This is a great park! It is perfect for a festival because there is tons of free parking. I went…read morehere for a plant festival. This park has a playground and a splashpad for kids, a small skateboard/bike area for kids, a dog park pavillions for picnics, restrooms by the play area and dog park and a really nice long walking path around the huge pond. There is also a small stage near the big open field so it would be a good location for concerts. The park is on county land adjacent to a water treatment plant, which supplies the pond with reclaimed water. What a great use of space! I will bet most people wouldn't notice that but I work for another local government so I notice those things. Lots of people were out enjoying the nice weather. People with their kids in the kids area, people with their pets in the pet atea and people like me shopping for plants. They also had some food trucks out and staff/volunteers directing traffic and keeping things nice. Again, great venue for a festival in the heart of Carrollwood Village.

This is the park to end all parks! From a paved storybook path around the "lake" to a fitness…read morecourse, from playgrounds to large, family swings, the views, the play, the comfort and the challenge are all present. The park also maintains facilities and the parking is plentiful.

Best part in Tampa bay in my opinion I absolutely love coming to this park for many reasons,…read moredifferent variety in age groups, plenty of seating, basketball court, water fountain that kids can run around in etc . My kids love coming here the environment is pleasant and feels safe it's gated around and the area is very visible to see where your kids are.

This is one of the coolest parks I've ever been to in my life to be honest. It's very very elegant…read morealmost a clean well kept and has many fun activities for kids and adults. First when you walk in there are lions statues and they're shooting water all over the place for kids adults to cool down that basketball courts that are blue which I thought was cool and they had really fun walking path and really nice swing sets and things for kids to play on excellent excellent place for sure so the great part of town and if I'm in Tampa I will be going back

A few days ago we checked out Lesley "Les" Miller Jr. All People's Community Park & Life Center…read more It's home to Hillsborough County's largest adaptive playground. The playground has swings for different age groups and abilities. My kids enjoyed going down the slides, the rope- and rock-climbing structures, musical elements, and spinning structure. There's plenty of shade over the playground and benches for parents. The newly opened splash pad was a hit with my kids. Plenty of shaded seating for parents and bathrooms are nearby. Don't forget to pack snacks for the kids (please clean up after your family), sunscreen and reusable water bottles. Not as crowded before 12 pm.

So the great parts of is this is it's free, plenty of parking and there are plenty of places to…read moresit/have elbow room. The part bad is the amount of chlorine that is used at this park. I had to step out after 20 mins as my eyes were burning and were red. That's too bad because I liked the layout of this place. While it says you can't bring in food several folks brought in small snacks and drinks. If you want to wear googles for the chlorine, have at it!!

It's so nice having a playground so close to Armature Works…read more I think an idyllic afternoon is grabbing a bite to eat and a drink at Armature Works and then walking with the kids to this playground/splash pad. There are restrooms here that make it easy to change your children into their bathing suits. They also have shaded picnic tables. The splash pad and playground is gated so you can let the kids run around inside while you sit and chat on the outside of the gate at the shaded picnic tables. I would highly recommend bringing swimsuits and all your water stuff if you decide to come here, because the playground part is quite small and in the same area as the splash pad. They aren't separated, so your child will most likely get wet whether you want them to or not if you come here, better to just prepare for them to get wet. The splash pad has one of those buckets that fill up and then dump all over the children, which I find kids absolutely love. There is also a ropes climbing part that they can get to a crows nest, so I would say the ideal age for this play area is between four and 10. I have a five year-old and a seven-year-old and they loved it.

Something for everyone here at this park! A splash park adjacent to the playground. Tables and…read morebenches all around for parents to sit while kids played. The gated park is also in a greater park area, with a boardwalk along the river, a mini bridge over a pond of turtles and fish, and a turf field with chairs for lounging.

This is an all ages, all ability, open park and playground…read more The location is great because it is in a neighborhood yet close to the highway. There are plenty of shade trees, and there are a few areas to picnic as well as different playground areas if you feel one is too crowded for your little one. We went to the larger playground area with my grandson, and he loved it. There are swingsets for all ages and abilities, which is very nice for all. The pirate ship has a great musical area as most kids like to bang on things that they can control the sounds. There are plenty of open areas to play ball or just run from tree to tree like the squirrels. My only complaint is that the park could be a little better maintained for trash. There was random garbage that people should have thrown away, but they didn't, so it made the park look a little unkempt. Parking is plentiful but not in abundance in any one area, so be prepared to park and walk to the playground on a busy weekend or after school.

