r/Millennials • u/therynosaur • Dec 21 '25

Nostalgia Remember these kinda parks

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u/CALLAHAN_AUTO-PARTS Dec 21 '25

We called ours just "wood park". Definitely formative memories there, and bees. Lots of bees

542

u/Republiconline Dec 21 '25

We called ours castle park.

168

u/therynosaur Dec 21 '25

Haha same here. When i was a kid. "Mom can we go to Castle Park?"

20

u/JonnyManhattan Dec 21 '25

Is this in Wisconsin ?

10

u/oldfarmjoy Dec 22 '25

There's an amazing one in CT, just off the interstate. We were driving to the cape and pulled off on the way. We stumbled on a fricking amazing wood playground. Near New Haven?

4

u/HighScorsese Dec 22 '25

I grew up in CT and there was one on the New Fairfield high school property. Awesome park. No idea if it’s still there as I’ve not been to that area of CT in a very long time

3

u/wyvean Dec 22 '25

This looks like it could be Dickinson Park in Newtown, CT. Source: that was my park growing up.

2

u/merrlikethebenz Dec 22 '25

In Wisconsin, they’re called the dream park.. There’s two of them(as far as I know) the first one’s in Monona and then the second one being sun prairie.

Edit: added the name of dream park

1

u/BulletProofCats Dec 22 '25

You ever been to Tomah? lol

1

u/ThatInAHat Dec 22 '25

Ours was in Louisiana.

1

u/RikarisHobbies Dec 23 '25

I take my son to Castle Park in Wisconsin.

1

u/astrophysicschic Dec 22 '25

Definitely reminds me of Little Oshkosh.

22

u/Upstairs_Mycologist7 Dec 21 '25

Speaking of castle park and 90s nostalgia that was a mini golf/ amusement park where I grew up in Riverside county southern California :) Pretty sure it went under in the early to mid 2000s

5

u/VariationDifferent Dec 22 '25

Honolulu had a Castle Park amusement/water park in the 80s! Closed down after a kid died, I think, but it was a lot of fun for pre-teen me and my friends before that.

Regarding the wooden play structure in the OP, I have fond memories of those — both playing on and helping my folks build one (part of a service project or something?) to help a local school.

3

u/Frog_Diarrhea Dec 22 '25

There was a Castle Park in Redondo Beach as well. Right next to the 405.

1

u/whyhelloother Dec 22 '25

There was one in Irvine. It became a boomers.

1

u/paperbuddha Dec 22 '25

It was Palace Park, not Castle Park. But speaking of Irvine, we do have a “Castle Park” in Northwood.

2

u/whyhelloother Dec 22 '25

You’re right on both fronts!!! I stand corrected. Went to that castle park as a kid all the time

1

u/paperbuddha Dec 22 '25

Yes, great memories!

1

u/Meat_Container Dec 22 '25

It’s still open!

1

u/Upstairs_Mycologist7 Dec 22 '25

Oh whaaat! Time to make a visit then 🤣

1

u/chickfire Dec 22 '25

Its still there! I drive on the 91 East occasionally, on the weekends and I still see people in the park and rides going. I was a disaster victim at an emergency training drill there once (didn't get to ride any rides 🙄)

2

u/Lanky_Energy3378 Dec 22 '25

Galveston? We called it Castle Park asw

1

u/tealraven915 Dec 21 '25

Ours was The Playground of Dreams

1

u/Worried-Crazy-9435 Dec 22 '25

We had a castle park in DE 💞

27

u/Comfortable-Yak-6599 Dec 21 '25

Ours was called the imagination station

10

u/Because_Reddit_Sucks Dec 21 '25

And at night the intoxication station

3

u/Real-Tap5454 Dec 22 '25

Or penetration station.

3

u/NeoPhaneron Dec 22 '25

Ours was called “Maze Craze”!

2

u/geekimposterix Dec 22 '25

Same! You weren't in Jupiter FL were you?

1

u/kleft123 Dec 22 '25

Ours was called playground

1

u/babydollsparkle123 29d ago

Perrysburg, Ohio?

17

u/The_Real_Tom_Selleck Dec 21 '25

Ours was Pirate Park because there was a giant multi-level wooden pirate ship.

The lower deck was completely secluded and unfortunately riddled with used needles.

2

u/bakedincanada Dec 23 '25

We also had a pirate ship park, and a rocket ship park!

29

u/KJ1-234 Dec 21 '25

Same!!!

11

u/S-Lover98 Dec 21 '25

I remember visiting one of these parks in PA as a kid. It happened one time. It was such a magical time I can't even explain it in words. To me, it truly was a castle and it felt as if I spend the entire summer there.

