the bathrooms are locked, folks. the sick have found jesus. i like the convenience of this park, love the fountains in summer...and i know the unhoused need a space, too, and deserve to enjoy the park. but when they start acting in ways that scare the kids and clear the park...come on. i know there are community groups besides police that can assist with getting folks to more appropriate places. being high and acting strangely around children will get karen calling the cops and i dont want anyone getting hurt. kids or the "residents." come on, medford, do better. read more

Hawthorne Park - Playgrounds Near Me - Medford, Oregon

We came up from California for the day to go shopping. Before heading out back home, we took my little nephews to the park to burn off energy. There was a creepy guy that stood at the side of the bathroom staring at us. We decided to leave because he was watching every move of ours. We didn't want to make it obvious that we were watching him watch us. He not only followed us with his eyes but moved around the bathroom area to watch us get into our vehicle. It was really creepy. NEVER GOING HERE AGAIN! read more

Hawthorne Park - Playgrounds Near Me - Medford, Oregon

Stopped by to eat our take out and chill out in the shade. Pro: Huge park but on a busy area. Ice cream truck stopped by in the area playing some old tunes. Cons: homeless couple argued over something and even gave the ice cream guy attitude. It was a good scene at first but that guy just ruined my mood. read more

So if you know anything about Hawthorne parks past you know that shady, seedy, vagrant knife fights and murders were all too common. Medford has decided to reclaim the park, cleaning it up and updating it. The homeless encampments have been cleared out, limbs trimmed and park redesigned. Not sure what will be done with the old spot where the pool was (didn't go check it out, follow up review?). I'm glad to see yet another park recently updated and improved by Medford parks and rec. this is yet another job well done as the new park has 3 kids play areas (see pics) and a soon to be installed water park/play area as well. New restrooms and bigger parking lot have been added too. The new layout is a stark comparison to the past. It's very open and inviting making it much more family/pedestrian friendly... Worth another look to see where our tax dollars are going. read more

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Hawthorne Park is not all that bad if you are a good parent who watches your children as they play and make sure they are being safe. After visiting a Farmer's Market, my sister and I took her kids here to play at the playground. I read previous reviews about the history of this park and honestly I did not really see too much negativity going on here. I think the City has reclaimed this place and gotten rid of most of the tragedy that had surrounded it. Hawthorne Park underwent a $2 million renovation in 2015-16 and it looks nice and clean to me. Sure there are probably a few stragglers hidden around, but if you are responsible and observant then you should be fine. The Playground area was really large with multiple areas for the kids to play at. There are sand boxes, many swings, jungle gyms and even a fun tetter-totter and spinning play thing. It was a hot sunny day when we came and there were a few mommy-child play dates going on and a birthday party. The community seems to enjoy this place and it was very busy on a Sunday afternoon. It is also near a shopping center that seems to be updated and current. Hopefully Hawthorne Park maintains its updated look and cleanliness. Not sure how security is here though. My only little disappointment was the fact that the playground is right by the road and if you do not pay attention to your children they could climb a fence or walk out the park into danger. I did not exactly see a gate, but just a wide opening entrance through the fence. read more

I love the water play they offer. My only negative comment is that the homeless hang around so you need to keep a good eye on your children.

This is an awesome park!! If you have kids in need of getting some energy out, this is the place!!! Water park, grass, play equipment for all ages. Exercise area and canoes in the sand pit. Yes the homeless are here. We stay close with our kids and haven't had any issues. As with anywhere you go with kids, keep an eye out. That means put your phone down and pay attention! You know who you are. :) read more

