Maple Park — Attraction in Oak Park

Recent (2016) renovations made what I'm sure will be great improvements to the fields, paths and sightlines. The playground was moved south, and closer to the restrooms is a plus. Other positives include the spongy rubber surface and covered area north of the playground. However, a major fail is in safety for little ones--fencing is too short and inadequate to keep little runners inside the playground while a minder has eyes on another child. Another major mistake was moving the playground into the sun--shaded playground space was already at a premium in OP, and the old Maple Park was great for that. These things could have been easily fixed during planning with community input. Also, PDOP replaced some unique and very interesting playground equipment at Maple with stuff that's much more ho-hum. An opportunity to improve the Maple playground experience was...

The park was busy today so I was not able to get any photos of the playground without being the creepy guy taking pictures of kids. Instead, this was a quiet spot to rest after fighting much of the Chicago traffic, park the van for a bit and then eat my lunch from one of the benches in the park.

The park is three blocks long but quite narrow. There are walking paths, a soccer field, tennis courts, baseball fields and a fenced dog park at the north end. Nicely shaded and with plenty of places to sit.

Note that Harlem Avenue is a major thoroughfare complete with buses. There is little Fencing or gates between the park and the road so be aware of people...

Have a picnic, meditate under a tree, walk your pet, go for a jog around the park, play checkers on the built in tables and benches nearby the cushioned-floor kid's play area, bring your own equipment and play a game or two of volleyball, soccer or pretty much any sport with a ball, have a seat on one of several benches spread throughout the park for a moment of reflection, read that one last chapter in that book you've been meaning to finish or write in your journal while enjoying the outdoor breeze. All of this and so much more can be enjoyed here. A park I'll visit again & again to rest my mind and enjoy...