  • 1
    foxpark.jpg

    Fox Park , St Louis, Missouri

    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.

  • 2
    turtleplayground.jpg

    Turtle Playground , St Louis, Missouri
    314-289-5300

    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 larger ones make great mountains for children to climb. At the western end of the park, baby turtles emerge from oversized shells, and a snake slithers onto the Highway 40 overpass.

  • 3
    shaw_park.jpg

    27 S. Brentwood Boulevard, St Louis, Missouri

    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).

  • 4
    millennium_park.jpg

    2 Barnes West Drive, St Louis, Missouri

    One of the best spiral tube slides around can be found at Millenium 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. Millenium Park also has an excellent teeter-totter, with thick shocks for softer landings.

  • 5
    millennium_park.jpg

    9551 Litzsinger Road, St Louis, Missouri

    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.

  • 6
    faust_park.jpg

    15185 Olive Boulevard, Chesterfield, Missouri
    314-615-8328
    Website

    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.

  • 7
    swansea.jpg

    360 Honeysuckle Lane, Village of Swansea, Illinois

    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.

  • 8
    deer_creek_park.jpg

    3200 Laclede Station Road, St Louis, Missouri
    314-645-3600

    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. 

  • 9
    queeny_park.jpg

    550 Weidman Road, St Louis, Missouri
    314-615-4386
    Website

    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.

  • 10
    zacharys.jpg

    8392 Orf Road, St Louis, Missouri
    Website

    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.

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