Penrose Park

For starters put a Port-​A-​John there– mommies and daddies have been letting the kiddies pee and poop in the grass and among the trees. What a dump!!! (literally)

This playground is great in that it has four out of five things that are essential for a perfect park: 1) toddler play area 2) big kid play area 3) grills and 4) a shelter. However, it needs a bathroom to be a 5 star park. I assume most people who come here are families that live near by so it’s not a huge drawback. There is also a basketball court and the sidewalk loop is nice for walking.

Kid-​friendly for all ages – baby to 12 – broken up into different age-​appropriate areas but all connected.
Pros? Most importantly it’s entirely fenced in. There’s also a water fountain right outside, lots of benches, lots of wood chips, and some shade. Parking is on the street but not too bad.
Cons? No bathrooms, sand in the baby/​toddler area, and more sun than shade.
Definitely recommended.

I love this park! I bring kids I babysit to this park all the time now. I never have an issue with parking. There is always a spot right next to the sidewalk available so we don’t even have to cross the street. There are two separate areas based on age. One is for ages 2 – 5 and the other is for older kids. There are free moving toys all over the place (little tyke cars, tricycles, toy trucks, etc.). There’s a sand box area as well. The entire thing is fenced in which gives me peace of mind. Unfortunately the older kids (and even adults) leave the gates open. It doesn’t bother me too much and I just nicely ask them to close it or just do it myself. There is quite a bit of shade which is nice (especially in the summer). There’s also a covered picnic area where my kids like to color and eat snacks. There are plenty of benches for adults to sit and comfortably watch their kids play. A lot of people walk their dogs around the park but I don’t bring the kids outside of the play area so that hasn’t been an issue. The kids seems to enjoy watching the dogs anyway. Overall, I really like this park. I would give it five stars if there was a bathroom and a water fountain. I saw someone post that there’s one outside of the play area so I’ll have to look next time I go.

Nice public park with a toddler section and a «bigger» kid section, divided by a bench area and a cool caboose climbing/​play structure. many benches, so you are sure to find one in the shade. the toddler section has a nice sized sandbox with a boat climbing/​play structure. The toddler climbing/​play equipment in built on that «squishy faux blacktop» stuff, so falls are cushioned. many picnic tables under a roofed area. climbing wall in the bigger kid section and lots of tunnels to climb through! the whole play area is fenced in, although everytime I go the bigger kids constantly leave the gates open everytime they go to the water fountain, which is outside the gated area. no bathrooms :(

My apartment is not very kid-friendly…the only «toy» I have is a bright pink yoga ball that I bought on impulse six years ago. So when my 11-​year old brothers or 2-​year old niece come to visit me they know that they can expect a trip to Penrose Park. For a neighborhood park, their equipment is pretty legit. The 2-​year old likes to play on the «baby» section (sand boxes, slides, swings, see saws, and animals that spring up and down) while the twins like to play on the «big kid» section which has monkey bars, twisty-​turny things that were not invented when I was a kid, slides, and monkey bars. Obviously you can tell I am not down with the playground slang but this place is a lot of fun! I like to pretend that I am strengthening my core while flying (okay.more like slowly holding on for dear life) across the monkey bars. They even have a rock climbing wall (don’t bring ropes… this is a public park not LL Bean yeesh!)!
Overall:
Free fun for the kiddies.
A free workout for adults.
Thank you Arlington tax payers for such a lovely park.

Nice children’s park.