Surfaces: wood chips, asphalt.
There is a part of me that would love to live in this neighbourhood, simply so that when my kids ask me if I want to go to the park, I could answer by saying, "Sherwood!"
Sorry. You probably didn't come here for dad jokes. If you haven't yet closed your browser window in disgust, let's continue.
If natural beauty is your thing, it doesn’t get much better than Sherwood Park. Surrounded by the trees of the Blythwood Ravine, a good 500 metres from any major street, and with a large cemetery directly south, this lovely little playground is just about as insulated from the surrounding city as possible.
The equipment is good, if a bit run-of-the-mill. The wading pool isn’t one of the classic concrete pits strewn around the city, but a larger, more pleasant one, which has splash pad elements and is shaded by beautiful large trees. On our visit, it was also staffed by a lifeguard who, a few years earlier, had been a student of mine when she was in Grade 8. My son must think I’m a teacher at a lifeguard school.
Anyway, this is a lovely park. There is plenty of space to picnic, and great walks/bike rides in either direction if you want to make it part of a bigger adventure. If you’re driving, there’s a parking lot close by, which is a bit of a rarity with Toronto parks. If you’re coming by public transit or by bike (which we were) it’s perhaps not the easiest place to get to, but that’s part of the appeal: you’ve got to go about out of your way to get that out-of-the-way feeling.
You can pair your visit to Sherwood with Lawrence Park, which has slightly better equipment and more amenities nearby, but which isn’t as pretty, and lacks water features. Wouldn't it be amazing if you could combine both playgrounds into one? (...this is where you say, "sure would!")
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