Bluegrass Park

Bluegrass Park, located in the Coeur d' Alene Place neighborhood at 6071 N Courcelles Parkway is one of our favorite parks. It has a lot of green space, a large playground, ultimate frisbee course, basketball courts and a splash pad. It's a newer park so there's not much shade but the equipment is still in pretty good shape.

In regards to accessibility, there is a large parking lot with two accessible spots. There is a wide paved path around the entire park that is .33 miles in length. The paved path leads to the playground, but the playground is covered in wood chips so one using mobility assistance would most likely find it difficult to access the playground area.

There are "real" bathrooms (yeah!) at Bluegrass and the only water fountains for the park are located on the outside of the restroom building. There is one accessible stall in each bathroom and at this writing, they both have doors.

There are no steps to negotiate at Bluegrass however there are a few rolling hills within the perimeter of the park. There is one pavillion with picnic tables that is available for people to reserve (contact the City's Parks Department). Shade is pretty scarce at Bluegrass because the trees are still young and I often see people bringing their own pop-up pavillion tents or large umbrellas to keep the sun at bay.

One of the most popular features at Bluegrass is the splash pad. It is not a large pad so keeping track of your kid even when it's busy isn't too hard to do. The cement on the pad doesn't seem to be too slippery and kids are running on the wet cement all day. The splash pad is open from 11 am to 7 pm (Memorial Day through Labor Day). The water is on a timer so if you have a perseverator, it's good to go around 6 pm and have the water completely turned off as a sign it's time to go. If you use a chair for mobility, the path leads directly onto the pad; if you don't want to get wet, you may have to stay on the path (and in the sun) because the water does 'over-spray' the splash pad.



The playground area is a good size - large enough to be interesting but not so large that keeping track of the kiddo is difficult. There are three entrances to the fenced playground area and benches located within the perimeter. There is no shade other than that provided by the play structure itself. There's not a lot of tactile stimulation at this playground so kiddos needing that sort of sensory input may find the wood chips more interesting than the slides. There are two toddler swings and two 'big kid' swings as well as a sand box. The structure itself is made of treated wood and the slides are plastic.









Bluegrass gets a lot of use but it never seems to be overly-crowded. Most of the users are from the neighborhood so people come and go often. Parents are involved in watching their kids and participating in activities. The attitude is relaxed. My kiddo has had his share of melt-downs there but no one has ever said anything to me or made me feel uncomfortable there.

Do you have any feedback about Bluegrass Park? Please comment and let us know your experiences!