My cousin is on a mission to find the best parks in the KC metro and had this one her list. So, one…read moreSaturday after dance class we made the trek (and it is a bit more of a trek from OP than I was expecting!) out to Wilder Bluff Park, and I have to say, this is a pretty great spot to bring the kids. I got the feeling that it's still a bit of a hidden gem, probably because it's in a bit of an out of the way location, because there weren't a ton of cars, and while there were plenty of kids playing, it didn't feel crowded like other parks do on a nice Saturday morning in June. This park boasts a ton of great amenities for kids, and our kids really enjoyed the tree houses that they could climb through, which entertained them for about an hour. There is also a really cool splash playground adjacent to it, which had we known about in advance we may have brought some swim gear so the girls could really enjoy it. The park itself I think is much bigger than just the playground area, as I saw some trails nearby that might would have been fun to explore had we been there longer, or with kids that were eager to walk rather than climb and run! I'll close by adding that this park is new-ish and super well maintained. We used the restrooms and they are really clean for a park. Overall, this park is a gem for the folks that live right around it. I'm sure we'll return on another nice weekend morning when we want a change of pace.

Today I brought my granddaughters to this lovely park. We had our sack lunches under their large…read morecovered picnic area. Then my granddaughters played in the splash park which they thoroughly enjoyed! Afterwards, they tried out all the neat equipment and they especially liked the long rope bridge and sliding down the slide. The park also has a trail and is kept up well and a large parking lot. The bathrooms were clean and overall very nice park. The only thing is I wish there was a little bit more shaded seating for the parents to watch the children during the splash park play.

This park says it's for 5-12 years old but there was a smaller slide and steps that my 2 year old…read moreloved. Swings for older kids and toddlers/babies. The park was very clean. I love the turf too. The best part was that a train passed by on the nearby tracks and my son was SO EXCITED!

A wonderful park, safe area, kid- friendly, an imagination gold mine for my children - from a…read morelarge boulder to climb to a giant spider web, rope apparatus, to a wonderful slide down a hill Plus, there's 2 shelter houses that are lovely for get togethers and kids birthdays.

Such a nice park. They have baseball fields, a nice big playground, walking trails and shelters for…read moreparties. This is a wonderfully maintained park. And they just got done doing maintenance on the play area to keep it safe and playable for the kiddos. The walking trails here are really nice. We walk here frequently. It is very quiet on the trails because it is far away from the baseball diamonds and butts up against farmland on the backside. It's a fun place for the family!!

We went to this wonderful show room to try out all the play sets they have. They have open play for…read more$8 cash or $9 with credit card. They have wonderfully made play sets that are very sturdy and high quality. Our grandson enjoyed trying out all of them and the mini basket ball court and trampolines. I highly recommend for fun and for purchase for a backyard.

When I was a kid growing up we had one of these play systems in our backyard and I remember the day…read moreit was installed all the way up until the day my parents had it removed when I was an adult. The one my parents installed in their backyard in the 90s lasted three kids and over 20 years with regular maintenance. When it came time for us to look into a swingset for our daughters as tempted as I was by the kidcraft DIY ones at Costco, we ended up going with Rainbow simply because the kidcraft wooden playhouse in our backyard has been up for maybe three years and LOOKS it. We were a bit worried about how something we DIY might hold up so we figured we'd pay a bit more and go this route. First of all these things are expensive. There is no way around that. The website always says things are heavily discounted, like it never changes cost and is always on sale, so I think it's just the way they try to get you to pull the trigger - like OH it's not actually 7grand, it's ONLY 2 grand. I'd prefer they just be a bit more transparent on that, but I appreciate that it could be more. Once we were sold on the unit we wanted we decided to make the trek out to Olathe to see it in person and make sure we knew what we were doing. It was April, and honestly we were wanting to move quickly so we could have one installed early in the summer season. There is conflicting information on when they are open online - in some places it says they have hours on Sundays and on others it says they are closed. We couldn't figure out what the case was so we went there and they were closed to the public. The door was open and we thought oh, maybe we could just speak with a sales person but nobody was around so we just went home and ordered the one we wanted online. Now, their website is a bit dated but it worked okay. It was a little scary placing an order this big in this way, but we had no other time to get out to Olathe in the near future and decided it was worth it. Again, IRL would have been better because I would have asked about small add ons like a pirate telescope and baby swing, neither of which you can just add on via their website. At any rate, we made the purchase and a rep from their team was in contact with me by Monday morning which really impressed me! She told me the timeframe we'd be looking at and what to expect next. As the timeframe of 3-5 week delivery creeped into the three week mark I emailed asking about next steps and didn't hear back for several days. The following week I emailed again, and again no response so I called. Calling prompted an email and we got it scheduled and ultimately installed pretty quickly at that point. The installer was SO NICE and so fast. It was insanely impressive how they get these things up quickly. The main thing here is that these are impressive, well made, playsets. The folks working here are very kind, and thoughtful. Sometimes things just move slower than you might want, or you might have to reach out to get questions answered. Would I recommend Rainbow? For sure! Could they turn this into a 5 star experience with a few small tweaks? Absolutely. If you're not me though, learn from me, and go on a Saturday, talk to the sales people and I'm sure you'll have a smoother experience.

