Sawyer Park

Sawyer Park is a small park in downtown Hartford.

There is a decent amount of green space and a very small playground.  The coolest part is probably the old-fashion tall slide.  My kiddos kept themselves entertained by creating an obstacle course around the playground pieces.

If we were near it and wanted to stretch our legs, Sawyer Park does the job.  I would not go out of my way to seek it out again, though.

Sawyer Park
111 Branch St ~ Hartford, WI

Lake View Acres Park

Lake View Acres Park is a small neighborhood park in Hartford.

There are a couple of swings and a few other small pieces of equipment.  There are no real climbers, but the kids had a blast on a standing spinner.

Bonus side note, it was pretty hysterical to watch them try to walk away after spinning!

The park technically has a shelter/shed structure.  My hope was that there may be some bathrooms, but everything was locked up when we were there.

Lake View Acres Park
95 S Teri Lane ~ Hartford, WI

Independence Park

Independence Park is Hartford's largest park.

There is a lot of wide open expanse, so this is a great park for outdoor games!  It also has quite a playground.  There are two separate climbers, swings, and a couple of other play items.

It has enough to entertain a crew of kids! 

There is also a very nice picnic shelter with bathrooms.  I don't know if the bathrooms are always open, but there seemed to be some kind of summer camp happening when we went, so they were at the time anyway.

Independence Park
900 South Wilson Avenue ~ Hartford, WI

Candy Cane Park

Candy Cane Park is what the city of Hartford calls a "mini" park.  Accurate.  It is definitely tiny. 

There is a one-person climber, a couple of swings, and a sand box.  The kids were pretty unimpressed, but they did play for a bit in the sandbox.

Candy Cane Park
526 East Lincoln Ave ~ Hartford, WI

Ashippun Community Park

After finding the Fireman's Park to be a dud, we were pretty stoked to discover the Ashippun Community Park nearby.

The equipment was in great shape.  A lot of it looked almost new.  I may have even tried some of it out myself...

We enjoyed all of the different climbing activities.  I think the favorite, though, were the old-fashioned bouncing toys.

There are bathrooms, but they were locked when we were there.  I'm thinking they are probably only open for events.

Ashippun Community Park
W2520 Elm Street ~ Ashippun, WI

Ashippun Fireman's Park

When we visited the Ashippun Fireman's Park, we did not even get out of the car.  While it would have been a nice place to practice baseball or play kickball, but that's all there was.  We were disappointed that at a nice big park like that there was no playground.

Ashippun Fireman's Park
W2665 Oak Street ~ Ashippun, WI

Harnischfeger Park

Harnischfeger is a Dodge County park outside of Ixonia.  This park has a LOT to do, although not much of it was open and available when we were there.  I'm not sure if that was because we were there right at 8:00 when it technically opened or because we were in the middle of the week.  Or if a lot of it just is not offered a lot of the time.

We were pretty excited about the board walk.  But it was closed off.

 The playground was available to use.  There were three small climbers, a rock wall, and swings.  There is also an old-fashioned jungle gym, which was kind of fun.  For the most part, everything seemed to be in pretty good repair.  Although the ground could use a fresh covering.  It is beginning to grow over with weeds.

Harnischfeger park is also home to kayak/canoe rentals, fishing, and mini golf.  There are also nature trails.

There are quite a few shelters available to rent.  They also have sand volleyball and a ball diamond.  It would be a great place for a family reunion!

Onsite camping also means there are bathrooms available.

Harischfeger Park
W3048 Crawfish Rd ~ Ixonia, WI

Lebanon Firemen's Park

Little Lebanon is home to this great Firemen's Park.  It is very large and has something for everyone. 

 

 There are multiple enclosed shelters available to rent, but there is also this large open shelter that is great for picnics.

The playground equipment is well-kept.

 There are two different climbers, one intended for younger kids and one for older, but my kids enjoy both equally.

 A classic favorite is the racing slides:)

There are sand volleyball courts and a ball diamond.  I believe there is also a nature trail, though we haven't explored that yet.

Another plus: the bathrooms are usually open.

Lebanon Firemen's Park
N2050 County Road R ~ Lebanon, WI

Apple Valley Park

Apple Valley Park is in Beaver Dam.  It is a small neighborhood park in a subdivision on the edge of town.

It is not a very large park, but there is a covered picnic shelter and a nice playground.  There are swings, monkey bars, and slides.

 

We also enjoyed the rock climbing tunnel.

Their favorite part of the playground was a fake wall with a cut out that worked really well for playing drive-thru.

There were no bathrooms.

Apple Valley Park
Empire Drive ~ Beaver Dam, WI

Dodge County Historical Society

The Dodge County Historical Society has a museum in Beaver Dam.

Admittedly, we did not see the entire museum.  For some reason my kiddo got totally freaked out and would not go to most of it.

Both littles enjoyed the loft area, which has a model wigwam and teepee.  There is also a large collection of arrowheads found in the area.

