Aparkolypse: Meadowdale Neighborhood Park

Our kids describe this as "the park with the zip line," and since it's on the way to Granny and Grampa's house, we know this place like the back of our hands. Meadowdale Neighborhood Park (not to be confused with Meadowdale Beach Park) is a fun place for kids and bored teenagers from the neighboring high school.

Amenities/Facilities

Getting there is easy enough; parking is a problem. The parking lot on the north side on 168th St SW is small and insufficient. A few spots are available on the street on the east side on 56th Ave W, not exactly convenient to the main play area and bathrooms.

Outside the bathrooms is a totem pole and bench sculpture called "Urbanization of Lynnwood" by artist Chris Vondrasek. Go a bit deeper into the park to find a standard basketball key, a handful of picnic tables and benches, and a paved walking trail that loops around the western half of the park. Take a zigzagging nature trail to the play lawn on the east side (excellent for throwing paper airplanes at the top of the bowl area) or go south to the hilly lawn area, where you can take the back entrance of the park down to the high school.  

Play

The main area is divided into the standard tot lot/5-12 years toys. A handful of swings are located down by the cable glider.

The park's website describes it as a cable glider, but we call it the zip line. Kids can sit or stand on the seat, and it moves slowly enough to not be too scary. It's a unique feature in all the parks we've visited.

Review

The play equipment is a little older (still in fine condition and lots of fun), but this park is just pretty. Not a few weeks go by that one of our kids doesn't insist "I want to the zip line park!" and we can't blame them. It's a fun place surrounded by beautiful trees and plants, close to us and the grandparents.