Lyon Park

I want to like this park more but there are too many things that make me feel uncomfortable. The «caterpillar» playground will be the first thing that catches your eye. Perfect for younger kids with their low «ropes» options and swings a step away. Walk down the trail a bit and you’ll run into a covered picnic area, bathrooms with water fountains, two basketball courts, and while not lit, they do look well maintained. Across a tiny creek and bridge you’ll finally run into a large baseball field. I know it all sounds great and while parts of the park look great, I don’t think the location makes for the safest children’s spot. The park is located in a residential neighborhood, however it divides Lakewood (a lower-​income neighborhood) from the backside Forest Hills (a higher income neighborhood). On a Monday afternoon around noon, the parking lot was empty, and I’ve rarely seen people here. However, evidence around the basketball court (empty beer cases, bottles, boxers even) prove that it’s well used. I’m not an expert with bullet holes, but it also looks like several holes are in the door of the woman’s bathroom and even a park sign. YIKES! Having already had a run-​in with a shooting down the street at Forest Hills Park, seeing this didn’t give me the desire to rush back. It really just puts a knot in my stomach, knowing that the city has put money into making this a desirable park, and seeing first hand that something dangerous has gone down here, where children are encouraged to play. If you do choose to head to Lyon Park, be alert to who is surrounding you and come in full daylight!

This park is great but it is a bit off the beaten path, well I guess not really for most people but it is from the route that I normally travel. One thing I find interesting about this park is that it is basically split into two sections that you would almost think are two different parks instead of one. The southern half of the park features a basketball court (2 court layout, picnic tables) and a weird sort of playground. You have to see it to understand what I mean. Its far from your traditional playground but its still pretty cool.
Sadly the park has been abused and does have a good amount of trash laying about and even more of it in the nearby stream. As a result of the abuse the bathrooms near the play ground are almost always locked and the drinking fountains don’t work.
On the plus side a BSA Venturing Crew (Crew 505) has just recently adopted the park so with any luck the park will start to get cleaned up and better taken care of.