Before Christmas we headed to the newly opened Abbotts Creek Park, which is adjacent to Abbotts Creek Community Center and Abbotts Creek Elementary School. Abbotts Creek Park is located in northeast Raleigh at 9950 Durant Rd, just down the road from North Wake Landfill.
The playground area is fenced-in and has brightly colored play features similar to the playgrounds at Greystone Community Center, Hill Street Park, and Powell Drive Park. The smaller age playground features a slide, climbing ropes, and a planet-like climb-through structure. Just a few steps away is the older age playground which features several connected rope climbing structures, climb-through rings, bouncy stepping stones, a tall slide, and a spinner. The park also has a few benches, tot swings, regular swings, and shade canopies.
Outside the playground is a large concrete area with a large painted circle (presumably for playground games), four 100-yd dash lanes, a large grassy area, and rear access to the community center and elementary school play areas around the corner. The outside spaces have lots of room to hopefully add picnic tables in the future.
We spent over an hour on the playground where the girls imagined treasure hunts, pretended the rubberized surface was hot lava, and hid in the castle (aka the top of the tall slide). We couldn’t visit the community center because it was closed while we were there, but according to the City of Raleigh website it features a, “two story community center houses a gymnasium with a real wood floor, fitness room, multipurpose classrooms, a fitness studio, lockers and dressing rooms, and office areas.” Even though it’s a small playground area, there’s a lot to do; but if you run out of fun here be sure to visit Durant Nature Preserve or North Wake Landfill District Park down the street.
Thumbs up: shade tarps for hot days, easy access, brightly colored play structure with interesting rope climbing features
Thumbs down: nothing to report
Before preschool started, we headed to Powell Drive Park to check out the playground renovations finished earlier this year. I 
The ages 2-5 playground features bright neon colors with two small ladders, musical drums, slide, tunnel, water/sand table and stepping stones. The playground’s height is short, making it the perfect size for early explorers. Nearby is the ages 5-12 playground with a large spider web rope climbing ladder, curved metal ladder, and tall slide. The big girls loved climbing to the top of the spider web rope and everyone squealed in delight while being pushed on the large, oval swing. The old tennis courts and basketball courts are adjacent to the playground area. There are some large shade trees near the tot swings, but little shade around the ages 2-5 playground. A few benches surround the perimeter of the play area and several moms with small babes had the right idea by bringing a breakfast picnic to the park!
We took advantage of another clear, sunny day this winter and stumbled upon Hill Street Park in east Raleigh. Never having been there before we set off with hopes of having a picnic after burning some energy on the playground and that’s exactly what we did!
After a lot of running around we picnicked on the nearby benches by the playground. The playground has little morning light so we huddled on a lone sunny bench to stay warm. We had the park to ourselves this particular weekday morning and look forward to sharing this hidden gem with friends next time!
This Fall, we visited Bill’s parents in Howard County, MD and made a morning trip to the nearby Western Regional Park. Western Regional Park is located at 
After exhausting our climbing skills, we explored the nearby paved trail in search for the other playground. At the end of our short walk we saw a large lighted multipurpose artificial turf field with field hockey, soccer and football goals, a large open field, small mobile concessions, fenced-in basketball, community center, baseball fields, a line of porta-johns, tennis courts, and a playground. Unfortunately the playground was being resurfaced while we were there so it was closed, but looked like it offered a lot for all ages and was fenced in! The multipurpose field conditions were pristine – the grass was a luscious green color and very well maintained. Another interesting feature of this park is the natural area preserved next to the sports fields; I imagine the spectators enjoy some depth to the typically flat parks.
There’s also a separate smaller basketball art sculpture for the younger kids. The girls had such fun shooting baskets and watching the ball spiral down the ramp. If you forget your basketball or don’t have one, the friendly staff at the community center will let your borrow their ball.
The playground area has two playgrounds – one for ages 2-5 and one for ages 5-12 with a large oak tree and mulched area in between that provided great morning shade for the smaller-age playground. The smaller-age playground has a rubber surface with two tot swings, ladders, climbing structures, one slide, and some fine motor twisty toys and noise makers. The age 5-12 playground also has a rubber surface with several climbing structures, rope ladders, monkey bars, a slide without side rails, and two regular swings. A big hit for the kids was also the stationary board with pretend car gauges and noises.
In addition to the community center and playground, this park also has outdoor full court basketball with nearby benches, a large fenced-in open field for soccer and baseball (and a poor attempt at kite flying), and great views of the freight trains coming and going. Combine this park visit with a trip to Tyler’s Taproom or Bad Daddy’s in Seaboard Station and you’ve got a pretty fantastic outing!
The 2-5 age group playground is a short walk from the bigger playground. It has a fun climbing wall, a few slides, twisty toys, the dreaded butterfly shaped ladder which is too young for a 2-year old in my opinion, a seesaw, tot swings, and bongos.
