Jackie Parker Park

My best friend once told me that her daughter described Jackie Parker Park as “the playground of my dreams”, and to this day that’s how I think of it.

It’s quite possibly the biggest, and it may be the best, in Edmonton. This playground is made up of five distinct areas. There’s a toddler park with a smaller main structure and two baby swings; the spray park – one of the biggest in the city, with a cool jungle theme; the natural park – a series of rocks and logs for hopping with an epic climbing wall; the “castles” – seemingly-never-ending green structures with climbers, slides and so much more; and the obstacle course – a series of monkey bars, rings and climbers. The obstacle course area is also home to swings – 8 standard and 2 saucer.

This playground has a huge parking lot to match its massive footprint. The parks are all based in wood chips, except for the spray park, which has a concrete surface. In winter, there’s an excellent outdoor ice skating surface and a sledding hill. Bonus – there’s even a bathroom building!