Oakley Playground in Deming Park

Despite the bathrooms needing some cleaning, this was a perfect stop for our road trip. Close to the freeway and fun for our young boys. Lots of families.

A jewel in the midst of Deming Park’s lush meadows and woods, surrounded by huge beautiful trees, Oakley Park is a absolute mecca for lovers of playgrounds. Two enormous play structures offer a wide range of activities for kids of all ages, including unique and fun saucer swings, swirly buckets, wiggly bridges, super twist spinners and more.
There are even benches on chains for parents to swing in while watching the kids play.
The playground is just a small part of the wonderfulness that is Deming Park. Beyond, we glimpsed a frisbee course, a mysterious train track, and acres and acres of trees, paths, ponds, pools, and more. Kind of a surprise for a town the size of TH, but the playground was funded by an endowment foundation.
The downsides:
The playground doesn’t seem to be maintained very well. One of the ladders broke (with kid climbing it)
While we were there. The bathrooms were gross, there was an overflowing toilet with water and toilet paper everywhere and no baby changing table in bathroom. We were there on a Sunday and the place was teeming with people. It was so crazy it was hard to keep track of my kids, partly because of how huge the play structure was. On a weekday, things are probably much more low key.
Since this is part of myCross Country Tour of playgrounds list, I’ll add that this is quick and easy to access from the highway, and you’ll pass a few fast food places on your way through town if you want to picnic during your stop.