Chester Park

Chester Park is located near the University of Minnesota-Duluth, at a small ski hill and former ski jumping hill.  It is a sand park with trails and a creek very nearby.  There is a ski chalet down the road and a stage where they host concerts on Tuesday evenings in the summer.

My boys love this playground but it isn't perfect.  The parking lot and road are very close to the playground itself and my toddler is constantly trying to go down by the cars.  The creek is also within toddler escape distance so I have to watch closely whenever he is on that side of the playground.  The big boys like to run onto the stage and dance for a few minutes as part of their play.

There are several picnic tables and three benches.  There are no bathrooms near the playground.  EDIT: I have been told that there are bathrooms inside the chalet.

Some features:

• 2 swings
• 2 baby swings
• Brand new swirly slide (the old one was metal and of questionable integrity.)
• Merry-go-round
• 2 double slides (great for racing)
• Rock wall with holds
• Track glider
• Steps and a curved ladder
• Spinning wheels monkey bars
• Pull-up bar

Duluth Parks page

Lester Park

Lester Park playground is located between two rivers on the farthest eastern edge of Duluth.  The rivers are enough to make me a little nervous with toddlers and keep a more vigilant eye that they don't wander too far but the playground is situated a good distance from them.

The surface is a rubber mat, which is great for shock absorption and means no little pieces for kids to throw or babies to put in their mouths.  There is still some concern among parents about off-gassing but it doesn't seem to be as worrisome as the recycled rubber tire mulch.

There is no fence around the playground, but a good tree line separating rivers/trails and open play area.  The parking lot is across a bridge and river, so plan on taking everything you will need out of the car in the first go.

There is a pavilion with tables, a soccer field, picnic tables, benches, and a lot of nice trails for walking and mountain biking.  The Lester River is a very popular swimming hole in the summer but it can be a trek to carefully get down to it, so take you time and assist little kids.

The playground consists of:

• 2 slides
• A climbing wall
• Steps and ladders
• A bridge made up of individual round steps at differing levels connected by rubber coated chains.

There are no swings, and if there is a large number of kids playing, the structure quickly gets overrun and it becomes hard to keep track of kids.

I didn't manage to get a picture of this playground when we recently visited because my son actually slipped and fell on the bridge section, hitting his head on the hand railing and necessitating a visit from the paramedics to make sure he was ok.  I am most definitely NOT a fan of that bridge, especially with the hard metal pieces and metal hand rails.  It is definitely not accessible to kids under about 4 and I really wish it had a traditional bridge that wouldn't allow kids to slip through the cracks.

EDIT to add picture:

Duluth Parks page

Memorial Park

Memorial park is right downtown in West Duluth.  It is situated on the corner of Grand Ave. and Central Ave., and as you can guess by the names, they are very busy streets.  Fortunately, the entire park is enclosed by a chain link fence, minus one entrance/exit right at the corner.  It does make me a little nervous with a very adventurous two year old, but the entrance is a good enough distance from the playgrounds that I can see if he takes off before he would reach a street.

The park actually consists of two separate playgrounds but are close enough together that I wouldn't worry about kids being at both structures at the same time and trying to keep an eye on them.  Both are a sand surface with a fairly large area for kids to spread out and dig/drive trucks and not run into any other kiddos.  It is also located right next door to Laura MacArthur Elementary School (rubber tire chip surface), so if you want a lot of variety in play structures, this might be a fantastic location to go and flit from structure to park to park.

There are several benches surrounding the playgrounds, a picnic table or two out in the open and an entire pavilion filled with picnic tables.  There are three porta-potties next to the entrance.

The playground that is designed for younger kids is a ship, just like the one at Playfront park.  It consists of:

• 2 slides
• Speaking tube
• Periscope and steering wheel
• Ladders, steps

The older kid playground has:

• 2 slides
• Rock climbing walls (one with holds, one without)
• Digger
• Monkey bars
• Steering wheel
• Wobbly steps
• Speaking tube
• 2 swings
• 2 baby swings

Duluth Parks page

Duluth Heights Park

Duluth Heights Park is a nice little playground tucked in between hockey rinks on two sides, a community center on one, and housing on the other.  It is a pretty secure place that kids are not easily able to get to a street.  Both Mulberry St. and Basswood Ave. are rather quiet streets and Arlington Ave. is a good distance away (across hockey rinks, baseball diamond, and soccer field).

This park is close to central entrance, so if you need a park stop on your way home from shopping, or somewhere to eat food you just picked up at a drive-thru, it is in a perfect location.  From Arlington Ave, turn onto Mulberry St. and then a right on Basswood.  Take a right after the hockey rink and you can park right up next to the park.

It is a sand surface park with big rocks off to the side.  There are steps for little ones to climb up, along with a ladder for bigger kids.  It is a bit high off the ground with a fireman pole on one side and monkey bars on the other.

• 2 slides
• 2 swings
• 2 baby swings
• Ladders and steps
• Fireman pole
• Monkey bars
• Currently one porta-potty and several picnic tables.

Duluth Parks page