March 30 is Take a Walk in the Park Day. We love the wide variety of scenic places to enjoy in Kansas City. Whether you like wooded trails, waterways or something a bit more urban, Kansas City’s parks offer something for everyone. These are a few of our favorite places to take a walk.
The Coolest Parks in Kansas City
Olivia Bock updated this article in June 9, 2025 to remove outdated COVID-19 quarantine-related closure notices for select parks.
There are over 400 parks in the Kansas City area, so it can be difficult to find the best playgrounds. But after some searching, we’ve made a list of some of the coolest and most unique playgrounds in Kansas City!
Antioch Park, 6501 Antioch Rd., Merriam, KS
Antioch Park’s Dodge Town transports you right into the wild west! Parents can relax in the shade while children explore this mini-town, which includes a bank, blacksmith shop, city hall, general store, pony express, schoolhouse, and train station. Two accessible playgrounds are connected to this play area.
Dagg Park, 2000 Iron St., North Kansas City, MO
Dagg Park contains an ADA-compliant spray ground with an ocean theme, as well as an accessible “woods fountains” for children ages two and under. Two playgrounds are available, with separate areas for older and younger children. Colorful equipment adds a pop to the two adjoining playgrounds, which contain roped climbing structures, saucer swings, and long slides. Parking is accessible and restrooms are available.
Frontier Park, 15501 W. Indian Creek Pkwy., Olathe, KS
For a pirate-themed adventure, head to Frontier Park. The equipment is built around a pirate ship structure with a big flag and steering wheel. This park is also an ideal place for sports, as it contains two softball fields, a soccer field, and a basketball goal.
Harris Park, 601 SW Jefferson St., Lee’s Summit, MO
This park’s castle-themed playground is perfect for young princes and princesses. In addition to offering access to playground equipment, the large castle structure is a great backdrop for playing pretend. An added plus is the park’s nearby amenities, which include the Harris Park Community Center and Summit Waves Waterpark.
Meadowbrook Park, 9101 Nall Ave., Prairie Village, KS
During Meadowbrook Park’s construction, local children voted for their favorite playground design and Treeline Adventure won. This treehouse-inspired structure incorporates various ropes and ladders that lead to different huts. Additional amenities in Meadowbrook Park include the Grove playground, eight pickleball courts, fitness equipment, paved trails, and three lakes.
Penguin Park, 4124 NE Vivion Rd., Kansas City, MO
For over 50 years, Penguin Park has been one of the most beloved playgrounds in Kansas City. Children love the playground equipment, but the star of this park is the 25-foot tall penguin statue. Several other animal statues are positioned around the park, adding a whimsical quality that has charmed visitors for decades.
Roanoke Park, 3601 Roanoke Rd., Kansas City, MO
You can reach this park via Roanoke Road, the only remaining brick road in Kansas City. The highlight of the playground is its enormous roped climbing structure, which offers hours of fun. The park also features additional play equipment, an embankment slide, a nearby community center, and several neighboring sports fields.
The Concourse Park, Benton Blvd. & St. John Ave., Kansas City, MO
If you’re looking for a playground with a fun entrance, then slide down the giant embankment slides that lead to the play equipment in The Concourse Park. Designed by community members of all ages, the playground features a winding slide, a jungle gym, swings, and giant wooden chairs. Neighboring amenities include basketball and futsal courts, as well as fitness equipment for adults. You can also cool off by running through the fountains.
Valley Park, 4000 E 123rd Terr., Grandview, MO
From roped climbing structures to a zip line to a giant slide, this park has something for everyone. Saucer swings provide accessible fun for all children, and shaded canopies keep the park cooler during the summer months.
Do you know of any other cool and unique parks in Kansas City? Please share them in the comments below!
Best Inclusive Parks and Playgrounds in Kansas City
Although many parks offer accessible parking, sidewalks, and bathrooms, few include playground equipment that is inclusive to those with special needs. Over the past few years, Kansas City area parks and rec departments have addressed this issue by establishing new playgrounds with equipment that all can enjoy. We’ve listed our favorites (complete with a map showing their locations) below.
Adaptive Treehouse at Wonderscope Children’s Museum: 433 E. Red Bridge Rd., Kansas City, MO.
In fall 2020, Wonderscope will reopen at its new location in Red Bridge Shopping Center. The new-and-improved Wonderscope will be an inclusive environment where all children can learn through play. In addition to its accessible parking & bathrooms, wheelchair-friendly play areas, and quiet room, Wonderscope will feature an adaptive treehouse. This treehouse contains ramps, extra space for wheelchair-users, and sensory experiences.
