Browning Park Playground- Saanich

We haven't been this excited about a playground in ages! Every time we drive up Shelbourne Street during the last two years we have looked over towards Browning Park and laughed at the old old little playground hidden in the long grass. I've always meant to visit there, fully expecting to give it a poor quality review as the type of playground where a child might need a tetanus jab. But those who snooze, lose. Because recently I was driving up Shelbourne, glanced over and almost crashed my car in excitement. Because not only was there a brand-spanking-new playground being built, but the entire park, which frankly had been overgrown and nondescript, was dug up and being redeveloped.

Kudos to the CRD and Saanich here because this is part of the Bowker Creek development project and if this part of Bowker Creek turns out as nicely as, or even nicer than the Oak Bay part then it will be a wonderful place for locals. And even in it's current unfinished state, it's looking amazing. Thanksgiving weekend finally gave us the opportunity to visit the playground and let's just say that when we tried to leave the kids kicked up a big fuss!

Located on Shelbourne Street and accessible from there or from either side of Browning St or from the Bowker Creek pathway that runs on the far side of the Creek, this lovely new park has smooth tarmac trails, a basketball court and a fantastic playground. Parking might be available on Browning St, but this is more the type of park that you walk or ride bikes to, and stop off at for a picnic. It looks like there will be nicely landscaped gardens and grassy areas but for now it's a bit of a mess with dirt and diggers- which hold their own attraction for little ones.


The playground has two main climbing structures, a small one for little kids and a big one for the bigger kids. The small one features various climbing options to a low tower and a double metal short straight slide. There is a double big kid, double toddler swing combo, a climbing frame car, a twiddly stem, and a rock feature for climbing over, under and across.

The larger climbing frame is the most exciting part of this playground according to my kids and my now 4 year old 'A' as the best climbing frame ever. It's a treehouse, and if I had my way this would be known as the treehouse playground- which it may well if it doesn't get called the frog park, but that's a different story. The treehouse climbing frame is built into a tree, and features several routes up which include a 'rope ladder', tree stumps, and tree climbing to the clubhouse up top. There is a long straight metal side down. It's beautifully made, fits in to the environment subtly and has great little touches such as a raccoon and squirrel hidden underneath.


So...the frog. Lastly, but not least, there is a giant frog squatting in the middle of the woodchip base in this playground. Oddly enough, my kids steered a clear path around it and my daughter definitely thought it was real. So whatever the local kids end up calling this fantastic playground, my betting is that it'll be between the frog and the treehouse and that the rest of this wonderful park, the creek and the bike trails will be forgotten in the playground excitement!

Cordova Bay Road Playground- Saanich

I have no idea if this playground actually has a proper name, so I'm calling it Cordova Bay Road Playground. It'll come as a surprise then, that it's a tiny little playground perched on the edge of Cordova Bay Road between the road and the beach. We have driven past this little park many times but have never managed to stop and so it was exciting to finally visit it. Good things come in small packages!

There is roadside parking and a wall which protects playground users from harm and the playground itself is surrounded by trees which provide some shade. If you peek through the trees you can see down to the sandy beach or out across the sea in one of BC's stunning scenic drive views.

On a base of gravelly sand, the playground has a small climbing structure, a climbing frame car and a swing set with a toddler swing and a big kid swing. The climbing structure is a sweet thing with steps, a short metal slide, an alphabet climbing wall feature and underneath it has an ice-cream style serving hatch. I took a photo through it but the light was too bright to capture the amazing sea view. They should trim the trees in line with the hatch so that anyone bored of pretending to serve ice-cream can sit back and admire the view.

There is a picnic table and bench here, some grass, some shade and of course, if this place isn't the challenge that your kids need, there is a path down to the beach. This playground is an adorable little pit-stop!

Majestic Park Playground- Saanich

So we were cruising around today in an area that doesn't seem to have a huge number of playgrounds and just as I made some off-hand comment saying just that, we drove right by Majestic Park Playground. You can find the park on Majestic which can be accessed from Shelbourne or Ash in Saanich.

With parking places right along the road, Majestic Park is very well equipped for its size. There are washrooms, a tennis court, a baseball diamond and lots of picnic tables. There are some benches around too and whereas there is no shade actually at the playground, there are shady places nearby where you could set up camp under a tree.

On gravelly sand, the playground is well equipped though slightly older and worn. The main big kid structure is the type that you see all over Victoria, with metal bars and a bright curly plastic slide. There are lots of ways to climb up, an arched ladder, a normal ladder and tires, and the structure is made up of several climbing platforms. There are two slides, a double straight metal slide and a higher curly plastic one. In this part of the playground there are also an old school metal seesaw and a digging machine.

