Aspen Park

 Aspen Park is a small park in Soldotna, Alaska. It can be found by turning onto Aspen Drive from either Marydale Drive or Knight Drive, about halfway down the street. There is parking for 3 cars on the tiny parking pad, and more along the curb.

From the start, let me just say that this park is not as tot friendly as the City of Soldotna might lead you to believe on their website. Sure, there are some fun features like the chain link spider web, but I had to help my nearly 3 year old son over the top. This is a park for active children and active parents. For this visit, I only had the youngest of my children with me and nearly every feature required me to aid my small children. It is one of the reasons that I don't come to this park as much. I think the last time I was here my oldest 2 sons were around the same ages and they spent most of the time under the wood structures in "their fort".

The tires are a fun feature. My son enjoyed climbing through and walking on them. I think my older children would have loved the tire swing.

 Big step down, not so bad coming the other way. No way I would let her or him attempt this alone.

 Though the spaces and gaps are large, it didn't slow them down too much. At least the platforms are flat planks, not round. There are two slides at Aspen park - one tall twisty slide and one hexagonal super short slide. Both require climbing up rungs that are spaced just a little too far apart for toddlers.

 She couldn't get up. It was too far between, which is okay for her age. I recommended this playground for children a little more physically coordinated and taller in stature, like age 3 and up.

The nicest part of the park is the trail that connects it to the dog park. Its not far away, but meanders through the woods in a loop. There are 2 benches at the dog park, which the Soroptomist society is currently working on. Along the trail there are square picnic tables and trash cans. There are a total of 6 picnic tables throughout the park and at least as many trash cans. There are also a few benches facing the play ground and some trails leading off to neighborhoods. Be mindful of private property at the edges of the park. Its fairly well defined and most neighbors have it posted clearly.

Old Town Kenai Public Park

The day that we visited this park, it was gorgeous outside. It was sunny, a little breezy , but a really wonderful day. We came to the park for a picnic with friends and stayed well in to the evening. I think we left the park after 9 that night and the sun was still high in the sky. I was sad that I didn't have my camera with me and that I would have to come back for pictures. As you can see, I did and it wasn't nearly as nice that day.

Old Town Park is located at 816 Cook Avenue in the historical district of Kenai. The buildings that housed the first library and jail for Kenai are located on the block that the park joins. There is a walking tour of Old Town that includes the surrounding buildings, if you are interested in seeing more of Old Town Kenai. I don't know when the park was established, but it has been here as long as I can remember and I played here as a kid once or twice. A large wooden structure that was older than me was finally replaced a couple of summers ago. It's an improvement. I think they could stand to replace the turquoise tunnel structure as well, but at least the City of Kenai did something to improve the playground. My children were not in the least disappointed with the turquoise thing.

The park is frequented by area residents and children from the nearby apartments and houses. It is a popular place for basketball.  There are lines painted on the basketball court for hopscotch and four square. If you bring a ball, you can have a little old school fun in Old Town!


 Old Town park also has the best swings around! There are 5 or 6 swings, which is a lot for one little park. There are a total of 3 slides that are built for varying ages and stages.

There is a covered area with a picnic table. That is a downside - there is only one table in the park. If you want to have a picnic here, I recommend bringing camp chairs for extra seating. The grill is pretty handy though.

The new red and blue equipment is just right for little kids. My 1 and 3 year olds both enjoyed this structure and found it easy to climb and older children were able to help them get up without much stress on my part.  I'm not fond of the pea gravel that surrounds the playground equipment, but again, my kids weren't fazed by it. It was a relatively gravel-in-the-shoe free day.

Don't let the chain link fencing intimidate you - there is access to the park on each side as well as parallel parking around it.

Old Town Park is a simple park. Locals use it. It is easy to walk here from other activities in Old Town Kenai or meet with friends for a quick play date. Its not the newest park, but it is a classic .