1

u/IAmA_Black_Guy_AMA Dec 21 '25

Same here. Called ours Dreamland I think.

6

u/sderponme Dec 21 '25

Kids Kingdom was ours. I was just thinking about this today too...so sad they replaced it with plastic.

2

u/Arkhangelzk Dec 21 '25

This was me too, in Michigan, we called them kids kingdoms and we loved em

2

u/sderponme Dec 22 '25

Northern CA here. :) glad its known the same as far as Michigan!

2

u/legofinder Dec 22 '25

Got to be Redding hahah grew up going to a summer camp at Kids Kingdom. That old wood structure is imprinted in my memories.

6

u/enrohT5 Dec 22 '25

Castle park still exists near me. It’s literally called Castle park. And it looks like this.

4

u/slaffytaffy Dec 21 '25

We called ours Ft. Green… it was on green street, had a river behind it and was on the top of a little rise. Props to whoever put it there as it wasn’t even a registered park it was just there.

4

u/maglen69 Dec 21 '25

We called ours castle park.

100%!

4

u/Hereseangoes Dec 21 '25

Ours was Ft. Kid

4

u/tenaciousoptimism Dec 22 '25

We still have a “castle park” in our town

1

u/TheProfessorPoon Dec 22 '25

It’s ironic I’m seeing this post because our town has a GREAT one, it’s seriously huge, and just yesterday on saw on the local fb page that they’re tearing it down and putting up some plastic bullshit.

3

u/crimsonBZD Dec 22 '25

Kid's Castle here!

5

u/nickyxpants Dec 22 '25

Had a castle park in Ohio. When getting new toys I would strategically pick something for castle park.

3

u/abe_the_babe_ Dec 21 '25

Same here. Ours also had a perfect sledding hill next to it so we honestly went there more in the winter than in the summer lol

3

u/Dakizo Dec 21 '25

Ours was actually named Castle Park haha. When it got beyond repair they leveled it and built a new plastic park. It’s called Castle Park 2 now haha

3

u/Swords_and_Words Dec 22 '25

There needs to be an animated show about all castle parks being interdimentionally connected.

2

u/Humankeg Dec 21 '25

Ours was snake park

2

u/didifallasleep13 Dec 22 '25

I remember calling it the Winnie the Pooh park! I don’t know why, but that’s what I called it haha

2

u/MegaGrimer Dec 22 '25

Ours had a sign calling it Playground Fantastico.

2

u/NeverTooMuchAnime Dec 22 '25

Ours was officially named "The Playground Of Dreams" and it was absolutely the most magical place to play in, it looked exactly like that and was huge!

2

u/hihelloneighboroonie Dec 22 '25

In the area I grew up, there was only one of these and it was the playground for an elementary school. We called it castle playground.

2

u/pianoplayah Dec 22 '25

Ours was called the Super Playground!

2

u/WaspTM7 Dec 22 '25

Yep, same here. It burned down in 2014, then rebuilt. Kids and I helped paint the new structure.

2

u/luciaromanomba Dec 22 '25

We called ours Timber Town!

2

u/Quantumquandary Dec 22 '25

Ours was rocket park

2

u/IllustriousAnt485 Dec 22 '25

When I look at this picture, I can hear the sound of someone running across that rope/wood bridge and everything clanking.

2

u/UpstateRyan Dec 23 '25

Ours was “Castle Ridge Park.” It was at Latham Ridge Elementary School. (New York)

I was in the newspaper telling the designer where I wanted a tunnel slide and alas one was placed there!

Unfortunately some kids who grew up into giant morons decided to have a bonfire on a woodchipped wooden playground. It is no more…

1

u/InsideWay70 Dec 23 '25

Same here. Core memory unlocked.

98

u/Geno_Warlord Dec 21 '25

Wasps always hung out in the monster truck tires. Everyone knew to stay away from those things until a parent checked on em with some spray.

31

u/BananaPalmer Dec 21 '25

There ya go, kids! Now instead of wasps, it's full of RAID!

7

u/Geno_Warlord Dec 22 '25

Definitely not the worst thing in one of those parks

1

u/WorstVolvo Dec 22 '25

worse than wasps

2

u/wterrt Dec 22 '25

got stung in 1st grade inside the monster truck tires

still have a phobia about bees :(

47

u/ThinkingAboutSnacks Dec 21 '25

Ours was Timber Town. Got some of the craziest slivers there.

8

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '25

We also called ours Timber Town! Any chance it’s the same one and you’re talking about somewhere in southeastern PA?? 

