Fort Mellon Park

Nice park! $ 2 entry to splashpad?! …should be free, but hey water does cost money as well as maintence, so no complaint there, my daughter enjoyed which is what matters!! Huge playground! I cannot wait to go back!

I just recently moved to Lake Mary and my daughters been begging to go to the park so after seeing the reviews on Fort Mellon Park I decided to take her here. The park itself is okay… I’ve seen much nicer. Being across the street from the lake is absolutely beautiful. The neighborhood we are in is not good. I feel like I’m in the ghetto!!! I made sure to lock my purse up in the trunk because I didn’t feel too secure carrying it around being its just my daughter and I here. I’m going to see if I could find another park in a better area for the next time.

This once impeccable park is stay to show significant wear and tear. Still a great place for the kids to play and have fun.

Came here with my mom before she passed when I first moved to Heathrow. It’s beautiful and has great things to see.

A nice park near downtown Sanford, with splash areas, a playground, basketball courts and a great view of the lake. Free parking on both sides.
There’s also a historical marker that reads:
Fort Mellon Park, 1837 – 1937
To commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the first settlement on the shores of Lake Monroe named Fort Mellon in memory of Captain Charles Mellon who died in defense of the fort: subsequently known as Mellonville and later Sanford.

I would rate this higher if I wasn’t required to pay to supervise my child under age 5 at the splash pad. Skip it and head to Lake Mary splash pad, it’s more interesting and they don’t charge you to watch your own kid.

The playground was cool, lots to choose from and the ground was padded, yet there is hardly any shade and the equipment gets VERY HOT in the Florida sun. Since that was the case we decided to head to the splash pad. I was with my friend and total it ended up being $ 20 to play for all of us since they insisted that the adults and infants who were not even going in the water ALSO had to pay admission for the THREE toddlers to splash a little. I’ve lived in Florida for 10 years and have first NEVER had to pay for a splash pad, much less $ 20. They also insisted that my POTTY TRAINED children wear swim diapers and if I didn’t have any I could buy them for another $ 4… Luckily my friend had a few extra they I could stuff my children into.
The park also rests between two major roads, so while there is plenty of room to run and play, one look away could be big trouble.
I’ve heard great things about this park, but all in all our experience was not super great and I don’t think I will be heading back any time soon. Maybe in the few weeks of winter that we get when the equipment is cooler and we don’t need to play in the water.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a nice park with a lot of space to play, but I don’t always feel comfortable bringing my children down here. There are way too many people here doing so many different things. The basketball courts are overflowing with people waiting to play right next to the playground equipment. I feel as though I can not keep track of where my children are running of to with the number of people and the size of everything. If we go, I make sure I have 1 adult for every 1 child and eyes are always on them. The kids have a good time but I get a bit nervous.

Beautiful place to relax! It’s right on the lake and the afternoons/​evenings are usually pretty quiet and relaxing.
Only reason I gave it 4 stars is because a) love bug season– there’s literally millions around Fort Mellon Park and b) summer mosquito season– it’s right on the lake where they’re the worst!

I visit many parks with my children and Fort Mellon Park is on the top of our list. It is in Sanford which makes for a nice family field trip not too far from Orlando. The location of the park is breathtaking. It is across the street from Lake Monroe near the marina with a beautiful view, local restaurants, the sanford museum and much more, which keeps a cool breeze flowing throughout your visit and makes for a great walk to wind down after playing in the park.
The playground features a huge wooden fort playground constructed with clean and modern materials. There are plenty of slides, crawl areas, hangouts etc. There is also a huge ship style playground with two stories and lots of room for many kids to play simultaneously. In addition there is a number of smaller spring based riding toys attached to the rubber ground.
If you are still not impressed, Fort Mellon Park has a humongous Slash Pad located within the park that is open seasonally for about $ 1 per person.
As a parent, I truly appreciate the attention to shaded sitting & picnic areas located throughout the entire park.
Parking is also always a breeze, there are both metered and free parking spaces surrounding the entire park.
The facilities are always clean and in great condition. The park is attended at all times.
I love this park, my family and I always look forward to a day at Fort Mellon Park.

Spectacular park on the shores Lake Monroe. Great for picnics and kids

This is a great park in Downtown Sanford, right on the lake. You can pull into any parking spot, take a walk along the waterfront, see osprey catching fish, and watch the boats go by. I also like feeding the ducks at the little inland pond.
They also have a huge jungle gym setup, and fountains that always seem to have kids running around. People like to play basketball here into the wee hours of the night.
It’s a well kept up park, and there always seems to be something going on here!

Almost too large of a play structure, it becomes somewhat difficult to monitor the whereabouts of your brood. Very nice facility.

