Slide into Fun: Find the Best Park for You in the Grand Cities

Everyone likes a good park, right? Well I know I do! There are so many wonderful and fun parks in the area. Some of the best parks are those with open spaces for reading or having a picnic. Some are great for little kids. Some parks have cool playgrounds, and some are best for using your wild imagination. In fact, there are so many parks, it can be hard to choose! Online, you can find a list of more than 30 parks through the Grand Forks Parks and Rec page and another dozen in East Grand Forks. These lists don’t even include all the parks at the elementary schools. This article will help you choose which parks to visit first – which are best for climbing spider webs, best for little kids, for kicking a soccer ball, for swirly slides, and even for spring riders.

There are more parks with spider webs than you might think. But don’t worry, these are made of rope and metal and not made by real spiders! Some are shorter and perfect for kids who do not like heights or who are too little for tall spider webs. For example, at Optimist Park, the spider web is made of rope and low to the ground. Or like the park at Phoenix Elementary School where it is short and wide, and made of rope and metal. My favorite are the large ones where you can climb around INSIDE of them because they are wide. I also like when they are really tall like at Bringewatt Park and Sertoma Park. If you climb to the top, you can see the entire neighborhood!

There are a LOT of parks with spring riders. I know. I didn’t know they were called spring riders either. Spring riders are an animal, motorcycle, car, fish, or even a make-believe creature that is attached to a spring that you can sit on and ride back and forth. Some will spring REALLY far back, and some have two seats for you and a friend. Sertoma Park will let you sit side-by-side while you drive a race car, or even ride solo on a motorcycle. My favorite spring rider is the rainbow dolphin at Optimist Park. North Kiwanis Park has a tire swing, a small play area for littles, and a LOT of green space for reading, playing football, flying a kite or having a picnic, but I love it best for its fun alligator, yellow centipede, and other great spring riders. If you are looking for a more traditional horse, try Midtown Park.

Pretty much every park in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks will have a slide–but hold on. Not all slides are created equal. I think some of the best slides are the ones that make you feel like you are flying because they are going so fast. I also like the slides that twist and turn.

Elks Park has a splash park and pool, but the playground also has a really fun swirly slide. This one isn’t too fast, and there are other slides at this park too. So, if you are cautious and like variety, Elks Park is a good choice. If you like TALL slides, you should visit Half Circle Park. The red swirly slide at this park is tall! So is the yellow swirly slide at Kelly Park. Lions Park has space for tennis, and soccer, and hockey and more, but what I really love is the tall red swirly slide AND the two red squiggly slides that are side by side. The Squiggly slides aren’t very high, and you can go down holding hands with your friends.

I love to swing. When I was younger my friends and I would race out to recess to get a swing. I wouldn’t even play with friends at recess if I had a swing because I would just swing the entire time! Now that I am older, I like parks with a lot of swings so I can swing with my friends.

Exchange Club Park (next to Lake Agassiz Elementary School and Park) has a ton of fun play equipment, basketball courts, swirly slides, AND green space for soccer, picnics, or reading. BUT this park also has so many swings for kids of different ages, abilities, and heights. Even better – because there are so many, there is never a line.

Masonic Park has multiple swing spaces and swings with baby seats. University Park, Sertoma Park, Bringewatt, New Heights Elementary (East Grand Forks), and many others now have swings for kids with all abilities to swing safely, but I think the BEST one is the park at Phoenix Elementary School. This seat allows you to sit in it, buckle in, and zipline! Inclusive parks are the best. Places I have never had to wait in line to swing are Jaycees Park, Prime Steel Park, and Kannowski Park. Kannowski Park swings are fun because after you swing, you can watch kids on the skate park!

You can use your imagination no matter where you play, but some parks are better than others for imagination play. Sherlock Forest Playground in East Grand Forks is the BEST for this. You can play in the wood jail, climb up into a giant castle, or fight a sea monster. Even better, it is right next to the public library and a pool. Fun fact! My mom and dad helped build this park when they were in high school, and my dad proposed to my mom after a scavenger hunt that ended in the tall castle. My mom’s name is still on one of the picket fences surrounding the park because of the donation made by my grandma and grandpa. See if you can find the one that says “Shawnda Otto.”

My favorite park by FAR is the kind that you can lie down in with a picnic blanket and a good book or go on walk in the open space. Even better, in the winter you can cross country ski or find some of the best hills for sledding (hmmmm maybe that’s another article)! University Park and Sertoma Park have a lot of green space and beautiful gardens you can lay down near and read a book. Sertoma Park even has a little pond you can lay by AND secret fairy doors built into the trunks of two trees. Ryan Park (hidden behind South Middle School) has a lot of green space, areas to play soccer or toss a football, a lake to fish in, and so many good rock and tree areas to sit down and enjoy snacks and a good book. Riverside Park and Sherlock Forest Playground are also great for picnics and reading, and if you’re lucky, the ice cream truck will drive by in the summer.

If you are like me and love to play on the playground equipment, but you have a sibling that loves sports, there are a lot of good parks where you can both have fun. University Park is GIANT and has a ton of green space for throwing a football, kicking a soccer ball, playing bocce ball, or flying a kite. You can also enjoy tennis on their courts, or skate and play hockey in the winter. Ben Franklin Park has a great play space, buddy benches, and a swirly slide BUT it also has a LOT of green space to play soccer, skating rinks in the winter, and softball and baseball fields. Lincoln Park is the best if you like to play horseshoes, or frisbee golf. They also have a really popular dog park, picnic shelters, and green area to read. Oh, and it’s on the Greenway Bike Path and has a boat ramp if someone in your family wants to go fishing. My favorite thing about this park though is the free cross-country skis and snowshoes you can rent (IN ALL SIZES) in the winter.

Now that I have told you about the parks most people know about, I want to tell you a little secret. There are more parks out there, and not on the parks and recs’ websites. These are neighborhood parks, new parks, and play areas that are part of elementary schools. I love a lot of these parks and not many people know about them. But I will keep those to myself. Those parks are for you to find on your own! So go on an adventure through the parks in the amazing Grand Forks and East Grand Forks communities.