This is a great local park with wide grassy areas for kids to run around…read more My local park was all booked up for my daughter's birthday weekend, but there were picnic shelters available at MacFarlane Park, so we decided to check it out. We rented a "small" shelter that had 24 person capacity. An all day rental was about $27, a bargain. The park is pretty big with multiple areas where you can park, so make sure you look at a park map to get an idea of where you should park to be closest to where you want to go. The playground looked like a lot of fun, but our shelter was closer to the tennis courts, and the kids ended up just running up and down the hill, which was fine with me! The area looked well-maintained, and the shelters were in better shape than the picnic shelters in most of the South Tampa parks.

One of my favorite playgrounds in Tampa bay…read more This is what you do for a half day on a weekend. We park at the parking lot that is closest to playground. It's the first one you come up upon on your left when you're driving down the street. We put in for three hours of parking which comes out to $7.35. We walk to the playground and while the kids play, I go to the outside bar and grab two skinny margaritas, which are very reasonably priced. Then we go to Doc Ford's or another restaurant close by for a meal. And then depending how crazy the kids are, we may take them back to the playground. This is such a fun place for the kids, half of it is shaded with a canopy and half of it is shaded by trees which means it's hit or miss whether the play equipment is shaded. I highly recommend putting on sunscreen. It is close to a small beach and splash pad also so you can walk amongst the three if it gets really hot. There's an area for younger kids 2 to 5 and the other part is for kids 5 to 12. Bring cardboard because kids like to sit on the cardboard and ride down a tiny hill that's there. Usually though there is cardboard left by other kids, but if you go first thing in the morning, you should be the people that bring the cardboard. It can be pretty crowded. All the kids seem to get along and my kids who are five and seven have an absolute blast year every time. I highly recommend.

Nice playground and family fun area located on the pier. It was clean and family friendly for sure…read more It was a fun and nice place that I would go back

Ballast Point Park is located South of Bayshore off inter bay and has a fantastic shaded kids…read moreplayground with a younger and older kids area, 3 slides, and even a splash pad play area. There's a fantastic seafood restaurant, fishing pier, and pretty water views too! During the winter months when the sun sets early at 530-6, the park really should have lights for the playground at least until 8pm. There's not enough parking spots for this park and parking on side of road has signs that say no parking which is ridiculous because everyone parks on the side of the road anyways. If you're in the south Tampa area and looking for pretty water views, casual seafood, or a fun kids playground, definitely visit Ballast Point Park!

I have loved this place for so long! Great walk or ride up the pier. Take in the beautiful waters…read moreor natural wildlife swimming or flying around. The squirrels are pretty daring and friendly here too. Bait shop and food shack on premises too. They are a bit pricey but certainly delicious and worth they hype. Be mindful of hooks and debris on the pier. Folks haven't been very mindful lately

This place is amazing! We had no idea that it was here (coming from St Pete)! It was just a quick…read moretrip over the Gandy bridge and just a few turns to get to the building. The staff was welcoming, helped me with a mistake that I made with registering and even had a toddler music class included with the admission. The toddler area was great fun for the lo and she even loved the "big" kid area as well. They have a full cafe with kid favorite lunches and coffee for the moms. I will definitely spread the word over in St Pete! Oh, and it's clean!!!

The new story time for toddlers and babies is so cute! 10/10 they just started it and it's a…read moregreat activity, I love that it gives the kids a little break if they are getting over stimulated.

When we lived in the New Tampa area, this was our park of choice. There were just enough things for…read moremy preschooler to do to keep her busy and it was covered. This meant that on hot summer days we could play without overheating quickly. Recently my visits have been to the softball fields and not to the park. Before Covid shit everything down, they appeared to be in the process of updating it. During the winter and early spring I participate in a softball league that plays at the fields located at the back of this complex. The fields are always well maintained and ready to go when we show up to play. Only once or twice in my four years playing has something happened that caused a delay. The manager of the fields was there and was able to quickly rectify it. The complex also features a skate park, a dog park, and soccer fields. They also have large mixed use fields located under the lights.

Great local park! Love the outdoors! Great for kids and adults! Easy to find! So many outside…read moreactivities available!

I walk by Curtis Hixon Park a lot and I love how they always have events going on. I really liked…read morehow they decorated for Christmas, it was beautiful. The park is usually very clean and it attracts a lot of people. It's great to have a space like this in Tampa. I do want to mention that the ice skating rink they had in Florida was pretty comical, people were literally skating in puddles of water! Still, it was a good idea and a fun thought. Overall, Curtis Hixon Park is a wonderful spot to visit anytime

Curtis Hixon park is perfectly centered in downtown Tampa. They have a cute little water feature…read morefor kids and has a beautiful view of the bay and University of Tampa.