Centennial Center Park

Following the path from the upper parking lot. Splash pad to the far left, climbing ropes area in the center, and large climbing structure to the right with amphitheater visible to the back.

  Wow! What an amazing park and splash pad this one is! I would highly recommend this park for a day trip for all ages as it is very spacious with lots to do, both in and out of water, and the design allows for older children to play in areas that are more challenging and interesting to them while the younger ones still have plenty of interesting and fun things to do, too. This park is just so beautifully designed, spread out, and offers so much to see and explore theres no wonder it is 'award winning'. Yes, it is a drive from downtown Denver, but it was less than a half hour for us which is no problem at all for a wonderful day out (and free at that!). It was a sunny, 90 degree day when we went and although it seemed like there were a lot of people, the design and the amount of things to explore didn't make it feel too overwhelming or like we had to wait to use certain areas. There are plenty of picnic tables, bathrooms, and you can even rent out the covered picnicking areas or the amphitheater (talk about a fabulous, low-maintenace birthday party full of fun!). Check out their website for more info: Centennial Center Park Website

Overlooking some of the play areas in the park from the upper pathway. This park is unique in that there are several different areas to explore spread out from one another, such as the little red house. 

The smaller of the climbers, just right for my young toddler. Soft, rubbery play pad in the climbing area.

Partial view of the splash pad- it's amazingly large! Water comes from all directions: up out of the flowers, smaller sprays from the ground, sideways from a mushroom, and dumping from buckets high above the ground.

Another view of the spray pad. The little ones loved the mushroom-typed sprayer, as well as the small river that they could climb in and out of (in between the rocks seen in the picture, and you can see and adult and two children standing in it to the left). Some of the bigger sprayers and the dumping buckets are to the back, left, and most of the bigger kids played over there and our little ones payed show no interest allowing a good separation of older and younger children.  

Being an early childhood teacher for numerous years this was my absolute favorite thing: a water play table in the sand! The yellow circle that you see near the older child is a sprocket that children can turn on to disperse water. The table extends to the back with holes for filling and parts that move so that you can transport water from one area to another. I have NEVER seen something like this at a park before, but knowing young children like I do I know that this type of play area needs to be built WAY more often! Everyone was splashing around in the big mud puddle, and we thought it was great because we could just have them run through the spray pad area again to clean off before changing. 

Large climbing web with wide ropes, hanging ladders, and other interesting climbing apparatuses. 

Notice the climbing walls in the back, and the preschooler in the forefront was trying to walk along the bottom rope while holding the top rope. Also small tunnels to climb through in the rock structures.

Amazing treehouse-type climber for preschooler and older aged children, allowing them to climb up to another level where they could then slide down slides built into the hillside (not in view).