The Lehigh Valley region has some amazing playgrounds — from the massive, handicapped-accessible Cedar Beach playground in Allentown to Panther Playground with its looming wooden castle and Weona Park with a working carousel.
Here are six that are worth a trip, with comments from when I scouted them when my son was still young enough to appreciate playgrounds.
Cedar Beach playground
Allentown’s Cedar Beach playground is awesome, with equipment that offers everything from interactive electronic games to traditional playground fare such as slides and monkey bars.
The 19,000-square-foot site is one of the largest in the region and is handicapped-accessible. It features equipment for children of all ages, and it has a rubberized surface that helps soften falls as well as to accommodate wheelchairs.
My son’s favorite part is the two interactive Neos stations that incorporate the concept of a video game into playground equipment — a perfect way to get video-game-addicted kids up and moving. Kids tap the flashing lights to earn points as they compete.
A nice thing about this feature is that kids can work together to earn points. Strangers become instant teammates as they run after the rapidly flashing lights.
Another nice aspect of the playground is that a child theoretically could move all around the equipment without touching the ground as he or she traverses rock walls, monkey bars, climbing bars and other climbing apparatus.
A huge spider web of cables in the center drew my son to climb to the top and walk along cables 4 feet off the ground.
A section with a looping, climbing wall was clearly designed for smaller children. Cuplike seats that spin accommodate the smallest kids.
Unusual see-saws are set up so you sit catty-corner from your partner rather than across. A spinning swing holds as many as four kids.
The playground also has seating and a pavilion for shade. The entire playground is fenced for safety. There is a bathroom on-site with water fountains. There is ample parking off Ott Street.
*Cedar Beach playground, Cedar Beach at Hamilton and Ott streets, across from Lake Muhlenberg, Allentown. Open dawn to dusk. Highlights: Neos interactive stations, cable spider web. Amenities: parking lot, restrooms, pavilion.
Weona Park
This Pen Argyl park offers a nice playground that is a mix of wooden structures and newer plastic and steel elements. But it is the carousel that really sets this playground apart.
This carousel, with its colorful animals, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The carousel was made by the Dentzel Carousel Co. of Germantown, and installed in the park in 1923. It has 44 animals and two chariots, all of which are stationary, meaning they don’t go up and down. It is one of only two still existing of the style.
My son always headed right to the carousel, which is in a large, round covered building. It costs $1 to ride.
Animals include a giraffe, reindeer, goats, zebra and, of course, horses. The carousel runs Friday through Sunday.
The playground area features a play unit with a climb-through tube, tube-slide structure and climbing elements, a two-sided rock-climbing wall, another tube slide with monkey bars and a traditional swing set.
The park has a quaint feel with a clock, stone pillars and a stone fountain carved with a horse’s head and engraved with the words, “Nature’s own beverage for man and beast.”
Nearby is a new miniature golf course, a public pool and band shell.
*Weona Park, Route 512, Pen Argyl. Open sunrise to sunset. Highlights: Dentzel carousel that runs Friday through Sunday; Wednesday through Sunday after school closes. Amenities: parking lot, restrooms.
Macungie Memorial Park
This park has more swings than any other park I’ve ever visited. One set of six swings is designed just for toddlers. Two more large swing sets with a total of 14 regular-size swings offer rides for anyone who wants to try to reach the sky.
Macungie Memorial boast two playgrounds — one for older children and the other for younger kids.
Highlights of the larger system are the two tunnel slides. Both are a little imposing for the little ones, and my son had to work up the nerve to slide down the dark tubes, which have sudden drops at the bottom.
You’ll also find an open curved slide, two straight slides, a climbing apparatus that provide challenges and variety of styles of monkey bars.
The smaller unit for younger children has three slides and an interactive tick-tack-toe game.
The park is wonderfully shaded with plenty of mature trees, so there’s no need to worry about sunburn. There are plenty of benches for parents, and nearby restrooms and water fountains.
The adjacent park hosts many events through the year such as the annual Das Awkscht Fescht. We have enjoyed the playground during park events. It’s a nice option when the kids get tired of looking at classic cars.
The park includes a public pool, baseball fields, basketball hoops, volleyball nets, tennis courts, covered pavilions and a band shell.
