Las Vegas Park Review #13: Mesa Park

Las Vegas Park Review #13:  Mesa Park, 5401 Mesa Park Drive (Summerlin, near Bishop Gorman high school)

Pros: 
- Nice, new playground equipment with two specific age group areas
- A lot of green space (generally used for sports - lacrosse when we were there)
- Lovely playing fields, basketball courts, and tennis courts
- Beautiful views of nearby cliffs
- A real feeling of distance from busy streets and activity. 

Cons:
- I hesitate to say this, since it's based on just one visit, but there was a group of really snooty moms there that was not interested in playing with, watching, or disciplining their children.  One little kid probably 3 years old or so somehow made it across the large, depressed lacrosse field and up the other side and was about to run into the road before her mom came barrelling over to get her. 

- Noise from construction on nearby houses (but yay for construction resuming!!!) 
- No splash pad

All-in-all, this was a good park.  C had more fun exploring the greenspace than playing on the playground equipment, which was great since the "parents" were lounging there while their kids took over.  We felt completely safe here (at about 2:30 on a weekday afternoon).  I didn't see any security. 

There were restrooms, but we didn't venture inside.  Seemed like a nice building, though. 

Las Vegas Park Review #12: Davis Park

Davis Park
2796 Redwood St

Pros:
- Acres of green space
- Trees (and pinecones, which my kid seemed fond of)
- Two baby swings
- A couple of good toddler-size slides
- Picnic areas

Cons:
- Didn't see restrooms
- No splash pad
- The playground equipment was in rough shape (unsafe even - there was a plastic bubble to look through up on the equipment that had a jagged hole in it)
- Dog poo and one mysterious broken raw egg in the play area
And the big one...
- We did not feel safe (at about 8 am on a Sunday morning)

When we arrived at the park there was a guy rollerblading around the park with an enormous dog, another guy sleeping in the grass, and a lady sitting on top of a picnic table.  While we were on the playground the rollerblader approached us for no apparent reason.  He was outwardly friendly, but something bothered me about the encounter.  While there's nothing specific I can point to about the morning that made us feel unsafe, I can say without a doubt that we won't return to the park (the list of pros is pretty pathetic anyway).  I didn't feel comfortable near any of the people at the park.  We stayed only 10 minutes, and that was probably 9 too long.  We won't return.

Las Vegas Park Review #11: Paseos Park

Paseos Park, 12122 Desert Moon in Summerlin

Pros:
- Awesome splash pad
- Acres of green space
- Walking path
- Large, well kept playground equipment
- Ball fields (for small kids...go too far in the oufield and you hit pretty substantial hills on both fields, one up and one down)
- Awesome offroad bike path for little kids
- Sand to play in **see cons
- Picnic areas and sand volleyball

Cons:
- No swings
- Crowded (we arrived around 9 am on a weekend and it was quiet.  By 10 am it was packed)
- A couple let their dogs play on the splash pad.  Hopefully that's a rare occurance
- **Sand had several pieces of trash in it.  We wouldn't let C play in it.  It had potential, but wasn't worth it since it was kind of dirty.

Once again, we didn't go in the restrooms, so I can't judge them.  This is a terrific park, and we'd love to go there more often.  The only drawback that would change that is the popularity of the park.  It just got too crowded, to the point of being unsafe on the splash pad for my toddler.  Older kids were darting through the crowd and nearly took out my kid a time or two.  Next time we'll go earlier.

A word about the splash pad:  This is a large splash pad in great condition.  Next time we go there I'll put C in a swim diaper and turn him loose.  Unlike other area splash pads, it is impossible to play here without getting soaked (part of the fun, right?).  My former favorite splash pad - Red Ridge Park - is in considerably worse condition than it was when I reviewed it.  I suspect that they don't do major upkeep until it closes for the season, but we won't go back until it's been repaired (some of the mat is torn up, leaving a large chunk of exposed, slick pavement and a large cup that continuously fills and spills has been broken off).  Conversely, the splash pad at The Paseos is in perfect condition, as far as I could tell.

Dirty-ish sand

view of Red Rock

kids' bike path

Las Vegas Park Review #10: Dr. Harry B. Johnson's Rose Garden Park

Las Vegas Park Review:  Dr. Harry B. Johnson's Rose Garden Park
Somerset Hills Ave. (Southern Highlands) between San Sicily St. and Lago Tierra St.

Pros:
- Pretty rose garden
- Double fenced playground and green space
- Well-maintained playground equipment
- Little splash pad (though we were there too early to use it*)

Cons:
- Spiders
- *Splash pad doesn't operate until 10 am
- No swings
- Playground, while rated for kids as young as 2, was really more for bigger kids

This is a really nice little park.  We had it all to ourselves, with the exception of a couple of people playing with their dogs in the green space.  The playground equipment was really nice, if a bit too big for C.  C was disappointed that the splash pad didn't operate until 10 am (we were there around 8), but he loved looking at the birds and running around in the rose garden, smelling flowers.  I loved the trees and flowers, but hated the spiders.  There was an enormous one on a slide and webs all over in the garden.  That probably wouldn't bother a reasonable person, but I'm afraid of spiders and you can't convince me to like them.  There were restrooms available, but we didn't use them.  We felt completely safe, although there was no security.

