Wilshire Park — Attraction in Portland

We went to Wilshire Park for a pop-up toddler concert and we’re pretty overwhelmed how bustling this place was. It honestly felt like I stepped into pre-pandemic playground times.

The park itself gets a 5/5 but the COVID-safety element makes me give this a 3/5 for the tim being.

The playground was swamped with about 50-60 people, maybe more, including a group of about 10 kiddos with their daycare. Being a mama of an adventurous 2 year old and 10 month old baby, it was difficult to look after my toddler while caring for my baby because of the amount of people and kids running out. I felt frantic the entire time. Beside the playground was a large gathering of adults taking a class or workshop, probably about 40-50 folks crammed closely next to the main building with restrooms. And on the other side of that building was a circle of about 20-30 musicians having a bluegrass circle. Additionally there’s a kiddo’s music class that was there with about 10 blankets of families.

I love that everyone wants to gather more safely by doing so outdoors, but the sheer volume of gatherings happening simultaneously doesn’t feel very COVID-safe and was overwhelming for me. I definitely won’t return here until after the pandemic.

As for facilities, the playground is large and has 2 big kid and and 2 toddler swings, see saws, a big kid climbing structure, a very tall slide, a double tiered sandbox with donated trucks and toys for kiddos to share, along with a designated playground with climbing structure, bouncers a playhouse and climber shaped like a vehicle for toddlers and little kids. There’s a big packed gravel trail that loops around the park and an...

Great park, but always room for improvement. General: This park has a great soccer and two baseball fields. The playground is pretty good and has options for all ages and abilities. Rain coverage options is available but small. Good for wall ball and small parties. It has a dog park which might help keep the park clean and safe. There are a number of picnic tables and benches, unused/broken? water feature, and horseshoes. One of the best features is the bark laden walking trail around the perimeter.

Access / WC access is adequate but not ideal (Harper's playground sets the bar pretty high). I'm hoping the community will come together and support accessible and fun playground equipment incorporating swinging and climbing especially.

Sensory considerations: Wilshire park (at the time of this post) has one of the few, and increasingly rare, merry go rounds. It also has quite a few slide and swing options. There are a couple different swing sets of varying height and two tire swings which can really get moving/spinning.

A turf field would be nice too.... feel free to contact me if you're interested/motivated to make...

This was one of my favorite childhood parks. There is a dog park, bathrooms, playground, picnic tables, and sports field.

The playground is a combination of older structure as well as a newer playground addition. There are some logs and large rocks that create a bit of nature play. It was very clean and we'll maintained, saw no signs of homeless or vandalism (as of July 2022).

Lots of kids with parents, very busy at the playground with mostly younger kids.

There are lots of trucks and toys available in the sand area.

The park is super level and some paths are paved, others are gravel/bark chip. I think it's a great park for young bike riders.

Tall trees cover most of the park providing lots of shade.

Parking is all on the street, however I have never had trouble finding parking (on week days, weekends might be busier during...