Oak Grove Park — Attraction in Arlington

Nice shaded park with a very cool, nicely designed and consistently engaging multi-faceted climbing structure for kids of various ages and abilities to enjoy, plus a smaller play area with a more traditional wooden play set for the younger children and/or those seeking calmer, lower key play activity for any reason. A covered picnic area with several tables and benches located right between the two play areas provides excellent visibility for caregivers keeping track of kids playing on both sides and serves as a perfect snack/rest spot or pre/post playtime picnic location. It’s also great for small birthday parties and other gatherings.

Beyond the playground area, the park also offers a full size playing field with soccer nets on each side and even a small four level stand of seats on the far side of the field for viewing games and activities held there by neighborhood sports teams and whatnot.

A very nice paved bike trail loops around the entire park and is perfect for kids to ride, scoot and run around on and maintain a view of the park and their grownups at all times. My kids usually bring bikes or scooters when we go, and then they switch between playing on the playgrounds, riding around the trail, running and playing on the fields, and snacking/hydrating at the picnic tables…and then back through all of those again as many times as they can before it’s time for us to go home.

It’s one of our favorite parks in the area. And there are tons here so that’s...

Park has a single soccer field that kids soccer leagues to share to do their practices.

There's a small gravel trail around the field that is 1/5 mile in distance.

As of October 2017, there is construction going on to add 2 small playgrounds on the N Quincy Street side of the soccer field.

There are no lights in the park, so when it gets dark, you can't see very well.

Parking is the main issue with this park - On the 17th Street entrance of the park, there's a small gravel driveway(maybe 4 cars could park in the space) that I can't tell if it belongs to the home next to the park entrance or is for park visitors. Parking on N Quincy St looks unsafe and probably not allowed. Best bet for parking is probably 15th Street side of the park. There's space for people to park on both sides of the street. Traffic is a bit heavy at times though. There are newly constructed steps on that side...

1.Get reservations. I've done it both ways & reservations make the staff comfortable. Ruthie's All Day is filled with light from massive windows, & is a well designed & appointed restaurant, very much higher end than this part of town usually sports. Twice I've had the brisket sandwich & it doesn't disappoint at all. The bar seems very happily busy & other customers there speak w/o prompting about how much they love the food at Ruthie's. The service is outstanding. The staff are very attentive to the patrons who include young families w/ small children, oldsters & senior citizens, young & old business men & women. You name it & Ruthie's has it all, Even a separated area for moms with small kids...