Crestwood Lake Park, Allendale, NJ


Crestwood Lake Park is located on Klomburg Dr & West Allendale Ave in Allendale NJ. Wooden and colorful structure in fully enclosed mulched play area. Lots of climbing and play things like rockers and bouncy see-saws. Playground is located at municipal town lake that is open to Allendale residents and to large groups by permit only.
DIRECTIONS: Route 17 north or south to Allendale exit. Travel west on Allendale Avenue, through light into town, bear right at clock and continue to T-junction at West Crescent Ave. Turn left on West Crescent traveling south. Pass under railroad bridge and after about 200 yards, make a right into Crestwood Park. Field is at rear of park adjacent to tennis courts.
PARKING: Large gravel lot near playground
PICNICKING: Picnic tables throughout park area
CLIMBING: One corkscrew pole, wiggle pole, repeller, monkey bars, ladders, bridges, fireman pole
PLAYTHINGS: Two large fire truck and rescue trucks with climbing poles and slides, lots of playthings inside the trucks like steering wheels, call boxes, and looking glass
SANDBOX: Two diggers in two small separate sand areas
SEESAWS: Two bouncy see-saws, one is mermaids and the other is dalmations
SLIDES: Two corkscrew, two double
SPORTS: Beach volleyball, town lake
SWINGS: Eight full size, four toddler, one tire
WALKING PATHS: Paved around the park
WATER: Town lake with lifeguards during season, membership required, see www.allendale.org for more information
MAKE A DAY OF IT: Travel into downtown Allendale and have lunch at the Allendale Bar & Grill located on West Allendale Ave. If you are planning a Sunday afternoon, call for information about their Sunday brunch menu.

Barbour Pond Park, Wayne NJ aka Dave Waks Memorial Park

OLD PIC of Barbour Dave Waks Memorial Park- See updated pics below!

Barbour Pond Park is located on 39 Barbour Pond Road in Wayne, NJ. A bit difficult to find, you should follow the signs for the Overflow Parking to the Maquet Lot, past the baseball fields at the end. Located right next door to the firing range, so expect some startling blasts at times, this playground is tucked away and hard to find but it is wheelchair-accessible, with alot of places to run around and picnic tables to have lunch or a snack.

Recommended Ages: One larger playground for 5-12 year olds and a pre-school playground for 2-5 year olds
Climbing: Tons of monkey bars, handles to grab, and rings, and poles
Merry Go Round: yes
Playthings: steering wheels, and a wobbly balance beam
Sandbox: Yes with digger
See-saw- Bouncy animals that rock
Slides: Toddler slides plus some metal ones
Swings: Big kid swing and baby swings

What kind of amenities can you find at this location? I did not see a bath room facilities, anyone know? please comment below
Parking: Larger parking near the playground area
Benches: A few benches and picnic tables
Handicap Accessibility: Yes!
Sports Fields: Lots of open fields

Other Cool Stuff: Our kids loved the spinning merry-go-round.

Make a Day of It: We noticed that the Ice Vault is a few yards away from this park.  Wayne is huge, and we look forward to exploring more of the town, if you have a suggestion for a rainy day, or another attraction, please comment below!

***Update- Playground has been updated: these are 2016 pics-  wooden ones are here for historical purposes only:

20161002_133457 20161002_135836 20161002_135852 20161002_135920 20161002_140000 20161002_140014(0) 20161002_140023

 

Clifton E. Lawrence School, Wantage, NJ


Clifton E. Lawrence School is located on 31 Ryan Rd, Wantage, NJ in Sussex County.

DESCRIPTION: The largest, most diverse school playground we’ve encountered in Sussex and Warren County. The landscape is dotted with a wide variety of play structures and toys, and includes a fenced-in toddler area.

DIRECTIONS: From NJ-15 N take the CR-517 Ramp just north of Sparta and turn right onto CR-517. Follow for 5 miles and turn left onto NJ-23/CR-517. Note, the school is right off of Rte 23, but the road turns a few times! Follow NJ-23 for 8 miles and then turn left onto NJ 23/Loomis Ave/CR-639. Make a quick right onto Mill St/NJ-23 and after 1 ½ miles turn right onto Ryan Rd.

