Playground by the Sound is the Chambers Bay park playground on the northeast corner of the park…read more Decent size parking lot, though it can be full on super nice days and in the summer (in a pinch I've parked along the road and walked back). The playground is split into an older kids side and a younger kids side, with 1 entry (and a fence surrounding). Visibility isn't perfect but the single entry point is great if you want to stand in the middle to keep an eye on kiddos. Great spot for play dates (come with a coffee!). There are portapotties at the park and a real restroom a small walk down the path. Park is great for kids to use their imaginations and play, which is so much fun. Great spot to bring a ball and play catch or picnic to sit and relax or bikes! Can get hot - wear sunscreen if the weather is nice. Friends said it's also fun to bring bikes or a stroller and hit up the cafe (a bit of distance from the playground) and have some sweet potato fries.

Absolutely love this playground! Almost* fenced in so it makes it easy to keep tabs on your little…read moreone! Plenty of options for kiddos of all ages

Wanted to find a new place to walk outdoors, see the water and enjoy the morning. This is a tucked…read moreaway place and I'm glad to have found it. Sasha and I had a great day. Good walk lots of smells for her. We will come back. Plenty of parking. Good vibes, calm peaceful. Lots of people were out walking with their dogs, spouse and alone. It was a very good experience. I recommend this park. They also have a restaurant across the street for afterwards if interested. You can also see more of the water on the other side. I didn't go walking there, I drove over. Very beautiful. Sasha was not having that walk too close to the water lol.

Lovely, open space park with great Sound view. Plenty of parking on a Wednesday in May. I imagine…read moreit gets busy in summer months. 1950 bathrooms. Several picnic shelters. Enjoy!

It's a small park but nice. There's a nice walking path, but it's kinda small. Great for the…read moreelderly to walk around and loosen up. Came here with the dogs and it was okay. We sat at a picnic table, walked the path, then left. I'm never against any park, but there's not much to it. There's a playground with a nice grassy field, but one family playing soccer kinda took up the whole space. Don't walk around here with flip flops- the bark and the pine needles had a way of staying inside the flip flip and not leaving my foot. That was super irksome. There was an ant hill with very large ants that our dogs almost ran into but we somehow saw it in time to stop them.

Good park off of Bridgeport Way W in University Place! There is a fair amount of area to utilize…read morethe trails here but it's not such a big park where you could become overwhelmed or disoriented with the amount of trails and paths to walk. The park isn't as big as it looks once you start walking but the large forested charm is what won me over to go in here in the first place. There's some equipment for small children and some nice, short trails for the adults.

Sunset Terrace is a decent park. Some city parks in Tacoma are a bit more glorious and have…read morespecific features that make the park unique but in this case I feel like this park is more of the basic variety. Now when I say "basic" I don't necessarily mean that it's bad. There are restrooms that are open to the public, playground equipment and a small field where you can play ball. In that aspect this is a great park for the neighborhood to come to. Parking is abundant and on a nice day I'm sure a very pleasant walk if you live nearby. I participate in hiding painted rocks and other trinkets, a popular group here in town and that is what led up to my first visit to this park. I have no complaints other than there is some clutter in some corners of the park like old, discarded clothing and such which brings the quotient down a little. Other than that it's a cute place!

It was finally a sunny day today and we decided to give this park at try. It's right off of South…read more19th and Bridgeport in University Place and easy to spot. It's not a big park, but it is neat. My 6-year-old daughter played on the playground for an hour and a half or so. She absolutely loved the zipline, as well as the merry-go-round, rock wall, swings, tire swing, bars, and jungle gyms/slides. There is also a field there, which we didn't have an opportunity to explore, but we will definitely swing back by on a sunny day or even better, for a picnic!

What an awesome place to stop by!…read more If you have kiddos this place is extra great - the playground is so delightful I just had to go down the slide! There's a building that has some really cute turtles and frogs and there are animal costumes for the kiddies. As for the adults? There's a walking trail that goes around the lake. It's pretty short, but if you go around a few times you can get a nice walk in. It's very shaded and I will definitely be coming here more when Summer comes.

The Tacoma Nature Center is such a local gem that I've passed hundreds of times and really had no…read moreidea. I actually saw a local mom influencer post about it on Instagram and decided to visit with my kids! The Discovery Pond playground is super cute and was a hit with my kids (5 and 3). It's all nature themed, of course, with fun slides and climbing structures, as well as a small playground off to the side of the main playground. In addition, there's fun trails for the kids to explore surrounding the playgrounds that I felt comfortable enough letting them check out on their own since the whole area is pretty condensed and it's easy to hear/see them. There looked to be some pond areas that were all dried up. From past photos I think there are normally some frogs and bugs and other things that sometimes fill up these ponds, but it being the start of the hot season they are pretty baren. Would be cool to come back and check out in the fall! I also appreciate the amount of benches and picnic tables around the playground, as we were able to snag a shaded one that the kids could have their lunch at and take a break from running around. After we played and had lunch at the playground, we went on the little half mile ish trail behind the info center. It was mostly flat and very easy for the kids. The hit was definitely the bridge that goes over a large pond where we were able to spot several turtles, tadpoles, ducks, etc. We didn't pay attention to the time and missed out on going inside of the info center (it closes at 2) so that will be on the list for next time as well. Overall such a cute little spot that we'll I'm sure we'll hit up several times this summer!