As well as this larger structure, there is also a double big-kid, double toddler swing set and then there is a smaller play area across the path. This is of a different style and has a low climbing structure with a ramp, a couple of climbing platforms, an activity feature and a toddler appropriate slide. This isn't however a structure that I could leave my toddler on by herself because the top platform- rather curiously- has an entire edge open, so no rest for toddler parents here!
There was also a climbing thing- not sure what it was meant to be- perhaps a big climbing worm, but my 3.5 year old son loved it- till he got stuck. No rest for bigger kid parents either!



All is all this is a good little place to stop. It's not the best playground ever but the package of everything at the park makes it an easy place to play. Oh, and it's got a bus stop right out the front by the parking for easy access.

Hyacinth Park Playground- Saanich

We got a hot tip this week to go to Hyacinth Park Playground which is in Hyacinth Park on Marigold in Saanich. We drove around a bit before discovering that the best way to get access to the playground is to take Hyacinth Ave, which is a 'no-through-road' that runs off of Interurban. It has a nice little parking area and is right next to the playground.

Well, the hot tip paid off as this is a great playground. Hyacinth Park is pretty big with sports fields and there is a building there which may or may not have washrooms- we didn't make it over to that side. There are walking trails behind the playground that run onto Panama Flats and they definitely looked tempting had we more time to explore.

On a bed of gravelly sand, the playground has something for everyone. There is a climbing frame car, a double 'duck' seesaw, a double toddler/double big kid swing set, a bouncy thing and two climbing structures.

The smaller structure has steps up to a low climbing tower and a nice double width metal straight slide down. There are a couple of different climbing options to get up. The bigger climbing structure has a good range of things to climb up including hanging mushrooms and an elevated ladder to hang from. There are steps, parallel bars and a nice arched bridge in the middle- always a hit with little ones. There is a low double width straight metal slide and a high climbing tower with a curly metal slide.

This is a great playground in a great location. Lots of grass, trees for shade and multiple picnic tables.

Leeds Park Playground- Saanich

Leeds Park is one of those tiny little parks that's completely surrounded by houses and unless you had a reason to go there, you probably never will. However, if I lived there, I'd be thanking those exact circumstances and the fact that someone decided to build a teeny little playground right there. You can get to it right at the end of Leeds Place and there is limited parking but I doubt it ever gets very busy.

My photos aren't great because they were taken on the phone, but we discovered this great little playground after taking a wrong turn one night just before dusk. My son, who was fed up of accompanying us on grown-up errands all day took one look out of the window and yelled "PLAYGROUND!" So we were pretty much committed.

On a gravelly sand base, this playground is a little gem with two climbing towers connected by a tunnel. There are two straight metal slides, a low one for the little ones and a high one that is actually one of the steepest slides that I have seen. There a various options to climb up and down and a great activity wall feature. There are no amenities but I have the feeling that the clientele can probably all run home if they need a drink or quick trip to the loo.

I don't know what else to say about this playground other than if there was one of these within throwing distance of every child's home we'd have healthier, happier kids.

Howryod and Onyx Park Playground- Saanich

Squashed between Howroyd Ave and Onxy Place there is a piece of grassy land with a small playground on it. It's probably one of those parks that you would never see unless you lived nearby or had a reason to pass, which we did on Christmas Even after dark when we realized with a jolt that we'd forgotten to buy Bailey's. My dad and I cut through the park on the way back from the liquor store and I vowed to visit it in the light to review.
So that's exactly what we did on Boxing day. It was bright, sunny and cold and so we wrapped up warm in mittens and multiple layers and hit the playground.

On a base of gravelly sand, this is a surprisingly well equipped playground considering it is small and tucked away. There are swings- a toddler swing and a big kid swing, a nice high mental slide, a metal seesaw and a climbing frame car.

There are no facilities here except for a bench and a picnic table, but it's a decent sized grassy space and enough to play with to wear kids out before nap time. Our infant girl, S laughed and laughed in the swing and after sampling all the other equipment, pre-schooler, 'A' found a big stick and proceeded to happily draw lines in the sand for a long time. At last, a good use for sand, which as you know is not my favourite!

Montague Park Playground- Gordon Head- Saanich

Montague Park is a surprisingly large piece of green- well yellow this late in the summer- grassy park slotted into a completely urban residential area. You can enter is from at least five different points- mostly cul de sacs. We drove up Graduation Place first but couldn't park there so ended up coming at it from Sandell Place which was far closer to the playground anyway- you could also try off Lexington or Hazelton or by coming the sweetest way, through a carved path in the hedge half way down Sandell Place.

It was very hot and yellow when we visited- the last of the afternoon sun was almost uncomfortable and so we probably didn't see this park at it's best, but I imagine that it's quite pretty and popular most of the year round. There is some nice shade near to the playground and whereas it's just a grassy park- no amenities, it would be a great place to have at the back of your garden, almost like a village green.