Great place for families and people watchers. There’s BBQ’s covered pavilions, playground, large splash pad area, tennis, basketball courts and jogging area. Across the street is Lake Monroe where you can ride bikes or walk along the water. Lots of people also go fishing right off the lake. We walk or ride bikes down there several times a week. There’s always people out there running, playing, fishing, relaxing, cooking out or whatever you may want to do. Nice place to spend the day and bring a blanket and have a picnic. Low budget full family enjoyment!

This is a pretty decent-​sized park in the heart of downtown Sanford. The main attractions include a large playground and kiddie splash park. They’re relatively crowded, of course, on the weekends and during after school hours. There’s also a large lawn where they hold annual events, such as an Easter egg hunt, tennis and basketball courts and a short fitness trail. The fitness trail is rather low key so it’s used mainly by senior citizens.
The main feature for me, though, is the Sanford River Walk, which is actually across the street. The walk is a 1.1mile trail that runs along side Lake Monroe from 17 – 92 to Mellonville Ave. It’s nice and broad, leaving plenty of room for walkers, joggers and cyclists, though don’t expect people to keep to the right, as they should.
Monument Park is a pier you’ll pass featuring, you guessed it, monuments to all the wars the U.S. has participated in, including lesser knowns like The Barbary Wars, and the names of Sanford area veterans who did not return. There’s also historical markers with concise yet detailed information regarding past events of the Sanford waterfront and, at a few places, remnant pilings of long gone docks that once welcomed ferry boat travellers from Jacksonville as well as various commercial traffic.
There are benches, drinking fountains (which even feature a doggy spout and bowl) and distance markers, making it a great place to exercise. Public bathrooms are located near the splash park and along the way you’ll pass a small coffee shop and pizza parlor, if you need to carbo-​load.
There’s beautiful landscaping along the trail and a few pavilions which have swinging benches and binoculars to view the yachts and boats floating around the lake or the woods of Deltona off in the distance. Check out the top of the colums supporting the pavilions as they feature carvings relevant to the history of Sanford, including celery stalks (Sanford was the celery capital of the world until the 1920’s).
Parking is easy — there’s parallel parking on both sides of the 1.1 mile trek as well as on the south side of the park and a parking lot at Mellonville Ave. If parallel parking scares you (and unless you have one of those new fangled cars that parks itself, it probably does), don’t worry — there’s so much available parking that you never have to worry about wedging your monster truck in between two other monster trucks.
A perk: the trail runs east to west, so if you’re out at sunrise or sunset you can time your jog so as to not face the blinding sun. The earlier mentioned landscaping features plenty of trees for shade, though, so no worries if your timing is off.
One warning, there’s a patch of grass between the walk and lake that’s rather popular with fishermen, so beware whipping fishing poles and bad casting.

Great area to stop and enjoy the lake. You can play in the water fountains or you can enjoy the peacefulness alongside the lake shore.
Best part? Free parking

A great park
by a
cool lake
Fort Mellon Park is a wonderful park that is parked right on the shores of lovely Lake Monroe. It’s not a particular large park but it has lots of cool things jammed into a relatively small space.
It has tons of picnic tables and benches to hang out and enjoy the cool views and paved walking trails in all directions. I’m not sure where the park officially ends but a great walking path goes for quite a ways along the lake. Where lots of cool birds and possibly even a gator or two might be seen.
In the park there are very nice hoop courts, pavilions, a very elaborate playground and nice fitness trail that are available. Even a thing called a splash park for hyperactive kids to burn off some energy and cool off. To the side there is a large open field that people can play football or whatever. Certainly a lot of things to do.
The thing that struck me was how clean everything was. I’m not sure how old the park is but it looks brand new. Nothing broken or crummy looking, and all the equipment is in working order. Even the crappers, which obviously get a lot of use were extremely clean.
A very cool park with lots of things to do and great views of Lake Monroe that just don’t quit. An urban park just doesn’t get much better than this.

Fort Mellon Park is my awesome new discovery that anyone with kids would love. It is in downtown Sanford right along the shores of Lake Monroe. The park is HUGE and has a cool lay out with open green space, basketball courts, a huge playground with big and little kid play areas and our favorite, a SPLASH PARK! There are lots of trees, benches, pavilions and bathrooms too.
The splash park is completely encircled with a fence and has only one way in or out so you can keep track of your kids. It is $ 2 for a wrist band that grants you access to the splash pad. There are lots of little jets that squirt randomly; it is fun just to watch the kids running and squealing and occasionally getting squirted right in the face! The playground is right next to the splash pad (it’s free) and is solidly constructed with many different play elements. One downer was that some of the equipment was roped off (the things the kids sit and bounce on). We were so impressed with the park that we are going to book it for my son’s 3^rd birthday party.
Another thing we really like is that the park is within walking distance of Willow Tree Café, our favorite German restaurant. There is nothing that playing in the sun and water and following it up with some Schnitzel and beer for the grown ups!