Chambers Creek Regional Park is one of my favorite places throughout the year. They have a wide…read morerange of activities at this park, such as golfing, biking, skateboarding, walking, running, picnicking, kite flying, and beer festivals. There's a pretty lengthy trail close to the street that also leads to the Chambers Bay Grill. At the grill, they host special events, weddings, and personal celebrations. The Grill has an average set of drinks on tap and a pretty decent food menu as well as outdoor seating for those who want to continue to take in the breathtaking views around the park. Additionally, there are several strategically placed Scenic Overlook/viewpoint areas where you can sit, take in a magnificent view of the sound and landscape of the golf course. I usually come here at least 2-3 times a month to walk down the steep decline to the golf course area/trail over to a bridge that extends slightly into the sound. Here is my meditative space - somewhere I can go for some quiet reflection.

If you're looking for a park with tons of space and amazing views, you've found it here! Chambers…read moreCreek is HUGE! It's an old sand and gravel quarry turned golf course and park. I didn't see any playgrounds or splash pads while we were there but if you're hosting a picnic, BBQ or want to set up a volleyball net and have a tournament, this is a great place to do that. Mostly, I think that this park is best for folks who like to walk, run or jog a lot. They have a path along the road at the top of the park with some stunning views of water and Olympic peninsula from that path. The park has multiple walking paths with different levels of difficulty so I'm sure you'll find one to suit your needs. At the bottom of the park is some huge grassy areas that stretch a few acres right up to the water and it's a great place if you like to watch trains go by. They have at least one covered gathering place that you can rent and they can set up temporary tents if you need to rent space for your event. The park staff is friendly and always keeping an eye on things from their little offroad vehicles. They offer you extra trash bags if you've rented a space and they keep the park feeling safe and secure. I don't know much about golf, but the Chambers Creek golf course intertwines with the park so if you're a golfer, you can check it out. I hope to visit this park in the future and see what else I may be able to find. Until then, Cheers!

Jefferson Park is a lovely green space for the neighborhood! There's a nice little playground and…read moresplash park for the kiddos; some good walking areas; tennis, baseball, and basketball courts; and a huge green space area - the only limit is your imagination! I mostly ended up here because I heard that the sequoia tree is the largest outside of Cali (trunk measured from chest height). I don't know if that's actually true, but it's a really lovely tree and I found a Monkeyshine, which makes it even better! This is a great place to stop by to get some fresh air!

Jefferson Park is a nice, large park for this area of Tacoma. It's sort of near the Proctor area…read moreand I can tell that lots of the neighborhood kids come here to play. I've been here a couple times... despite living fairly close to it but I usually prefer the parks on the waterfront more. I participate in the Tacoma Rocks movement which is a group of people in town which paint and decorate parks all year around and hide them in Easter egg fashion for kids and adults to find... and hopefully to rehide but if they love them it's fine to keep. You don't have to stick just to rocks and this past Easter weekend I hid rubber Easter ducks for kids to find in this park as well as painted rocks. I announced in the group on Facebook and could tell that the rocks and ducks were found quickly from the response I got. There are lots of nooks and crannies to hide stuff like this in this park which makes it fun. During monkeyshine season which is around Chinese New Year some people in the community hide handmade glass orbs. I'd love to find one of those... maybe someday in this park?

The park it self is pretty nice and right next to Manitou elementary. The playground equipment is…read morebrand new and it includes swings, two play structures, climbing rocks, and other fun things that children can explore. The park is also very large with plenty of grass, trees for shade, picnic tables, covered eating areas, and restrooms. This really is an ideal place to spend a few hours letting the little ones get some exercise and have a picnic if you wish. So why only a three stars you ask? The neighborhood is AWFUL!!!! It is full of rift rafts who congregate at this park at all hours. During the day your likely to run into teenagers skipping from near by high school and middle school and occasionally you get a few tweekers who lay on the benches or sit on the playground equipment talking to themselves. The teenagers are the worst of the bunch, they come to smoke cigs and be as vulgar as possible. They also use the equipment for drawing inappropriate pictures on as well as their own personal toilet (I have seen this more then once). It's really a shame cause like I stated earlier this is a great park that is just suffering because it is being overrun by delinquents.

We really like this park. It's a perfect place to throw out a blanket and read a book. Or let…read moreyour kids run around on the playground. Well kept and clean.

Park has undergone a major update Zip line, numerous slides…read moreand the best climbing I've seen in any park One of the best I've seen. Only setback is no splash park

Cirque Park is a decent city University Place city park... especially if you are coming out of…read moreTacoma and looking for a park that is relatively nice and has at least some amenities to it. There is a nice array of playground equipment should you have children and want to have them go about some exercise while the adults have brief moments of peace. The restrooms are unlocked and usable. I can't say that is very much the case with Tacoma's parks and knowing what that can involve by being open all of the time in that town and being familiar with the reputation that comes with that city should make sense as to why. Also there is recycling options here where yo can take glass to have recycled which is nice as not many parks have this option. I say this because glass pickup no longer happens in Tacoma from the curbside so you have to go to a park or area that has a designated drop off. So that is a nice amenity as well when going to Cirque Park.

Cute park and set in the spirit of a food forest in which when the apples are ripe you can pick…read moresome. A few apple trees have signs on them asking you not to pick them as each tree is cared for locally which gives them the discretion for this I imagine. There is fun statues and signs going over the history of the park. There is even a small stage where concerts are held. Even if the apples aren't ripe for picking it's still a great park to stroll through.

The neatest little community apple orchard that has been around for a long time. The area is large…read morebut filled with trees spread over the hilly park. Excellent scenery and easy parking. A very good place for a picnic lunch or short walk.