Las Vegas Park Review #9: Ridgebrook Park

It's been a long time coming, but here's park review #9:  Ridgebrook Park, 3600 Ridgehollow Dr


Pros:
- nice grass
- well-maintained playground equipment
- tidy
- seriously the friendliest people go there *see below
- toddler-sized and themed splash pad
- shade, glorious shade
- nice looking tennis and basketball courts

Cons:
- um, is this a neighborhood only park?  is it okay that we were there?
- ants
- *seriously, the snottiest people go there.

* Okay, so right when we arrived at the park two ladies darted by us (they were walking laps) and shot us dirty looks (perhaps this is a park intended only for neighborhood use??) when I said hello.  They proceeded around the park and shot eye daggers at us each time.  HOWEVER, a lady, her mother, and two adorable twin daughters were playing at the park and were delightful.  C and I thoroughly enjoyed their company.  What did they say on The Facts of Life?  You take the good, you take the bad.....

Once again, we didn't go into the restrooms, but the building itself seemed nice.  The park is very much in a neighborhood, with houses all around.  We felt safe (on a weekday morning), though I didn't see security of any kind. 

Las Vegas Park Review #8: Goett Family Park

Goett Family Park, 10950 Southern Highlands Pkwy

Pros:
- Outstanding walking trail, see details below.
- Two security guards on bikes were patrolling the path and park (on our second visit, which was just to the walking trail)
- Picnic areas
- Volleyball and basketball courts

Cons, and there are many:
- Filthy.  Seriously.  Condom wrappers, broken glass, and miscellaneous other trash littered the grassy space.  We would never play on the large grassy area.
- The playground looked nice and was fenced, but both gates were broken and swung open.
- Creepy teenager was camped out on the playground equipment.  I was intimidated by him and suspected he was on something
- No baby swings
- No water feature

We did not use the restrooms.  I was disgusted by the filth of the open space and creeped out by the teenager and didn't want to go in there.

Now, for the redeeming feature of this park, the trail.  It's actually built through a neighborhood along a flood wash and is pretty and green.  It was the perfect place to let C run wild since the sides are bordered by fences.  There's no way to get hit by cars or to run too far (into yards, for example).  The whole trail is lined with trees, and it was so pleasant to listen to the birds singing from them.  By the way, the entire length of the trail was clean. 

Broken gate #1 into the playground

filthy green space

playground equipment we would've liked to use

fitness challenge along the walking path

restrooms

Somehow I neglected to take pictures of the walking path that didn't include C.  I'll take some on our next visit and repost.....

Las Vegas Park Review #7: Red Ridge Park

Red Ridge Park, 7027 S. El Capitan Way

Pros: 
- Separate little kids' and big kids' playgrounds
- Cool water playground (zero depth)
- Nice looking baseball diamonds and disc golf course
- Well-maintained and clean
- A lot of grass (though by the time we left there were soccer practices going on and baseball games starting)
- Concession stands open during games
- Pretty mountain views
- Four baby swings

Cons:
- We tried three times to go to this park.  Twice after school got out and it was swamped with kids and the entire neighborhood flooded with parents driving to get their kids.  The third time I finally learned and we got there at 7:00am on a Saturday and had the place to ourselves for awhile.  SO nice.
- Not great shady areas for lounging

We did not use the restrooms, so I can't vouch for them.  Also, I didn't see any security (though we felt very safe).  This is definitely one of my favorite parks. 

water features

water features



Terrible picture of the nice view past the baseball fields



Las Vegas Park Review #6: Nevada Trails Park

Nevada Trails Park - Corner of Mardon Ave and Rosanne St

Pros:
- Fenced playground
- Separate playgrounds for ages 2-5 and over 5
- Four baby swings
- Clean (other than the dog poo issue on the grass)
- Courts for older kids/adults
- Fitness course (didn't see it until we drove away, but it looked great for an adult outdoor workout)
- A lot of grass*


Cons:
- No shade
- *While there's a lot of grass, it was littered with too much dog poo to be an inviting place to play (although to be fair, we didn't venture far out into the grassy area after I saw the first 3 or 4 messes)
- This park neighbors an elementary school and is impossible to use when school gets out
- We were there around 2:30 on a weekday afternoon, and 4 or 5 teens were hanging out on and near the toddler equipment using foul language.  Another mom asked them to stop and was met with blank stares.  She eventually left, as did we. 

open space

big kid playground equipment

toddler playground equipment

restrooms

tennis courts

fitness equipment

Las Vegas Park Review #5: Willows Park

Willows Park - 2775 Desert Marigold Lane

Pros:
- Acres of grass
- Nice baseball fields and basketball courts
- Quaint sculptures from children's stories appear along a fantastic (yet short) walking path that winds through the neighborhood.
- Two playgrounds
- Quite clean
- Felt safe, even when walking through the tunnel that goes beneath Town Center Drive
- Birds galore (not in a gross, pigeon way, but in a beautiful song bird way)
- Covered parking!! 

Cons:
- No baby swings.  Actually, no swings at all.
- No toddler playground, although we had plenty of fun on the bigger kid playgrounds (it was windy and early on a weekday afternoon, so we had the place almost to ourselves)

Notes:  I didn't see restrooms, but I suspect they were at the swimming pool/community center building.  I don't know if the general public has access to them when the pool and/or building aren't open, which was the case when we were there.

One of the baseball fields

First of two playgrounds, note the lion statue to the right of the tree

The tortoise and the hare along the walking path

At the end of the walking path is a secured access gate into a community trail.  I SO wanted to go in there.

The second of the playgrounds.  Pardon the angle, I tried to take it quickly, before a little girl went in the shot.
Didn't want to freak out her mom.

Grassy area behind the community pool