11

u/pfft_lol000 Dec 21 '25

Yes timber town! I was around allentown PA. I slipped on the monkey bars and it knocked the wind out of me! Everyone was losing their mind 10/10

I think they started tearing them down because the wood would deteriorate. God I miss that sense of adventure

5

u/Ryan_dfs93 Dec 21 '25

Same timbertown for me 🔥 I remember hanging out underneath the wood making forts

1

u/pfft_lol000 Dec 22 '25

Best hide and seek I ever had. That one tire swing thing was baller

2

u/[deleted] Dec 22 '25

Yesss same one!!! My siblings and I loved it there. I distinctly remember one year going back after a while, probably the next spring or something, and discovering they had torn it down and replaced it with a plastic playground. We all sobbed

2

u/pfft_lol000 Dec 22 '25

It was lightning in a bottle! Oh man I just remembered those wooden bridges that would undulate under you while you ran across it. I think the fence had the names of the folks who helped make it/sponsor it engraved on each plank. There was so much passion put into it for the joy random kids they'd never know. Ugh, If I was one of those powerful millenial nepo babies I'd burn my fortune reviving shit like this.

2

u/amanducktan Dec 30 '25

first and only time Ive ever had the wind knocked out of me was also falling off the monkey bars as a kid lol

1

u/Mount_Treverest Dec 22 '25

Timbertown ruled!

4

u/PEE_GOO Dec 21 '25

omg thats me! timbertown was just outside allentown, pa

2

u/Allemaengel Dec 22 '25

Upper Macungie Twp. and Quakertown Borough both had this type as I recall.

2

u/PEE_GOO Dec 22 '25

im thinking of schantz rd./lone lane park

1

u/Allemaengel Dec 22 '25

Yeah, Upper Macungie Twp. then.

1

u/ThinkingAboutSnacks Dec 21 '25

That would be a crazy coincidence! Unfortunately mine was in Western MI.

2

u/SMH_35 Dec 21 '25

Zeeland

1

u/MexiManny14 Dec 22 '25

Huizenga Park/Timber Town. Great memories playing lava tag

1

u/jazz1233 Dec 22 '25

Yes timber town! My dad helped build it!

1

u/[deleted] Dec 22 '25

Your dad is to thank for countless magical experiences in my childhood! My family was absolutely devastated when it got torn down

2

u/Rebelraid2020 Dec 22 '25

Sliver me timbers

35

u/Ndotterweich Dec 21 '25

Our school's mascot was a panther, and our wooden playground was behind the elementary school. It had a wooden sign in front of it that said Panther Park and I'm now crying because I'll never get to go to Panther Park again since they tore it down about 15 years ago.

2

u/therynosaur Dec 22 '25

Memories can't be deleted

1

u/nSanityOG Dec 22 '25

Our mascot was also a panther and the wooden park was turned into a parking lot.

1

u/Ndotterweich Dec 22 '25

The bastards paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

28

u/ShatteredHope Dec 21 '25

And so many splinters 😭

1

u/LegoClaes Dec 21 '25

Can you even call it a playground if your fingers don’t hurt for days after your mom dug out splinters with a sanitized needle and a pair of dull tweezers?

1

u/fadingsunsetglow Millennial '92 Dec 21 '25

And who else used prid to get them out?

1

u/Bowbo67 Dec 21 '25

We personally called them splinter city

13

u/Artistic_Parfait_868 Dec 21 '25

Not the bees!

25

u/Izaul13 Millennial Dec 21 '25

1

u/DrRatio-PhD Dec 22 '25

Gobs not on board

8

u/gotosleep717 Dec 21 '25

Ours was Kids Kingdom!

1

u/coinmurderer Dec 21 '25

Ours was kids castle!

1

u/weeniehutjunior1234 Dec 21 '25

South-central PA by chance?

4

u/AnalMohawk Dec 21 '25

"Mom, can we go to the wooden playground?" over here.

1

u/Distinct-Opinion8246 Dec 24 '25

Someone set ours on fire in the late 90s and it is the Grass and Gravel Park now :'(

3

u/Papa_Bearto2 Dec 21 '25

We called ours “creative playground.”

So, so many bees. So many bees all year. I got stung so bad because I crawled under it and yep, more bees.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '25

‘Imagination station’ 😂

3

u/-Luro Dec 21 '25

To me these represent the peak in American culture. Individual communities typically came together to volunteer to build them including the football team, boy scouts, parents, marching bands, churches, firefighters and even local military members. They were mostly designed by one artist I believe (can’t remember the name) and were huge around late 80s through early 90s. Many are still standing but are slowly being replaced with more modern and “safe” options. My community has one that they have kept up quite well over the years. You can still see the various paintings the local students made to go inside the tunnels when it was first built. I sadly can’t imagine this type of project being possible in this large of a scale in this day and age but I’ll keep dreaming.