PARKING: Large

PICNICKING: Two picnic tables

HANDICAP: Two handicap swings, two chair swings

CLIMBING: Bars, rings, parallel bars, corkscrew pole, jungle gyms, stairs, steps, chains, fireman’s pole

PLAYTHINGS: Tic tac toe, call boxes, racing car

SEESAWS: Four-seater, chick and horse bouncies

SLIDES: Two corkscrew, four chute

SPORTS: One basketball half-court

SWINGS: Eight full size, two chair, two handicap

OTHER COOL STUFF: Digger with rocks

Looking for more playgrounds in Sussex County? Check out our other listings.

Gebhardt Field, Clinton, NJ

Sandbox heaven!

Guest Post by Sara Rall

Gebhardt Field, 65 Halstead St., Clinton (Hunterdon Co.) is an aging playground with lots of equipment and a huge sandbox full of toys.

There is a large climber for older kids and a smaller one for younger, as well as two bouncy cars, a bouncy dino, a 2-person seesaw, an interesting Swiss-cheese concrete climbing wall, and swings, but the highlight is the huge sandbox with tons of toys, two diggers (one stand-up and one with a seat) and a concrete turtle to climb on.

They have a big playing field, tennis court, and a backboard for tennis as well. There is lots of shade, a water fountain, and bathrooms at the library next door.

We are always adding playgrounds check out this link for playgrounds in Clinton.

Side note: Baseball was played at Gebhardt Field, one writer reminiscing about his memories in this touching post on nj.com.

Dorbrook Recreation Area, Colts Neck, NJ

From the Dorbrook Recreation Center: Sprayground closed due to renovation 6/1/2016…

Dorbrook Recreation Area in Colts Neck is a popular site for a supersized playdate in the summer. Located on Rt. 537, Colts Neck NJ (cross street nearby is Hockhockson Road), Dorbrook Recreation Area is very busy.  Too bad my timing for this park is at the end of the summer, this is a great one in the hot weather.  This is a wonderful playground and sprayground.  Because it is so expansive, this is extremely popular and crowded.  My kids were entertained for hours, they loved it.  There was a cool sway thing that you can sit in and someone can sway it by moving their body weight.  The water table was a big hit, bring your buckets!  Also the sand area was alot of fun since there were movable chutes and diggers.  Also it is a “boundless” playground so it is handicap accessible.  Here are some pictures so you can judge for yourself.

Excerpt from www.monmouthcountyparks.com:
“This water-enhanced playground is a great place to be cool and play with water. Located at the Dorbrook Recreation Area, this facility is open 7 days a week beginning May 19 and closes September 9. The Sprayground opens 10am on weekend and holidays and 11am weekdays. From May to July, the Sprayground closes at 7:30pm and from August to September at 7pm.”

7/23/09 UPDATE-  There are so many blogs out there on everything, but my eye is always looking for local NJ moms talking about local NJ, Mirabest has a great one, and a great post on Dorbrook park.

Thanks Vinny, for letting me use your headshot for anonymizing purposes!

By the way, if you are reading this, please let us know, we WOULD LOVE your feedback.  We are hoping to get some more user reviews, so register, and comment on this park or any of the parks listed that you’ve visited.  We thank you!! 🙂

Ocean City, NJ & Cape May County Zoo

Trying out wordpress for this section of the NJ Playgrounds website- During our family vacation, we visited Ocean City Playground as well as the Ocean City beach and boardwalk. The Ocean City Playground is located on 1st and Haven Avenue, Ocean City NJ. When you are tired of the beach and boardwalk, it’s a nice place to go, and very clean port-a-potties, (at least the day we went). Thanks to the Sayahs from Verbank, NY and the Oesterles from PA for taking the pictures!

We also stopped at the Cape May County Zoo which was a half hour away, here are some pictures. Note that the train is a very short ride, and is very tiny so not comfortable for adults, not much sight seeing with it either, didn’t think it was worth it, but my sons like trains. Zoo is free! and it is a great one, complete with tigers giraffes, otters, monkeys and zebras. Very shady which is great in the summer. As you get to the zoo parking right before are 2 playgrounds, one for school-age and one for pre-school. not much shade, close to the picnic tables.

Carousel at the Zoo under construction tiny zoo train $2/person over 2yrs

The Zoo is free!