 

Most of the museum was jam-packed full of antique items.  There was plenty of daylight, but most of the lights were turned off, so it was still a bit dark.

There is a mock one-room schoolhouse set up on the second floor.

It was a bummer that the kids couldn't touch anything.  I was hopeful when a sign mentioned something about playing in the schoolhouse, but there were signs all over once we got up there saying not to touch anything.

There were some easy opportunities I saw for them to make this museum a bit more interactive, but it is really just a very large collection of stuff.  Don't get me wrong, I found it pretty interesting!  It is a place worth stopping by once for an hour.

The curator was very friendly.

Dodge County Historical Society
105 Park Avenue ~ Beaver Dam, WI ~ (920) 887-1266

Woodlawn Park

Woodlawn Park is Neosho's only park.  It features a dock and a boat launch.

 My kiddo thought it was "hilarious" that the road drove right into the water :)

 There is some confusion when it comes to the playground.  Is it part of the park?  Does it belong to the school? I cannot tell.  Google maps shows it as part of the park, the random guy I asked said it was the school's.  Since the park edges right up against the school property, I really don't know where the line is.

 We played there anyway!

There is a nice picnic shelter that is definitely part of the park, as well as permanent bathrooms.  They were nothing great, but they were better than port-a-potties!

Woodlawn Park
Center St ~ Neosho, WI

Hickey Park

Juneau's Hickey Park is definitely a neighborhood park.

 We were the only ones there when we visited, but I felt a little bit like we were intruding.  There were toys left there, so it seems that there are neighborhood kids who play there regularly - which is awesome!  It just made me feel like we were in someone's backyard. 

That being said, no one said a word to us or did anything to make us feel unwelcome.

They had a very nice climber.  It was in good shape, could have been brand new.  It had a small slide, bumpy racing slides, a climbing wall, and two kinds of monkey bars.

 

There were also swings.

The playground is shredded tires.

We did not find any open bathrooms.

Hickey Park
341 Ridge Rd ~ Juneau, WI

River Bend RV Resort

River Bend RV Resort just outside of Watertown is more than just a campground.  It is actually a great place to hang out for a day!  To be honest, we were really only interested in their water park.

Now, if you're looking for a Wisconsin-Dells-caliber water park, this is not it.  But if you are looking for a swimming hole with some fun extras, River Bend is a great place to try.

First off, there IS an old-fashioned swimming hole.  Well, maybe not exactly traditional.

They have a shallow, sandy beach on one side.  Across the buoy line is much deeper with inflatable water equipment, like jumping pads and slides.  We did not venture that far with two little ones, but we did enjoy the floating lounges the resort puts out.  They are pretty sturdy and fun to float around on.

 The main attraction, though, is the pool area.  River Bend has a nice splash pad/kiddie pool.  We had to hold both of our kids (ages 5 & 2) back from racing in as soon as they saw it.  There are fountains, a spray arch, and a slide with a nice pad at the bottom, as well as plenty of open water for playing.

And then we ventured to the big pool!  I would say the main draw to River Bend is probably the big green water slides.  However, both of ours were still too small for those ones.  It is also worth noting that they do not run the entire time the pool is open.

Although the kiddo was a little disappointed she couldn't go on the big slides, they BOTH had a blast flying down the little slides.  There is a smaller frog slide (above, at the right) as well as a pretty decent-sized eagle slide (below, at the left).  We did lots of swimming practice and sliding.  The eagle slide was the definite favorite, but they are both good and fast.

We visited as soon as the pool opened in the morning, so we worked up quite an appetite by the time we dragged the kids out a few hours later.  We opted to order some lunch to-go from their restaurant.  It was reasonably priced and gone before we got home!

One thing I really appreciated about River Bend was that they allowed us to use our own floaties.  For some reason some places don't, but I always feel more comfortable when the kids have them on.

River Bend has nice bathrooms with coin-operated showers.

River Bend RV Resort
 W6940 Rubidell Rd ~ Watertown, WI ~ (920) 261-7505
Admission: 3&under free, Monday-Thursday $5/person, Friday-Sunday $10/person

Tivoli Island Natural Park

Tivoli Island Natural Park is a nice quiet place to enjoy nature.

Feed the ducks from the bridge, but be careful!  There is no railing on the bridge, so it is easy lose a kid off the side!

We enjoyed a nature walk.  Bring the bug spray!

I don't remember coming across any bathrooms.

Tivoli Island Natural Park
S Concord Avenue ~ Watertown, WI

Riverside Park

Riverside Park is the main park in Watertown.  The prize feature is the community-built playground.

There are areas designated for different age groups, but really both of my two were very able to enjoy the whole thing.  There are slides, ramps, swings, bridges, stairs, and more!

Aside from this playground, there are paths to walk and ducks to feed.  There is also another smaller playground in a different area of the park.

There are bathrooms as well.

Riverside Park
812 Labaree Street ~ Watertown, WI