*Macungie Memorial Park, 50 N. Poplar St., Macungie. Open 9 a.m. to dusk. Highlights: Plentiful swings. Amenities: parking lot, restrooms.
Emmaus Community Park
Emmaus Community Park has a great playground. Like Macungie, the area is surrounded by large trees so it is shady and cooler in the summer. A creek runs nearby.
The playground is large and features a spiral slide, double-straight slides, a curving-tube slide, along with bridges and plenty of climbing structures. A tiny slide lets very small children try a non-scary ride.
One of my son’s favorites has been the bars that allow kids to hang and slide across to the other side. Emmaus has two of these. One slides out and back. It takes a bit of a kick from a child to make it all the way out and back. Fortunately the drop is not that far if they don’t make it all the way.
The other sliding bar goes from one piece of equipment to another, and is a little easier for younger kids. I have seen these at a lot of parks but they often don’t work well. Emmaus’ are kept in good repair and children often line up to use them.
Kids also can hop on a series of mushroom-shaped balance structures that connect two sections of the playground. This was a real challenge for my son, and it helped improve his balance. Also popular is a bouncing bridge. You’ll find two sets of climbing bars and a standard swing set at the park.
The park offers bathrooms, a snack bar, a public pool, baseball fields, picnic pavilions, a basketball court and a nature walking trail.
*Emmaus Community Park, 1401 Shimerville Road, Emmaus. Open sunrise to 9 p.m. Highlights: sliding bars, large play structure in a shady park. Amenities: parking lot, restrooms, covered picnic pavilions.
Panther Playground
Wooden playgrounds were all the rage about 15 years ago when Timber Town in Upper Macungie was the destination playground. However, as concerns grew about the safety of the wood playgrounds, many were removed.
Panther Playground in Quakertown is one of the few that remain, and I am glad to see it’s in good shape. Fresh pieces in the structure show me it is being maintained. The borough says the playground is safe and regularly inspected.
The playground, built to look like a castle, is surrounded by a gate to keep little ones from wandering off.
It features a central area with almost mazelike corridors that go up and a down. My son had a blast exploring these and even had to crawl to get through one section.
The playground has a swinging tire ladder, hanging bridge, metal spiral slide, monkey bars, low balance beams and fire poles.
A section of the playground looks like a train and is designed with equipment for little children, including a short set of monkey bars. A built-in sandbox was a surprise.
One of the nice things about the playground is it is built around a tree, giving it some shade and adding a natural feel. There is plenty of seating for parents.
Nearby, outside the gates of the playground, is a traditional steel and plastic play structure with slides and climbing elements.
The playground is in Quakertown’s Memorial Park, which also offers baseball fields, a baseball stadium, basketball, tennis courts and a volleyball pit. There is a jogging path, bicycle path, pool and library across the street.
*Panther Playground, 600 W. Mill St., Quakertown. Open dawn to dusk. Highlights: Looks like a castle and offers mazes, bridges and other features. Amenities: parking lot, restrooms.
Buck Boyle Spray Park
While there are several places that offer fountains to cool kids on hot days, Allentown’s Buck Boyle takes it to the next level.
Almost like a mini water park, Buck Boyle has fountains but also features city-themed elements that make the spray features really fun: two cars squirt water, and even the smallest kids can sit in them and pretend to drive; a spiral of tubes creates a car wash that kids can stand or run through while being bombarded with jets of mist.
A gas station features pumps that children can use to squirt even more water. The park even has a large water bucket that periodically dumps water on the kids.
A water tower rains yet more water down on kids. Randomly placed fountains offer the usual squirting fun. The entire park is timed so features turn on and off, keeping it interesting for little ones.
Nearby, kids can play on a modern steel playground structure that is shaped like a train; it offers balancing, bouncing and sliding elements. Several other smaller play structures offer rock climbing, a traditional slide and a fireman’s pole.
You’ll find plenty of parking and a pavilion that overlooks the Lehigh River. The park has some trees and shade. But the spray park area is sunny, so bring the sunscreen. A huge plus for my son were the ice cream trucks that make stops at the park on summer days.
*Buck Boyle Spray Park, 10 Pump Place, Allentown. Open noon-7 p.m. Highlights: car and city water features with dumping bucket. Amenities: parking lot, pavilion.
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