Great play and sprayground options: Shepard Rec. Center

Playground: Shepard Rec. Center
Location: 57th at Westminster (just south of Haverford)
Date visited: 12/31/11

Equipment: Three zones in sight of one another:

1. New-looking sprayground (fenced) with large colorful towers; looks like several sources of spray
   
   
2. Smaller kid playground area includes (a) 2 hobby horses (zebra and dolphin) that actually rocked (!); (b) a new-looking playset: climbing wall, barrel stave climbing, hanging bar, low (5-ft) monkey bars, solid bridge, crawl-through mesh tunnel, three straight metal slides, and misc. climbing; (c) 4 bucket swings.
   
   
3. Higher playset has novel types of challenging climbing (a twisting ladder, another that I can't describe!), 2 high straight metal slides and 1 wavy plastic one, a fire pole, solid bridge, straight (6-foot) monkey bars, and more. Also 4 strap swings here, although 2 broken.

material: modern; scale: large
Ages: 1-12
Surface: rubbery around equipment; cement and grass elsewhere
Shade(0-3): 1
Water: Y!
Other: pool, baseball field, tennis, basketball, large grassy area, picnic tables (including some covered), large rec. building
Access: not posted (dawn to dusk?)

Impressions: Recently renovated and inviting playground offers a great range of options for all ages, from crawlers to more advanced scramblers, faced by houses on one side and a SEPTA bus garage on the other. Sprayground was off-season a our visit, but looks intriguing and made us want to come back. Shaded picnic tables and expanses of grass make this a good option for a longer family outing, and young trees offer promise of increasing shade over the play equipment. Worth a visit!
Overall rating: 9