A wooded escape: Allen's Lane Park

Playground: Allen's Lane Park playground
Location: Allen's Lane between McCallum and Green (can enter from the street or park near the Art Center)
Date visited: 9/3/11

Equipment: Multiple pieces of equipment scattered within one longish zone (a little like a summer camp obstacle course):

1. A small climbing net/rope wall
   
2. A set of tunnel tubes elevated around 1 foot off the ground on half rubber tires
   
3. Hanging bars at two heights
   
4. A narrow, curved balance beam
   
5. A small playset, made of wood, including a jointed bridge, treehouse, two low plastic slides, a steering wheel, a set of lowish (4 ft?) wide monkey bars, and a small climbing wall
   
6. The taller playset has a tall spiral and a lower curved (plastic) slides, misc. climbing, a fireman's pole, and "shop windows" underneath
   
7. A zip-line set-up
   
8. 4 bucket swings, 2 plank swings, and a horizontally mounted tire swing (set by itself)

material: modern or as marked; scale: large
Ages: 1-10
Surface: wood chips around equipment; grass elsewhere
Shade(0-3): 3
Water: N
Other: picnic tables, tennis courts, basketball (far side of art center)
Access: 6AM-10PM

Impressions: A nice range of equipment in a cool and inviting wooded setting, with offerings for crawlers through tweens, and places for parents to stroll, sit, picnic, or play tennis. Cool on a hot day, with rich plantings and a summer campy feel that made us want to linger. Worth a trip.
Overall rating: 9