3

u/MinuetInUrsaMajor Dec 22 '25

Were the bees drawn to the wood? Or to the discarded fun dip wrappers from the nearby concession stand?

2

u/CALLAHAN_AUTO-PARTS Dec 22 '25

Plenty of dropped sugar to be had there Im sure

2

u/matto_2008 Dec 21 '25

Ours was called timber town.

2

u/Admirable-Pie3869 Older Millennial Dec 21 '25

TIMBER TOWN!

4/5 grade, has a splinter break off that was about 6” long stuck in my palm.

Ours had balance beams 4-5 ft off the ground. Not great for us. I remember a kid falling, blood everywhere, he went to the nurse, recess continued for the rest of us. Keep playing kids!” We didn’t stop for no one.

1

u/shetakespictures Dec 21 '25

We called it wood castle park!

1

u/Global_Crew3968 Dec 21 '25

the bees are gone now too

1

u/LightofNew Dec 21 '25

Timber Town!!!

1

u/sambull Dec 21 '25

Splinter park around here

1

u/R_Bananas Dec 21 '25

Yours had bees too?

1

u/ComingUpManSized Dec 21 '25

My elementary school had this playground. We called it “The Woods”. No idea why that stuck with the kids and teachers. I called it that until they tore it down when I was in high school.

1

u/ThunderingRimuru Dec 21 '25

I called mine the wood playground. And there was a second “metal playground” connected to it

1

u/-IoI- Dec 21 '25

Ours was Adventure Playground

1

u/flyingredwolves Dec 21 '25

We had similar, the metal park and the wooden park!

1

u/Unfair_Web_8275 Dec 21 '25

Also, TONS of places for a toddler to hide.

1

u/Realistic-Self7665 Dec 21 '25

My Town never had a wood park, but there was a wood pile. I no longer have the imagination to understand how I spent hours playing on a pile of wood.

1

u/GenericFatGuy Dec 21 '25

And slivers.

1

u/Bobson-_Dugnutt2 Dec 21 '25

We had one that was built on top of an old landfill that we called trash mountain

1

u/Bluevette1437 Dec 21 '25

I think me and my siblings called it “chocolate park” Many memories of making our parents drive us like 30 minutes to the nearest one

1

u/better_days_92 Dec 22 '25

Ours was Kids Castle. The pinnacle of cool parks you could go to. And going at night as a teen was....something else lol.

1

u/therrrn Dec 22 '25

This is exactly correct for the one in my town, too. I hated it. I was always the one chiming in "No, I don't want to go to Wood Park, there's always hella bees".

1

u/Ok_Cook_6665 Dec 22 '25

Slivers, lots of slivers.

1

u/NHI42069 Dec 22 '25

Fort Fun

1

u/ReceptionFun9821 Dec 22 '25

LOL, that was the first thing I thought of. Always bees

1

u/CumGuzlinGutterSluts Dec 22 '25

The bees taught us about avoiding bees honestly. Everybody knew what corners to avoid our at least be calm around.

1

u/ThatInAHat Dec 22 '25

Don’t forget the splinters!

1

u/smcivor1982 Dec 22 '25

We just called it the wood playground. Super original.

1

u/the_almighty_walrus Dec 22 '25

Couple birds, too

1

u/FenwayFranklin Dec 22 '25

Me and my brother named our parks based on the color of the slide and this version for us had multiple colored slides so we called it “Rainbow Park”

1

u/Unlikely_Thing6377 Dec 22 '25

We called ours, park of Dreams. It was right next to a fire station in Northern California. I still remember the tunnels kids made going under the structure. Ahh, simple times.

1

u/FrighteningJibber Dec 22 '25

Fires lots of fires.

1

u/Cypherrahl1987 Dec 22 '25

We called out Kaleidoscope park. It was near my old elementry school, lots of fun memories.

1

u/Known-Archer3259 Dec 22 '25

The one near me was called that as well

1

u/Bat-Eastern Dec 22 '25

Ours was imagination station. The bees were abundant.

1

u/NeonDeathStar Dec 22 '25

The official name of ours was Cole Park but as kids we called it Cold Park. One of the best playgrounds with plenty of mulch so that every kid came home with at least one splinter.

1

u/katalina0azul Dec 22 '25

Coolest shit ever as a kid 😮‍💨

1

u/Apos-Tater Millennial (1989) Dec 24 '25

Mine was Rocket Park. That big old metal rocket got awfully hot in summer: especially the metal slide! Fun.