The playground itself is small, but newer and well designed. There are swings- one big-kid, one toddler, and one climbing structure split into big and small sides. On the smaller side there are chunky platform steps that lead up to a connecting tunnel which 'A' had a good time crawling through. He crawled back pretty soon afterwards to inform me that the big-kid slide was too scary and he proceeded to go down the small metal slide on the small side. I tried out the big-kid metal slide and didn't find it scary but then again, I'm over three-feet tall. There are a whole bunch of climbing options here- things to go up, down and hang from and there are also the lovely attention-to-detail features that I adore in newer constructions- an ice cream window like the one at Vantreight Park, counting number walls and so on. This is all on gravelly sand and we didn't stay long because frankly I couldn't take 'A's incessant removing of his shoes to check that sand hadn't slipped inside. Sigh.

Lochside Park Playground- Cordova Bay- Saanich

Guest review by Mack

Lochside Park is located on Lochside Drive just near to Mattick's Farm and on the edge of Cordova Bay Golf Course. This is a very special playground - it's one of the few that has one of those funny digger things which my little boy REALLY loves. If you haven't encountered these before, they are essentially a mechanical digger, but thankfully without ignition or wheels. You use two levers on either side to operate the digger part, pick up sand (that inevitably forms the base of the parks in which they are installed) and then dump the sand. Sounds pretty rad? Just imagine how rad it would be if you were three years old.
Apart from that, it's a nicely kept park. The aforementioned sandy floor, plenty of swings (baby and child x2 each), a good climbing/running frame/slide contraption with 2x metal slides, and is really close to the Lochside Trail - so it's in a beautiful area. Surprisingly, though, it's often very quiet - I've never really seen many people using it when I've been there. Maybe because it's a little hidden away...? Either way, well worth going a little out of the way for a visit, particularly if you have a little man or two scurrying around the house with a bucketload of energy to expend and a love of diggers.

Horner Park Playground- Saanich

You can access Horner Park Playground in Saanich from Kisber Ave, Palo Alto Street or Iona Drive. We've been there before a long time ago, I have a vague memory of search there at dusk for something that we couldn't find but we didn't have kids then so probably didn't even notice the playground. Now however is a completely different story!

On gravelly sand, this playground offers a decent sized climbing structure that would suit all sizes of child. There are three slides- a high curly plastic one, a short double plastic and a short wide metal. There are lots of things to climb up, down or to hang off including platform steps for the smaller kids, climbing wall features, a spiral climbing ladder and a wavy hanging ladder. In the middle there is an ever-popular tunnel that connects the two towers and even when they are super short like this one, 'A' seems to love them big-time.

There are double big-kid, double toddler swings, a reasonably old-school seesaw, and a climbing frame car. There are big playing fields that include a baseball diamond and a basketball court and for a park this size you'd expect washrooms but there are none here. There are benches and picnic tables and good shade near to the playground though the equipment itself is in full sun. To that end, our visit here was very short because, and I will use 'A's words here "Mummy! Too 'ot!!!"

Vantreight Park Playground- Saanich

Vantreight Park is on Leyns Road between Balmacarra and Vantreight and is a lovely park with trails, lots of grass and shady trees to hide from the sun under on hot days like yesterday. Parking is easy roadside where you can find it and although this park doesn't offer any of the fancier facilities like washrooms, it's surprisingly large and definitely worth a visit. Plus after you've had a good play at their rather good playground, you can take the steep steps at the bottom of Balmacarra Rd down to the ocean where little ones can throw stones to their hearts content.


The playground is pretty new and features two structures- one that offers climbing and hanging options for bigger kids and then a universal bigger structure. This one has a ton of great climbing options- spiral climbing ladder, hooped arched ladder, a tunnel, several platforms that lead up to a tower and two metal slides of different heights. In addition there is the usual double big kid, double toddler swing combo, a climbing frame car, the cutest twirly thing that I have ever seen and an absolutely adorable activity wall feature- an ice-cream stand built in underneath. 'A' spent a long time looking for the ice-cream 'man' or even just the ice-cream and was gutted when he couldn't find either. Next time on a hot day like this I'm thinking of taking a cooler, some waffle cones and a box of Breyers and 'A' will make a killing!

Braefoot Park Playground- Saanich

Braefoot Park on McKenzie Ave is one of those places that you drive past all the time but that unless you have a reason to stop, you never will. We never had any reasons to stop until I caught a glimpse of playground equipment tucked behind the clubhouse thingy and I swerved across three lanes of traffic to get to it. Well actually I didn't, but it makes for a better story than if I just said 'we dropped by next time we were in the area'.