Great trail around the lake. Half is paved and the other half is chipped but very walkable terrain…read more In between, you cross the dam, which has a very 'sculptural' design. We stopped at a group of people watching a beaver resting on the spillway. A couple of nice picnic pavilions and (remarkably) clean restrooms have shaded playgrounds for kids. The real treat is a professional-grade Disc Golf course. For the less adventurous or for practice is a second, small course. All in all, a gem of a Lenexa park!

Yesterday I brought my grandkids here to try out this park. We were unable to try out all of it,…read morebut the areas that we did investigate we really enjoyed. I appreciate it that the play areas we went to had partial shade from the alcove of trees. There was a variety of play sets spread out with natural features of tree stumps and such for the kids to climb on. They had a lot of nice walking plaques to explain the walking trail. The golfing disc course was nice because a lot ofit was shaded. We will definitely go back to check out more of it when it is less hot.

This is a great little hike. Scenic with hills and flat areas. Some paths mowed while others are…read moregravel. Saw several deer and some large turtles in the pond and on the paths. We will definitely be back for a couple mile hike.

Okay, so...little bit of a secret. This place has great fishing! It's a wonderful place to spend a…read moreday, if you've got the gumption, a pair of hiking boots, and a lot of time on your hands. You have to hike in for sure, but the pond on property is wonderful: clear, clean, and colorful. There are many picnic tables throughout the reserve, and the wild nature of the place is worth the visit. Quite a few evenings I've stayed longer than the sun was willing to, and found myself walking through the actual prairie at sundown - which I'm not ashamed to say is formidable with the right company. I once witnessed an assault there, but the lady told me it was her brother that did it, so she didn't need any assistance. Barring that, it really is a wild and wonderful place to spend the day. It can get a tad bit crowded on the weekends, and the path can and does get congested, but there is so much to walk that it shouldn't be too much of a problem. There's one spot on the map that gets a little treacherous: a downward sloped and rocky hill, so take it easy down that. But otherwise, it's a myocardial wonderland! Get a good pair of walkin' boots, a camera, and possibly a fishing pole, and get out there!

I have been to Ernie Miller many times over the years and I love this place. I was a little…read moredisappointed on today's visit with my toddler grandson. The staff member was nice who greeted us. And we were actually the only people on the inside of the nature center, so we got to enjoy it in a peaceful environment. There were some field trip kids having event events outside. My grandson enjoyed exploring, but I was disappointed to see that quite a few of the displays were out of order. Also, I had to tell staff that there was a mouse in bird nature viewing area. A child had left a cracker, and apparently a mouse had gotten in was taking advantage of it! But then I went into the newer section with the displays and another mouse ran out and was running around the room towards my grandson. So I think they need to correct this issue before it gets too out of hand. The trails are great and the natural gardens are as well. They have some great programs for the community. I just think that some of the displays need to be fixed and taking care of the pest problem, I'm sure if they let the hawk in there he would handle it! lol

LABEL YOUR TRAILS. Give folks some direction. I had no idea where I was going and ended up on a…read more(much nicer) subdivision's trail. Had to walk in circles three times to find - a port-a-potty. All of the restrooms were closed on a Sunday afternoon. The view of all of the dead trees was "breathtaking." Last time I'm visiting this park. Kansas City, MO actually has their act together.

This is such a lovely hidden park. A wonderful trail that has shade and sun with two bridges. The…read moreplayset is kept up well and is shaded mostly. There is a picnic area with restrooms next to it. Just a nice peaceful park.

Next stop on the endless parade of Mill Creek streamway parks is the Barker access! Like most Mill…read moreCreek streamway parks, this one has top quality jungle gym facilities, a shelter or multiple somewhere, and a restroom full service! The bike path is a continuation through all streamway parks, so you can spend all day on that - which I would remark is a beautiful way to spend an afternoon on a bicycle. The wonderful paving of this path must have cost a fortune! There is ample flat area to do family activities, and reasonable access to the streamway or any number of fishing activities can be underway. I'm really liking this entire streamway Park system throughout the city. Each of these parks is not particularly noteworthy, just a good small Park to enjoy an afternoon. More succinctly however, when considered as a whole unit, I would say this might be the biggest park in the city! Rates are reasonable for renting shelters, and this park particularly - tucked down nicely inside of a valley of sorts - blocks the wind, with an almost estate sort of feel. Very nice indeed!