Urbandale Parks Challenge: Colby Woods Park

Not to be confused with Des Moines' Colby Park on 34th St, Colby Woods Park is in Urbandale, off 78th St. It was a harder park to find because the only way to access it was by trail. Google Maps will get you to the closest intersection, but you need to be able to figure out where to go from there. I highlighted the trail in red that will take you to the park:

So, the way we got there was by turning north on Colby Woods Drive from Hickman. As soon as we crossed Roseland Drive, we saw the trail. We had to find parking on some side streets, and then hiked over. The walk was actually lovely. The homeowners had really beautiful gardens, and Jo loved looking at someone's fairy garden that was near the trail.

And then, we arrived at the park! There weren't many trees around the actual playground, so shade was minimal.

The playground equipment was very interesting and unique. Our kids were a little too young or timid for some of it, and some of the equipment just puzzled us. We weren't really sure what it was for (doesn't that sound odd?). Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of what I think was a balance beam. It's kind of like a balance beam, but has waves up and down. It also has hinges, so some of it kind of sinks as you step on it. It's definitely not anything I'd seen before! Jo tried it out and thought it was fun to walk across, but Oliver wanted nothing to do with it!

Andrew helped them out with the teeter totter:

See the green slide looking thing behind Oliver in the photo below? It's not a slide, but some sort of thin ramp. We couldn't figure out what it was for. Maybe for racing Matchbox cars?

Colby Woods Park seemed like a nice, little neighborhood park. It's not something I could really picture us driving out to in the future, but it's a nice stop off the trail. I liked the uniqueness of it. Maybe the kids would have been more innovative and explored it more if there had been other kids around. I'd be interested in hearing how other kids use some of the equipment!

This was our 10th park in the Urbandale Parks Challenge. We still have 22 to go in less than a month! Time to get serious with our park visits--Wish us luck.