oasis park

The past week has been unbearably hot--
    Hot enough for cool baths.
    Hot enough for an official heat warning.
    Hot enough that we prefer to stay inside.

Now that's hot.

On one of the evenings that felt like 90° (instead of 100°), we ventured out into the stickiness to Oasis Park (1700 County Road C2 West, Roseville), where we found the Mount Himalaya of playgrounds.


Here's what you need to know:
Parking:  Lot
Age range (playground): 1+
Sidewalks: Paved to play area and around park
Seating: Benches around play area
Bathrooms: Inside warming house
Picnic tables: A couple by the building
Grills: None
Sports field: Open fields, baseball field


Oasis is a pretty secluded park in a residential neighborhood. I failed our first attempt to enter the park: we parked off-street and were halfway to the play area before I saw it had a parking lot. Note to future guests: There's a parking lot!

The play area is in mint condition. The play equipment sits on a large plot of mulch with synthetic flooring at the base of some parts (i.e. slides).


There are several parts to the play area: a climbing-heavy playground for big kids; a toddler-friendly playground for new walkers; a swing set with baby, high back, and regular swings; a merry-go-round of sorts; and a set of some musical equipment. On the hills nearby are two bench swings, perfect for lounging.


When I say this had the tallest playground we've seen, I mean it: Even Madeline, our fearless adventurer, thought twice about going down the slides. She eventually tried the open slide. Zoey and I ended up going down with her on the closed one.


Overall, Madi (4.5) and Titus (3) navigated the big kid playground with minimal help from me. It has several slides, ladders, stairs, and climbing challenges. While there are several ways to get to the first level of this playground, the only way to reach the top most level is via a ladder on the first level.

By now, Zoey (16 months) was familiar with the play structure for kiddos 1+. It's the same design as those in many of the parks we've visited: a slide, mini tunnel, some drums, and a tiny climbing challenge.


Unlike structures at other parks, this one also came with a play area for the medium on which the playground sits. Unfortunately, Oasis is mulch-laden and this playground feature isn't as fun as it's intended to be.

The merry-go-roundish feature was one all my kiddos enjoyed, even though it isn't fast as Madi and Titus wish it were.


Not far from the play area is a pond. Although there's a good deal of foliage to slow down an escapee, there's no fence keeping kiddos from the water.

Despite the terrible heat, we enjoyed our visit to Oasis. I only wish it was better-suited to host parties (i.e. grills and more picnic tables).