On a bed of gravelly sand, this is a nice new medium-sized playground. It features two separate play structures, one aimed at the bigger kids, one at the smaller kids and while we're on the big kid/small kid theme, this playground has the usual double double swing combo- two big kid, two toddler.

The smaller kid climbing structure features a bunch of imaginative climbing options including 'platform steps', a tower and a straight metal slide. The big kid side has some interesting rope climbing features- a sort of upside-down rope climbing cone, a rope climbing bridge linking to a separate tower and a tower with a metal slide that is nice and fast.

There is also a bouncy animal, a hanging 'wheel' feature, a climbing frame car and a balance beam. It's pretty obvious that we don't frequent this park and so it was a nice surprise to find such a well equiped playground. There are huge fields to play on, some shade and there might be washrooms in the building between the playground and the car park but if there are, they were not obvious when we were there. I don't know when this playground gets busy but it's a great little spot definitely worth visiting for a play.

Doncaster School Playground- Saanich

I've said this before but many of the best playgrounds around belong to schools. That comes with a down-side of course- they can only be used when school is out and as a result of that there are no facilities such as washrooms, but nonetheless, there are a lot of great playgrounds that can be used by the public during evenings, weekends and during holidays.

Ecole Doncaster is located on Cedar Hill Road at Rowan and for those that have driven past, it has a pretty exciting looking playground out front. This is just one of two playgrounds at the school and it is primarily aimed at bigger kids. There are two log and bar climbing constructions with a huge variety of things to climb up, down and to hang from. They are both original in design which is always nice to see in climbing frames and although there are no slides or other 'frills' here, there is a Rope-cone roundabout and this playground, which is on woodchips would offer a ton of exercise and entertainment to any child.



It was while I was trying to get 'A' to play on this side that he caught sight of the other playground which is down the right of the school and this front playground was discarded to the wayside. The second playground is bigger, more colourful and caters to a wider range of kids. It's a strange mix of old and new, with the older apparatus being wood, bar and tire like the front. There are several of these offering a range of playing activities, mostly climbing options, but they also include a metal tunnel, metal slides, and lots of hang off.

The newer additions to the playground include a decent sized climbing structure similar to some of the newer ones you see around town. It has a curly plastic slide, a couple of towers, a bridge, lots to climb up an some activity wall features.



There is a separate climbing wall and wavy climbing ladder which must be very popular at break-time and I wonder how many times a week an over-enthusiastic climber yells to be rescued from the top. This side is also on a bed of woodchips and there are large grassy playing fields to take advantage of when, of course, school is out.

lambrick Park Playground- Gordon Head, Saanich

I've heard a fair bit about Lambrick Park in Gordon Head and how much people enjoy it so it was on our must-see list. I was a bit surprised when I drove up and this was it.

The Playground basically consists of a tall metal slide, a 'climbing car' and four swings- one toddler and three big kid. This is all on sand and underneath nice shady trees. Lambrick Park itself has a lot to offer, playing fields, courts, the Gordon Head Rec centre and of course the kind of facilities that go with it all.

I am of the philosophy that any playground is better than no playground but there are better ones around Victoria, even around Gordon Head, (such as Blair though no facilities and not a lot of shade and Sierra- again no facilities). The phrase 'fun is what you make it' pops into my mind when I see a playground like this because it may not be big and flashy but to some kids and probably some mums and dads, it's probably the best playground in the world.

Rainbow Park Playground- Swan lake, Saanich

You can find Rainbow Park Playground on Rainbow Street just south of McKenzie. The park itself is mostly a green field with some trees dotted around and considering it's close proximity to both McKenzie and the Pat Bay Highway, it's surprisingly nice. And it's neighbour park, Swan Lake Park is fabulous, though more like trails, ducks and wooden trestles than swings and roundabouts.

So, speaking of playgrounds, this one is pretty good. You can park on Rainbow Street and if you get there early enough you can claim a spot of shade under one of the trees that is close to the playground. There are two climbing structures, a large one for bigger kids and a tiny little one-slide tower for the smaller kids. The big kid climbing frame has good climbing options including a wooden ramp with chain/wood supports to climb up, other climbing options and a separate 'thing' a sort of wooden platform with bars that one can climb on, linked to the main structure by one of those ladders in the air to hang from. The words aren't flowing today so forgive my vagueness.

There are two toddler swings and two big kid swings and the toddler swings are nice and high so that 'A' actually believed it when I told him that he'd be fired off to the moon if I pushed him any harder, which was just my way of getting out of pushing any more because my swing-induced repetitive strain was playing up.

There are no facilities here except for picnic tables and the whole thing is on a bed of sand. Oh! And there is another of those cool seesaws like the one in Sierra Park Playground except it doesn't seat four and it doesn't like my weight quite as much