Hills West Park

This is our neighborhood park, so we visit it quite a bit, even though it isn’t wheel friendly. It’s in a quiet area, and the only streets that come right up to the park are cul-de-sacs. It’s not fenced, but it might still be an ok park if your kid is a runner as long as you keep your eyes peeled and you’re fast enough to catch them. There is a curb/step down into the play area that is particularly unfriendly to wheeled mobility devices of all kinds. We don’t even bring her walker when we go to this park, we usually push her stroller up to the curb and then carry M or hold her hands if she wants to walk.

Big kid playground: yes
Little kid playground: small slide and small steps integrated with the single large play structure
Swings: big kid and baby swings
Musical toys: no
Bathrooms: no
Paved walkways: no (the whole park is grass except for the mulched play area)
Playground surface: mulch
Adult seating: one picnic bench
Shade: yes, not over all the play area but at least some part will be in the shade much of the day
Climbing wall: yes, big plastic “rock” without protruding handholds
Fence: no
Parking: street

Claybell Park

Claybell has some of the most ADA friendly play equipment in the area, such as a rocker/swing that a wheelchair could be rolled up to. Unfortunately the ADA equipment and the more traditional play equipment (such as M’s favorite, the baby swings, and also the slides) are a significant distance apart, too far for M to walk from one to the other. In order to take advantage of both areas we have to get in the car and drive from one to the other, or carry both M and her walker, which is cumbersome.

Big kid playground: yes

Little kid playground: smaller slide on the big play structure and the freestanding play elements are appropriate for smaller kids, but no separate toddler play area.

Swings: big kid, baby, horizontal tire, large plastic disk swing all available, also a plastic seated “merry go round” toy

Musical toys: yes

Bathrooms: yes

Paved walkways: yes

Playground surface: soft rubberized and astroturf

Adult seating: yes

Shade: some on the periphery but not on either play area

Climbing wall: yes

Fence: no

Parking: lot with several ADA spaces near the ADA playground, but street parking only near the regular play area. Some of the street parking spots are shaded.

Barth Park

This recently renovated park in a residential area of Richland is billed as being especially toddler friendly. I like a lot of the features but there are a few things I wish were different.

Playground: several pieces of equipment all marked for children ages 2-5.
Swings: two standard swings, one standard swing set low to the ground (a tall 3 year old might be able to put his feet on the ground sitting on this swing) and two full-support swings with rigid plastic harnesses, marked for children aged 2-5. No standard baby/toddler swings. M, who is small for her age, absolutely hated the full-support swings because the chest piece for the harness was right in front of her face. They’re great for a big 3 or 4 year old who can’t use a regular swing but I wish they had only one of those, and one regular baby swing.
Musical toys: drums, mounted too high for my short 2 year old to reach by herself.
Bathrooms: no
Paved walkways: yes, though only in the park—there is no sidewalk on the street outside the park, just gravel between the street and the fence.
Playground surface: soft rubberized
Adult seating: no
Shade: yes, off to the side, not on the playground area
Climbing wall: climbing handholds over a plastic “rock” tunnel (incidentally, the tunnel is big enough for M to walk through in her walker)
Fence: yes. There are two opening with no gates and one with a gate, but otherwise the park is fully fenced. One of the openings is obscured from view from the playground area by trees.
Parking: parallel parking on the street.

A local news station recently did a piece on this park: Richland’s First Toddler Friendly Park

Photo from Richland Washington Playgrounds on Facebook

Howard Amon Park

Howard Amon Park in downtown Richland is one of our favorite stops. In summer there is a concession stand with snacks and ice cream. Because it's a large park beside the river, there are usually lots of birds, squirrels, and people walking their dogs--awesome for kids who like to watch animals.

Features:

Big kid playground: yes, with ramps
Little kid playground: yes
Swings: both big kid and toddler swings, also a zipline
Musical toys: yes, though many will be too tall for a small child or child in a wheelchair
Bathrooms: yes
Paved walkways: yes
Playground surface: mulch, sand/dirt in some areas, soft surface under the zipline
Adult seating: plenty of benches, many of which swing
Shade: yes. Toddler swings are in the shade in the morning during the summer months.
Climbing wall: yes
Fence: no
Parking: lot. A few ADA spots available.

Howard Amon Park also has a wading pool which is open during the summer months.

Introduction

My pseudonym is Jane, and I live in the Tri-Cities area of Washington State. My daughter, M, is two and a half years old at the beginning of this blog, and has mild/moderate cerebral palsy that primarily affects her gross motor skills. Right now she doesn't crawl very much and can't pull to stand on her own, but she can walk with a walker. She LOVES to be outside, and playing on swings and slides.. This blog will offer reviews and information about local playgrounds, particularly those with ADA features. I can't address a park's suitability for every child, but I will mention features as I notice them and I hope this information will be helpful to other families who live or visit here.

I might occasionally feature other places we visit when we travel.