Buckingham Road Playground in Avon

Cut to the chase. Take me to the Momsense.

Some of you may be reading the title to this post and thinking, “Wait. Didn’t Shawna just write about Buckingham Playground?”.

Well, the answer is yes.

But, thankfully, there are at least two playgrounds in Connecticut with the name Buckingham. And I say “thankfully” because, for a moment, I thought Shawna and I had gone to the same playground and were planning to write about the same place.

I had done some research on playgrounds in Avon, went to this new destination, came home to upload my photos and update our posting schedule and saw that Shawna was planning on writing about Buckingham Playground. Yikes!

I quickly texted her to see if her playground was in Glastonbury and kept my fingers crossed (I really didn’t want to figure out another outing for the week). She responded, “Yes” and I let out a sigh of relief.

I’m being a bit dramatic, but I was happy that we hadn’t been to the same spot (though Shawna and I laughed later that we are surprised that hasn’t happened yet).

So, now that we have that straightened out, let me tell you about the Buckingham Road Recreation Area Playground in Avon.

Not surprisingly, it is located off of Buckingham Road (10 Buckingham Road to be exact).

If you are like me and coming over the mountain from West Hartford, you go down 44, past the Shoppes at Farmington Valley (home to Bruiser’s hair cutting venue and one of my favorite playgrounds), turn onto 177 and then it is another ~4 miles (with a few additional turns) to get to the park.  I plugged the address into my GPS and had no problems finding it.

For those not as familiar with Avon, here is a map from the Town’s website.  The park is area #2 on the map.

Oh, and here is some information from their site about the overall recreation area.

BUCKINGHAM ROAD RECREATION AREA – 17.73 acres.  10 Buckingham Road.   Access is off Huckleberry Hill Road.  There are two (2) all-purpose fields and one full-sized, regulation baseball field; in addition to a fully accessible children’s playground.  Open 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., April 1 to November 15.  Golf is prohibited and dogs are not allowed on the fields.

One important thing to note is that the park does not seem to be open year-round.  It is listed as April 1 to November 15 from 8am to 8pm.  Too bad, because this is a great park. So just make sure you go check it out before November 15th.  I think you should have time 🙂

Parking was easy.  A large parking lot was located right next to the playground.

As we drove in and my kids saw the giant playground they started yelling, “Playground, Playground” from the back of the car.

I agree with them that the playground looked pretty amazing, but the only thing I noticed as we pulled in to park was that it looked like this playground was completely fenced in.  Yes.  My favorite kind of playground!!!!  (Take note all you moms with little ones that like to run!)

So right off the bat, I was in love with this playground just due to the simple fact that it was fully enclosed.

I got the kids out of the car and we ventured inside.  It was a dreary, overcast day, so there weren’t many people there, but dreary weather never stops my kids from heading to a playground.

Once inside, the twins ran off in two different directions (of course) and I took a look around.  Right away, I knew this place was pretty nice.  Let me give you a tour.

There was a covered picnic area.

A toddler-sized playscape.

A variety of swings.

A seesaw, sand box (I’m assuming sand will be added), and musical area.

And a gigantic playscape for the older crowd.

The other wonderful thing about this place is that it is a boundless or fully accessible playground.  It was built by a group of community volunteers who dedicated their time and resources to create a “Playground for All Kids”.

A key feature of a fully accessible playground is rubberized ground cover and much of the Buckingham Road Playground had just that.  This type of ground cover makes the playground features accessible to strollers, wheelchairs and provides a great base for children who are crawling or just learning to walk.

My crawler, Sweetheart, certainly enjoyed her time exploring this new playground.

There is also a fairly large area within the fenced in space that is just grass.  A great place to bring a blanket for a picnic or have the kids kick around a ball.

This playground really did seem to have it all.  I couldn’t believe how large the main playscape was and how many different elements it contained.  I think it had every feature I have seen at other playgrounds all wrapped into one.

The thing had at least 5 slides.

A boat (Though I needed to help them get the boat moving.  Where are the bigger kids when you need them?)

Tunnels and all sorts of balancing devices (my kids’ favorite).

And so much more.

Now, before I get carried away with myself and put this playground too high up on a pedestal, there are a few potential challenges for this destination that you may want to take into consideration.

1. There isn’t a lot of shade.  Besides the shade structure over the eating area, the rest of the playground space is shade free.  I’m guessing it gets pretty hot on sunny days.
2. The large playscape is pretty large.  My kids did well on it, but I might be a bit more nervous about them if there were a bunch of kids at the playground.  It is definitely a playscape designed for older kids, so just be cautious if it is a busy day and you have little ones.

Other than those two things, though, I really liked this playground and I think we will be back for another visit (or two or three) in the coming months.

THE MOMSENSE:

Buckingham Road Recreation Area Playground for All Kids

10 Buckingham Road, Avon, Connecticut

Get directions here:

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Park Features:

• Open April 1 to November 15 from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.
• Large parking lot adjacent to the playground.
• Completely fenced in playground.
• Fully accessible (also referred to as a Boundless Playground)
• Two playscapes
• Toddler-sized with slides.
• Big Kid-sized with slides, ladders, boat, balance beam, ramps, tunnels, monkey bars and more.
• Swings including standard swings, fully accessible swings and baby swings.
• Picnic tables and benches in the playground.
• Covered eating area.
• Stroller-accessible.
• Wheelchair-accessible.
• Variety of ground cover including rubber matting, bark chips and bricks.
• Seasonal porta-potty located in the parking lot.
• Open green space.
• Bike parking.
• Trails and athletic fields nearby.

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