Field of Dreams, Inc. — Attraction in Salem

This is a beautiful park that I often bring my son to. They have lots of big rocks that he loves to climb on, large open grassy areas to run around in, nice hiking trails that are easy for a 2 year old with lots of cool geological features along them and not too large of a trail system to ever get lost in, and of course the beautifully constructed wooden playground for the chilluns. The park also has outdoor workout equipment, a volleyball/badminton court, a "light track", and access to the Salem High School fields.

My one reason for knocking a star off is that there seems to be a lack of maintenance to the parks facilities. There are so many cool things here that are unfortunately breaking down over time and have seen no sign of repairs done to them. The wooden playground is a beautifully built structure, one that I would hope my children's children's children could play on someday. You don't see wooden playgrounds like this around anywhere anymore. It's really a rare gem. It has so many features with towers and bridges and tunnels, etc. It's just beautiful. However, there are many parts of the wood that are rotting. Chains have broken off that hold some of the wooden features, boards are falling off in places, and it just needs a solid work crew to come out for maybe a few days or a week and go over everything with a fresh coat of paint to help it last. The swing set hangars are all squeaky and don't sound like they're doing too well. All the chains are rusted and everything could use just a fresh update. The light track is one of the coolest things I've seen. It features about a 100 ft section of lights that light up and travel from one end to the other under the control of a variable speed switch located just across from it. The downside? It's broken. I haven't seen that thing work in years. Can't someone get out and fix it? That would be really nice. It's a shame to see it sit there and rot away. Some of the exercise equipment is broken as well.

So although this is one of the best parks in the area, some of it's highlights are fading away and aren't seeing much TLC. I'm not sure who is responsible for the oversight of this park, but it would be fantastic if they could get a work crew together and go in to restore some of the things...

Great playground for kids and we love it because of the shade from the trees, especially in the summer months.

There is an exercise area but it is away from the playground, sparsely used, and the equipment is probably not the best.

Each day may bring a different crowd which is why some reviews vary regarding trash and opinion of the playground's condition. Most of the days we come it's pretty clean, at most there are a few plastic bottles left behind. Look at the photos and see if this is a place you'd like to visit. Our kids love it!

The town recently added 4 picnic benches, which was a great addition. Maintenance is needed on some of the playground and hopefully those improvements will continue, but the kids don't notice and love to play here and run around

Update - June 2023: playground repairs were made this Spring! There are also 2 portable restrooms available. The volleyball court has been removed and a beautiful new platform for concerts and shows is under...

Amazing playground that my two year old loved! It's a gigantic old wooden playground like I grew up playing on. Lots of different areas to play and explore in. It was packed while I was there but we could still easily move around and go where we wanted. I will definitely be returning and highly recommend checking out. If you have older kids that can play unattended, there's an adult work out center that you can see from the playground near the main road. Lots of different choices of things to do and almost all the equipment was intact and usable. I also didn't notice many broken areas in the playground although the bridge has a large enough opening on the sides that a child's leg/foot could slide through so I would be with your child in that spot. Overall I think it's a great park and not only will I return with my child but I will also be returning this summer to go hiking. There's hiking trails all around it and an obstacle treetop course within a 1...