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I was saddened yesterday as a friend and I went to Hawthorne Park to let our dogs play in the enclosed dog area. As we're walking on the path from Forge coffee towards the dog park, there was so many syringe needle toppers we were afraid to walk. The high volume of them causes us to carry our dogs through the park to the small dog enclosed area. We were also concerned as we were wearing sandals. We kept a good eye out to make sure that we do not step on any used needles. Going into the small dog area the ground was littered with cigarette butts. We also found used cotton balls one would you use in processing heroin. We did not feel secure in letting our dogs play in the park. So, we returned to our vehicle and went home. Carrying our dog's back to the car. The amount of homeless in the park has increased tenfold. Although, the homeless did not bother us nor did we feel unsafe due to there presents. We did however feel extremely unsafe due to the presence of syringes and drug paraphernalia. This was a park that we frequent with our dogs. I hope the condition will change but as of this point we will not be returning to the park and advising our other friends with animals to do the same. read more

I recommend those who have small children steer far away from this park. After date night at tinseltown while eating ice cream we decided to walk through this park. It wreaked of weed and cigarette smoke, and there wasn't table not occupied by people so we stuck to walking. Not only did we come across a used condom, but we were also harassed by a table of delinquents. The last straw was the man peeing on the fence where the pool used to be, withing sight of the playground, within walking distance of the bathrooms. The volume of people made sense when a white van pulled up and started setting up a makeshift soup kitchen in the parking lot. Maybe that's something best done out of a shelter, like the other soup kitchens in medford? This place is atrocious and I have no idea why the city of medford doesn't do anything about it. read more

The problem it is over ran by the homeless population i would not recommend it for kids. It spay park in the summer. It also playground equipment. For the older kid it has fitness area. read more

So fun to walk alone the river with beautiful greenery. So close to my hotel. Really Great read more

Hawthorne Park - Beautiful morning strol run bike in this paved location along the river - Playgrounds Near Me - Medford, Oregon

Yeah I just got up to the Oregon area and I've noticed Hawthorne Park is not too bad a park there's no smoking no drinking and the cops are assholes can I say that word on yelp I M that is very green nice place to hang out we got workout bench add gazebo that has many more workout benches an more read more

Hawthorne park is a tragedy. It's a beautiful park. What many people don't realize is that all the trees on the green are unique specimen trees. They are huge and lush and beautiful. It's centrally located and near the bikepath. The pool is closed, but I used to take my kids there for swimming lessons. The playground equipment has been replaced since then. It has an amazing, beautiful rose garden. What's a tragedy is the vagrancy problem. I think the vagrancy in the park is directly related to the Mission being less than a mile down the street, because it didn't use to be that bad, and neither did the Mission neighborhood. Both have taken a huge downturn. And there is a prepared food distribution at Hawthorne too. The area just north of Hawthorne, on the other side of Jackson street on the bike path has also become an area of loitering vagrants. Social Services are a necessary thing in society, but here is an example of it not working well. The city of Medford is talking about redesigning the park with left over MURA funds. It's true, that a good design and better enforcement may improve the problem at Hawthorne, but I hope they don't remove the amazing trees. read more

Visited twice in the past two days. Out of state tourist and thus not familiar with the park's past. We found it to be stellar overall - our young toddler just loved the big water play area, and there are really great playgrounds with simpler to more complex options for both older and younger kids. There was also a log play area and sand area with canoes that we didn't make it to but looked like a lot of fun. The playground area is spotted with big, beautiful, shady trees. There were many parents (overwhelmingly what looked to be moms), younger kiddos, and a handful of folks who looked like they could have been homeless. Lastly, they had a pretty big and shaded exercise machine area that my older parents thought was pretty excellent over all. My only suggested improvement would be the bathroom - there was a toilet, toilet paper, and a sink (I assume with running water though I didn't try), but no soap, plus it was rather dirty. Definitely not as nicely maintained as the other public park restrooms we've been to here, though I'm still grateful to even have access to a bathroom at a public park! All in all lovely. Farmers' market on Thursday mornings to early afternoon - a true delight! read more

The park looks awesome.. However there was some suspicious behavior in the bathrooms . I come from San Francisco and KNOW what was going on in there and having a 3 year old needing to go to the bathroom was not fun. Multiple homeless people in the park..after about 15minutes a lady and guy with a dog come out of the bathroom.. Really hmm. In a kids playground..I made sure there weren't any needles in the bathroom when we went in. read more