Viewmount Park

Equipment by Landscape Structures.

Surface: wood chips.

This is the second of two playgrounds that you can easily (as we did) hit up in the same afternoon. And since they have such different strengths, they make a good pair.

Benner Park and Viewmount are not even 100 metres apart, and if the Allen Expressway hadn’t been built they would likely be one park. But the Allen was built (partially) so now these two complementary parks sit on either side of the highway, with the entrance to Glencairn subway station as the midpoint of the distance between them.

Viewmount is a bit bigger than Benner, and its equipment, while older, still offers some good options for climbing, sliding, spinning and swinging.

Along with the standard junior and senior climbers there was one spinner in particular that we loved. It was a bit like the Tilted Sky Runner, but with arms for three separate people. Each arm has a spinning wheel for the rider to hang from, but beneath the wheel is a small platform to stand on, which also spins. The result was great fun for the kids, and entirely nauseating for me.

Although the shade here isn’t as good as at Benner, Viewmount does have a line of magisterial willow trees along its north end. These are seriously spectacular trees that made me wish for a moment that I was a squirrel. They don’t lend themselves quite so well to play as the trees at Benner Park, and based on the low-lying landscape I imagine the area beneath them gets a bit soggy after rain, but my goodness they are nice to look at.

Viewmount also wins out over Benner a bit for convenience if you’re driving – it has parking while Benner doesn’t – and the larger green space and baseball diamond offer a few more play options.

The lack of bathrooms, a sandbox, or any water elements is frustrating (especially since none of these exist at Benner Park across the way either) but Viewmount and Benner are a nice duo if you find yourself in the neighbourhood.