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

Ridiculous I drove my two sons down here and my husband to go swimming. I did not have a bathing…read moresuit with me so I was going to sit and watch them while they swim. I looked on their website. There's nothing that mentions that you cannot watch without a ticket. It's just a basic swimming pool with some waves in it. I was told I would not be allowed in unless I paid the $10 ticket. This could easily be solved by having a wristband that shows who's watching and who's participating. The lady at the desk was incredibly rude and said no you're wrong. It's two adults you're paying for and I told her again that I just wanted to watch. She said you can't go and watch without a ticket that you have to pay for. Why would I want to pay the same fee as my husband just to go in and sit?

This place is pretty cool and a great place to spend a day with some young relatives. It has a…read moreplayground, small spray park, ice cream/concession stand and a community pool. The parking lot shares space with a police substation so it feels really safe and everything seems really clean and nicely upkept. The park appears much larger on the map than I have checked out and appears to include a skate park as well. There are tables available to enjoy a picnic, or to simply sit while you watch children enjoy the playground. I did find the spray area to be a little underwhelming, but the playground equipment seemed newer and unique. The pool is a very good reason to come to this location. They are currently doing limited sessions due to lifeguard shortage, but its only 7$ for 2 hours. Best of all the wave pool is heated and feels amazing on a hot day. There are some water squirting things and one of those large buckets that dump water on everyone's heads. Lifejackets are available for use. On the day I visited there was plenty of room for everyone to occupy a table or lounger. It appears that the grassy hill next to the wave pool is a good location to set up and bring your own chairs, blankets, etc. There's a 1 ft wading pool that I mistook for a hot tub and was a little disappointed by, but likely great for smaller children. I also really liked that they have children complete swim tests and give them a bracelet to tell others what areas of the pool they are allowed to be in. My 7 yr old nephew insisted he could swim, but it was nice to have someone official reinforce that he needed to stay with adults or before a certain point.

My family and I are so happy to have stumbled on this gem just in our neighborhood!! Both times…read morewe've gone there it was never too busy (which is a huge plus). The playground is awesome and looks pretty new, the splash park is a great addition on a hot summer day. Not only is there a fun playground for the kids, there is a large field for other sports like soccer, baseball, etc. Will deff be going back.

We really like this park!…read more It does not have much parking, there are about 2 spots in the back of the main lot, and 4-5 spots along the side of the Center. So if you want to do a picnic or haul a long large amounts of gear, get there early. We love the Splash park, it is very new and well maintained, also the park does not get that busy? (I wonder if people think only members can use it? I'm not sure.) Also the playground toys are pretty interesting and unique. Restrooms also look pretty new!

What an excellent find! Must be fairly new within the last couple years? Superbly designed with…read morenicer, soft, long Astro Turf, wood chips, a sand pit for playing, and many other fun features. Lots of friends to find as well. Next trip I will try to take some better pictures of the place w/o my daughter and granddaughter .

This is a really great park with a good sized turf playground for kids to run around, play and…read moreexplore. There is a sandpit area that always has community toys left over incase you forget to bring your own. A walking trail around the park as well. Parking here is easy and there's 2 different lots with a lot of spaces. The slides can be slippery i've seen babies go down and hit their heads or kids who are wearing certain kinds of material that make them slide insanely fast so definitely keep this in mind if you have babies/toddlers. Public restrooms here as well that are always clean and neat the times i've been. All in all - my family and I love coming to this awesome park!

Steel Lake, connected to Steel Lake Park in Federal Way, Washington, is one of the most popular and…read moreaccessible lakes in the area. It's a wonderful community destination because it's easy to reach, and both the park and lake are generally kept clean, attractive, and well maintained. Like many popular recreation areas, the lake can become quite busy on warm days and weekends, and occasionally some litter is left behind. What I appreciate is that by the next morning the area is often cleaned up again thanks to the hard work of park staff and community members who help keep the park looking its best. One of my favorite things about Steel Lake is that it is stocked with trout once or twice each year, providing great fishing opportunities throughout much of the season. Visitors come here to fish, swim, kayak, paddleboard, and enjoy boating, with only battery-powered motors permitted on the lake. Overall, Steel Lake is a fantastic local resource that offers something for everyone and remains one of the best places in the area to spend a relaxing day outdoors.

So much to do and so much fun activities for the kids!!…read more They fixed the playground so there were additional games the kids can do. The best part is you can visit their website and you can check if the water is okay for the kids to play with . There's usually an update regarding if you can swim and such. The only thing I'm worried about is when there is no one there to facilitate the other kids swimming, because I noticed there were lots of kids who goes there without their parents or guardians. The cops do come around for their rounds sometimes, but not all the time . I always have my eyes on my kids because there were sooooooo many people and soo many kids during school break holidays and I can't even imagine summer break. If you want to entertain your kids for hours bring them here and just have a picnic and enjoy the sand with the kids. Don't forget the shovel and bucket though lol.

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!

As a mom of three, I'm always on the hunt for a good playground/park. The Fircrest Tot-Lot was…read morerecommended by one of my best friends as she regularly takes her toddler here, so we met up to let the kids play one day. The biggest draw to this place is that the park is fully fenced in. If you have a runner, they can only get as far as the fence (as long as they don't know how to unlock it!) My kids aren't runners, but I like knowing that I can see anybody who is coming and going from the park at all times at the one entrance. The playground equipment is decent. I'd say it's geared towards kids who are little older (3+) as my two year old at the time was much too small and timid to attempt going on any of it. They had swings as well and some climbing structures which she was really interested in. The interesting thing about this park is that they have a ton of random toys strewn across the park. Riding toys, building toys, music toys... I'm assuming people come and donate them and just leave them, because there was no rhyme or reason and kids were just going at them like a free for all. Some of them were in iffy condition, but they didn't mind too much. All in all, it's a good little park! Definitely worth the stop if you're looking for safe, fun park in Fircrest.

I really enjoyed spending the afternoon at this park with my 5 year old. The park is fully fenced…read morein with restrooms and benches/picnic tables throughout to sit on. There's 2 main play structures, swings, tricycles and scooters to ride on and more. I was worried that this park would be totally geared toward the 3 and under crowd hence the name, but it's perfect for babies/toddlers/and older kids under 12. We spent 2 hours here and my kid had a blast. Street parking also, but very easy to find.

I like how it's enclosed & small but has a good variety of things for the kids to play on!read more

Super nice playground!! Lots to do, and it looks pretty new!! The turf is nice and cool, there's a…read morelittle "baby" area, and bathrooms right next to the play equipment. There's also a cool splash pad area but it wasn't on when were here (early Sept 2022) Definitely recommend for crawling babies all the way through older kids. There's so much to do, and tons of space. Also LOTS of picnic tables, although not a ton of shade

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!