Hamline and Hague Park (Tot-Lot) — Attraction in Saint Paul

Here's what you need to know: Parking: Off-street Age range (playground): 1+ Sidewalks: Paved to and around play area Seating: Benches around play area Bathrooms: None Picnic tables: None Grills: None Sports field: None

As great as Google Maps is (and it really is great!), it's only as helpful as its users are. We drove to Hamline and Hague Park with high hopes it would be loads of fun. It was, after all, a "tot lot," according to its Google description.

Unfortunately for me, there were very few pictures of it available, so I was mainly banking on my past experiences with other tot lots. It would be well-suited for my kiddos' developmental abilities.

Or, as I found out, not.

We parked off-street on the shady side of the park. There's fancy fencing that surrounds most of the street-side play area and regular chain-link fencing on the far end of the park. I appreciated this aspect, as Zo (17 months) is a pro escapist and I'm slower by the day as baby grows.

There are several parts to Hamline and Hague: a sand pit, little kid playground, big kid playground, and swing set.

The sand pit is every parent's dream: it has sand play equipment and sand toys! As in someone left a myriad of trucks, shovels, and other sand toys for park guests to use.

The little kid playground is the perfect size for walkers looking for a challenge. Zoey could navigate almost every way up the playground (she needed help on the curved ladder) and did that over and over and over (and over).

This playground also has a couple slides to go down, a raised bridge to traverse, and bells to ring.

The big kid playground is just that: for big kids. Madeline (4.5), our ever clever and able kiddo, had trouble crossing a lot of this play area. Titus (3) didn't even try. It's sized for kids who are at least 5 years or older, as it's pretty much exclusively climbing-oriented.

Features of this playground are netting, raised steps, climbing hoops, and monkey bars.

As is the rest of the park (turf floors included), the swing set is in well-used condition. It features a high back swing, baby swing, and some regular swings. Most of the equipment is worn (except for those tricky climbing obstacles on the big kid playground!).

My kiddos spent most of their time in the sand pit (again: Why do kids love sand so much?!). For that reason, I wouldn't be interested in coming back to Hamline and Hague, since I can find a sand box much closer to home (and much more easily!).

Tot lot doesn't describe this park well, but it's a great stop if you've got experienced...

Great tot lot in the morning, but Lord of the Flys tween edition by afternoon? Visited this park 2 days in a row. 1st day I met a friend so our kids(2 &3yo) could have a play date. They had a great time playing in the sand pit and using the smaller playground. The next afternoon I took my son for some play time before dinner. What a transformation! A little tikes table and chair set was taken apart, strewn across the park. 2 older boys using the seats from the dismembered chairs to shovel sand onto and slide down the tot slide. 2 other older boys had nerf guns and were using the play equipment as their battleground, shooting foam darts past the other children. Since they all seemed to be under 12 but older than 5 there is no parental supervision required, as per the posted park rules. Being 1 of 4 parents that were present with kids I'd have to say it was a bit too crowded and chaotic...

Took my teenager here on a rainy after-school afternoon for a swim team meet and greet (planned by captains that live nearby). Between the weather and time, there wasn't anyone else at the park. It's well-fenced and, as someone who doesn't live in the neighborhood, was frustratingly tricky to find; for what it's main purpose is, that's probably ideal. Seemed to be quite a lot of things for kiddos to do in a not-small,...