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

Preview Post: Aldo Leopold Center

The Aldo Leopold Center in Baraboo is a nature center.  It is mostly enjoyed for the outdoors, but there are also buildings that function as learning spaces and museums about Aldo Leopold, a diligent conservationist.  There are tours you can take, or you can explore on your own.

Aldo Leopold Center
E13701 Levee Road ~ Baraboo, WI ~ (608) 355-0279

Admission: I do not believe there is an admission fee to enjoy the land.  Tours do require fees.

Preview Post: Central Railyard Park

Central Railyard Park in Ashland has a playground and a skate park.  They also have an ice skating rink in the winter.  It looks like a decent-sized park.  They also have bathrooms.

Central Railyard Park
6th Street & Vaughn Avenue ~ Ashland, WI

Preview Post: Maslowski Beach

Maslowski Beach in Ashland seems to be best known for its spring water.  It hosts a beach (obviously) but also has a playground.  There are also bathrooms, and it sounds like they are usually open based on reviews I've found in which people mention changing areas.  It is on Lake Superior, so pretty chilly, but by all accounts is usually a nice beach for playing.

Maslowski Beach
Highway 2 on the west side of Ashland, 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

Preview Post: Bayview Park

Dip your toes in Lake Superior with a visit to Bayview Park in Ashland.  Technically it's on Chequamegon Bay, so it has a LITTLE bit of a chance to get up to a swim-able temperature!  It looks to be a long and narrow park with quite a bit of lakefront.  There is a beach as well as a playground.

Bayview Park
1803 East Lake Shore Drive ~ Ashland, WI

Kingston Spring Lake Park

A friend introduced us to Kingston Spring Lake Park.  It is a a small park on the shore of Spring Lake in Green Lake County.

The lake is not big, but they have cleared a nice beach area with a decent amount of sand to play in.  The water in front of the sand is pretty nice too, though there were lots of weeds to either side.  Highlight of the day for my kiddos: we saw a snake swim from one side to the other:)

It was great with little kids because it is nice and shallow for quite a long way out, so they had lots of room to splash and play before we had to reel them back in.

There is a restroom building with pit toilets.  Those didn't seem very well maintained.  The door didn't close on the women's, and they were pretty gross.

Kingston Spring Lake Park
Spring Lake View Drive ~ Kingston, WI

Preview Post: Ashland Mural Walk

Ashland has a beautiful downtown, complete with murals painted on the buildings.  It is a point of pride for their city, and there is a whole map you can walk to see them all.  I think it would be worth seeing!

Ashland Mural Walk
Downtown Ashland, WI

Preview Post: Ashland Historical Society Museum

The Ashland Historical Museum does not look like a very hands-on experience, but it does seem to have quite a rotating assortment of content.  They change their exhibits up to keep things fresh, but I am guessing this still probably a pretty short visit with kids!

Ashland Historical Society Museum
216 Main Street West ~ Ashland, WI ~ (715) 682-4911

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

Kanow Park

Kanow Park is a Jefferson County park. 

It is a nice big park right on the river.  It is mostly wooded, but there is a large covered picnic area.

 

There is also a playground.  It is older, but the kids still had fun.

Supposedly, there is some sketchy past to this park, but when we were there, there was not another soul to be seen.  It is definitely a nice quiet park, but it is a bit of a drive away from everything.

There are bathrooms.

Kanow Park
N8248 Rock River Road ~ Ixonia, 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

Ixonia Fireman's Park

We visited the Ixonia Fireman's Park and enjoyed playing on the playground.  It's not huge, but plenty of fun.

The main playground felt a little bit old-fashioned, but it didn't seem to bother any of the kids that were there.

There is also a small handicapped-accessible addition.  This equipment looked fairly new, and my non-handicapped children enjoyed that too.  We were able to have a nice discussion about how other kids might be able to use the items at that playground too.

We lucked out and found the bookmobile there!  We got to listen to a guest reader at the park!  They set up under a very large covered picnic area.

All in all, we enjoyed the Ixonia Fireman's Park.

 Ixonia Fireman's Park
N8345 Park St ~ Ixonia, WI

Preview Post: Fairfield Park

Fairfield Park is a tiny park in Arcadia.  It must be mostly take up by the playground, and it sounds like it might have some old favorites (seesaw anyone?).

Fairfield Park
200 South Fairfield Ave ~ Arcadia, WI

Ski Slide Park

Park season is in full swing in this household!  Only a week out of school, and we're onto our third park of the summer.  They are such great free fun.  And with so many in the area, we can visit a different park every time for a brand new experience.

Our latest was Ski Slide Park in Ixonia.  Ski Slide Park seems to be centered on baseball.  There are multiple diamonds, as well as a football field.  However, there was also a playground - presumably to entertain the kids who are not playing in the games!

It was not huge, but it kept the kids' attention for a good half hour.  The climber is a nice, sturdy Little Tykes.  Unfortunately, since the bedding of the playground is all sand, it has taken its toll on a couple of the features.  For example, there is a periscope that looks like it would be really neat, but it is all scratched and clouded with sand.

Our favorite features, the "telephone" system and the plastic dinosaur.

Downfalls to this park:
1. As you can see in the picture, there was a lot of trash.  Again, this is a baseball park.  You can tell many kids are set loose with treats from the concession stands and just dump the wrappers while they play.

2.  You can't get at the bathrooms unless there is an event happening.  We were really lucky because there happened to be a super nice guy there mowing the lawn who let us into the building to use the bathrooms, but for the most part you would be out of luck.

Ski Slide Park is a fine stop to get a little energy out if you are in the area, but we will probably not seek it out again.

Ski Slide Park
N7935 Ski Slide Rd ~ Ixonia, 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

Preview Post: Schultz Park

Schultz Park is a park in Arcadia with a playground and a pond.

Schultz Park
213 Willow Street ~ Arcadia, WI