Aparkolypse 2015: Willis Tucker Park

There is so much to do at civic megafacility Willis Tucker Park that we're getting winded just blogging about it. Tucked away deep in suburbia, Willis Tucker is a destination worthy of consuming an afternoon or even longer with your family and canine companions.

Amenities/Facilities

We'll attempt to hit the highlights of the options available, but we'll strongly recommend you go to the official website for updates on events which are plentiful.

Picnic Shelters

Several picnic shelters are available for reservation, though only one has access to water and power. The various types of shelters are reserved by several different means for the convenience of the user.

Sports Fields

We're not impressed with half-court hoop area with no fencing, but at least they have one. Two nice baseball/softball fields are also available for reservation via yet another process.

Amphitheater

You can also reserve the amphitheater where the county hosts its summertime Movies at the Park series. The official site suggests that the field seats 1200. It's also fun for your children to pretend they're putting on their own concert or production and useful to have a lunch that's a little quieter and protected from the elements somewhat.

Spray Park

It's hard to express how great these spray parks are for the parents of non-swimming children. There are occasional malfunction issues (i.e. no water is spraying) and water doesn't continuously come out of all of the devices, which creates crowding and jostling.

Miscellaneous

Willis Tucker Park, named after Snohomish County's first county executive, serves as the headquarters for the county's parks department. We're just going to barely mention the rentable activity center and conference rooms or the off-leash dog area. We recommend a look at the park map to get a feel for where the walking trails and other offerings are relative to each other. Bathrooms and outdoor showering off facilities are right next to the play area and the spray park, and more bathrooms are available in the administration building. Along the walking trails, we also found a structure presumably not built by construction crews, and is pictured below.

Play Area

The prominent feature of the play area is this climbing structure where children can enjoy learning the thrill of rope burn. Also available are swing/tot swings, rocking toys, merry-go-round, a large sandbox, and seesaws.

Review

Nitpicking first: the play area is slightly underwhelming. It would be nice to have some slides and areas for littler kids to climb. This place is too well-maintained, too versatile, too pretty and too useful to get hung up on those details. Willis Tucker is a great place for events from family-size to huge, and it's a great place to just show up and hang out.