Castledowns YMCA Splashpark

Great summer park for the kids. A large basketball court, skateboard area, playground, water park and even a toddler area for the tiniest of kids!
This park doesnt have any sand in the big kiddie park. Just the rubberized mats which is alot cleaner than sand. The kiddie park has sand which kids love getting all over them.
I really enjoy the little water playground for kids that opens up may-​september. Its alot of fun. This park can keep any kid happily entertained for hours. For the wee ones theres a seperated baby playground. Then theres one for larger kids and even adults. The waterpark has lots of guns to spray people. For the teens theres a basketball court and a skate park. It is quite extensive and large. With skateboarders and bikers sharing the space.
Only downside. No washrooms. You have to walk to the actual ymca to do your business. Theres also a mcdonalds or macs nearby or even a sobeys to pick up snacks for your free fun day at the park. Minus a star for that.
This park is always busy. Its one of the largest in castledowns. So you can stay longer and be entertained. My kid grew up here playing. Theres a few picnic tables and seats to sit at. But they are taken pretty quick on a hot day.

This place supplies a whole day of entertainment for the whole family.
The park is divided into several different sections.
— One of the biggest structure is a pirate ship with lots of slides.
–There is an even larger play structure with more slides climbing ladders, and lots of extras to keep the kids busy.
–Off to the side is a smaller bit with structures that challenge your balance and strength.
— A large sand pit with a smaller slides and a water feature. With a nearby stationary firetruck and spinning chiars. This area is more suitable for toddlers but the water feature draws in older kids as well.
— A very large splash park pad with lots of different water sprayers. Some of which are interactive.
— A large gazebo that is used for events
— Finally a huge skateboard park. Not something my kids are into so I can’t really comment on the quality of this feature but it always seems to be busy.
With all these different play areas it is very easy to lose track of your kids. This can make it a stressful situation for parents supervising multiple younger children. If this is you I would suggest coming with friends so you can have more eyes around the entire park or just bring your spouse or a babysitter.
During the warmer months there is usually an ice cream truck parked out front and sometimes on busier days there is also a mediocre food truck that comes out. But since it is a city park it’s probably best to bring your own snacks in a cooler.
Also if staying for an extended period I would suggest bringing some kind of sun shade as shade is in limited supply close to the park. You can set yourself up in the shade of a tree in the feild. Of coarse this is further out from the park so not idealic if you have younger children.
When I take the kids to this park we usually make a day of it and invite friends and family to join us. On summer holidays the park usually has special activities going on. There is also green shack program which is open on regular days as well.
I like that there is a washroom with running water available that also doubles as a change room.
Draw backs include.:
— parking lot can be to small especially on weekends and holidays.
— the park is huge making it easy to loose track of your kids. Especially if they are smaller

Gets overtly crowded on hot days. Need way more parking and tables for people. The splash park part could use a few more features. The amount of people there on a hot day if the splash park section was extended Times two it would still be a little crowded. There in a huge area there’s lodes of space they could make more parking and a bigger splash park.

I love that the park is always busy, but big enough to accommodate. The daycares in the area use this park, and my kid loves tagging along and joining in on all the fun. Its always clean, people working the park are there quite often, and I’m really impressed with how modern playground equipment tries to make safety key.

Now this is a really, really fun park! It’s a bit of a drive up to Castledowns from where I (and my nephews) live, but I would certainly make the drive to watch them play the afternoon away in this park. With one of the best spray/​splash parks in the capital area, as well as having lots of green-​space. I can see why it is so popular. I also really love that this is a stop for food trucks to come, as not all of us remember to pack a lunch — and I just really love ice cream!

This location has it all. A great splashpark, playground & a skate park. It’s awesome for accommodating a variety of ages as well as interests. There are onsite washrooms with flush toilets which is a huge plus for any park location!
There are lots of picnic tables and trees for shade if the sun gets to be too much for you. & of course the ice cream truck makes regular stops and today there is a fries truck too (it’s nearing lunchtime). A

Came to the Castle Downs Spray Park today as part of my Unilocal quest to find the best of the best spray and splash parks in and around Edmonton.
Castle Downs comes in at a strong 4 out of 5 stars. Today was a jam packed Sunday afternoon with so very many options including multiple playgrounds, giant gazebo, skatepark, 2 food trucks — ice cream and a Poutine/​burger/​fry truck, and the city of Edmonton Green Shack peeps.
The Spray park had several zones including a musical piano, spray cannons, and loops of water you can run through.
PROS
Multiple water and playground zones –something for everyone
Washrooms
Food trucks
Green shacks
Huge grass fields/​hills surrounding park
Ample parking lot
City of Edmonton Staff
Rubber ground for majority of spray park and playground
Lots of swings
CONS
Too big! So big that it was easy to lose track of my toddler even while playing with him on the playground and in the spray park
Zones are not fenced in so if you lose track of your child, they could go missing quickly or wander to the parking lot/​road.
Close proximity of townhomes attached to the backing grass, again not fenced off, would also make it easy for a child to wander to a residential area. Some people may be thinking, hey watch you kid (s) and yes BUT if you are here with several children (especially toddlers) we all know how fast one can run off while attending to another child.
The water cannons shoot water hard enough to nearly knock my toddler off his feet — good for BIG kids but not so great for my toddler and kindergartner
Lack of shade — lots of people set their chairs up against the washroom building to try and find shade
Very few benches/​picnic tables
In summary, Castle Downs park has loads of amenities and lots of space but so much so that it felt overwhelming at times and difficult to keep track of little ones.
If you have a big kid that doesn’t require sight and sound supervision, this may be the park for you! But if you’re like me with a toddler and little kid, this park was a little too much for us coupled with a lack of shade or fenced in areas resulting in a solid 4 out of 5 stars.
PS — If you are planning on coming here with little ones under 5 — I’d recommend a 1:1 ratio of supervision to toddlers :-)