If your experience has been anything like mine, park bathrooms are nasty. Sometimes they're portable bathrooms with no more toilet paper--or, worse, no more sanitizer.
Sometimes they're actual flushing toilets in buildings--complete with unpleasant smells, lighting, and . . . leftovers (let's not go into details).
I'm not one to hand out compliments on cleanliness (Mrs. Clean over here), but you guys--
This park has beautiful bathrooms.
We're talking well-lit, odor-free, toddler-friendly bathrooms (as in a built-in stool at the sink and booster seat for kiddo to wait in when it's mama's turn to go). If there's a gallery for amazing bathrooms, this place needs to make the list!
Aside from the impressive bathrooms at Casey Lake Park (2101 17th Avenue East, North St Paul), here's what you need to know:
Parking: Lot
Age range (playground): 1+
Sidewalks: Paved to the playground and other park amenities
Seating: Ample supply of benches surrounding playground
Bathrooms: On the side of the main building
Picnic tables: A couple scattered by play area, including toddler-sized tables; more in the pavilion
Grills: A couple in by the play area; more in the pavilion
Sports field: Shaded grassy area by play area and a baseball field to one side
The city of North Saint Paul dubs Casey Lake as the "crowning jewel" of their parks system. This isn't an understatement! We've visited parks throughout and beyond the Twin Cities and this one is definitely in the top three.
The playground, main building (with inside meeting space), picnic pavilion, and baseball field are all right off of the parking lot. The lake is a short walk down a hill. There's a dock off of one side. The park is well-paved to each amenity it offers.
Surrounding the play ground is plenty of seating, including two benches perched underneath a charming pagoda.
The play area is laid with mulch and suited for kids of all ages. There's a section for little kids, complete with baby swings (that also features a high-back swing); and a section for older kids, complete with regular swings and one of those hammock swings (I still don't know what this is really called).
Something I appreciate about this playground is the aesthetics: It's made of plastic made to mimic wood. The overall appeal of the play area is a fun treehouse paradise. Synthetic wood also means lesser chances of splinters or burns.
My kids' had two favorite parts of the playground: the climbing mushrooms and the crawl spaces underneath the playground for older kids.
They also enjoyed the variety of slides, spring riders, and climbing obstacles (which ranged from easy to challenging to, at this point, impossible without help).
We went for a couple hours in the morning. It got a lot of traffic during our time there. This was a pleasant surprise for us, as we also got to socialize as a bonus.
Although we had no use for them on our visit, I like how there's an ample supply of picnic tables, including a couple just for toddlers. Casey Lake Park was impressive to the point that I've noted it as a potential spot for future birthday parties.
Who wants to go with us on our next visit?!
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