College Boulevard Activity Center Playground: 11031 S. Valley Pkwy., Olathe, KS.
This Variety KC park has a smooth surface with ramps leading to inclusive play equipment. A nearby accessible ball field features the Miracle League, which is a baseball league for children of all abilities.
Field of Dreams: N. 126th St., Bonner Springs, KS
This baseball-themed playground opens August 21st, 2020, in Wyandotte. Children can get their own ticket at the ticket booth, run around the “bases”, and enjoy the wide variety of play equipment-including slides, accessible swings, an accessible merry-go-round, and musical instruments. The park also contains ramps and foam surfacing.
Jewish Community Center of Greater KC Playground: 5801 W. 115th St., Leawood, KS.
In addition to including low platforms and a mulch-free ground, this fenced play area contains Braille panels. Its other play panels have interesting textures and fragrances.
Leawood City Park: 10601 Lee Blvd., Leawood, KS.
With ramped play structures leading to slides and saucer swings, Leawood City Park is the perfect place for children and adults to play together, regardless of physical or mental abilities.
Legacy Park: 1201 NE Legacy Park Dr., Lee’s Summit, MO.
The Joseph A. Dyke Playground in Legacy Park, located in Shelter 3, contains a wheelchair-friendly playground with a variety of play features, including accessible swings.
McCoy Park: 800 N. Bess Truman Pkwy., Independence, MO.
Ramps, adaptive swings, and smooth flooring ensure that this pioneer-themed playground is accessible to all. The park is fenced and contains interactive panels, sensory-rich musical elements, and stainless steel slides for children with cochlear implants. It also includes a Miracle League baseball field, which has a large playing field with an even surface.
Memorial Park: 998 Commercial St., Belton, MO.
This playground includes smooth surfaces and ramps, ensuring that all children can have a good time.
Playground & Splash Pad at T.B. Hanna Station, 214 S. Washington St., Raymore, MO
Opening in fall 2020, this new playground and splash pad will delight children of all abilities. The playground’s amenities include musical instruments, a merry-go-round, and communication boards. If your children want to cool off, they can head over to the splash pad, which features a train with a tunnel wide enough for wheelchair-users to pass through. The splash pad also contains colorful light-up spray jets, overhead sprinklers, and splash buckets. During the winter months, children can skate at the park’s ice rink!
Recreation Park, 1011 S. Madison St., Raymore, MO
Recreation Park’s newest playground features smooth surfaces, ramps, and shade. Children will love going down the many slides, playing with the musical pieces, whirling on the merry-go-round, and riding the four-person seesaw.
Shawnee Mission Park Playground: 7900 Renner Rd., Shawnee, KS.
This playground’s star features are its musical toys, colorful pathway, and accessible swings and metal slides. In addition to containing wheelchair-friendly ramps and surfaces, the park is fenced, has accessible bathrooms, and includes a water mister.
Sheila Kemper Dietrich Park: E. 27th Street & Gillham Road, Kansas City, MO.
If you are by Crown Center, be sure to visit this pirate-themed park. Concrete sidewalks and ramps lead to accessible play equipment, including a large sea serpent.
Stilwell Community Park: 6402 W. 207th St., Stillwell, KS.
The grounds at this park provide easy access to adaptive swings, a sensory area, and a water mister.
Sybil Silkwood Nutter Inclusive Playground: Gillham Rd & E. 22nd. St., Kansas City, MO.
Located at Hospital Hill Park in Children’s Mercy, this playground contains plenty of space for children with wheelchairs or IV poles to access the equipment. Its soft foam floor is easy to traverse, and its fence prevents small children from wandering off. A communication board for nonverbal children provides an inclusive atmosphere for all.
Tiffany Hills Park: 9400 N. Congress Ave., Kansas City, MO.
This fenced park contains sensory panels for touch and sound, as well as accessible swings and colorful metal slides. The park is pirate-themed and has ramps leading to different pieces of equipment.
Variety KC Exploration Play: 6800 Zoo Dr., Kansas City, MO.
The Kansas City Zoo holds the honor of being the first zoo to provide an inclusive playground. Located in the Africa section of the zoo, the playground includes a zip line with a companion harness, an accessible swing, and smooth surfacing. There is also a quiet zone area where you can check out weighted blankets and noise-canceling headphones.
BONUS! Indoor Facility:
We Rock the Spectrum: 7601 NW Roanridge Rd., Kansas City, MO.
This indoor playground offers full accessibility for children on the autism spectrum. The open play area includes suspended equipment, swings, and crash mats, all designed to improve balance and motor planning. A zip line provides stress relief, while a trampoline and climbing structures build strength. The facility also features sensory-based toys and a fine motor arts and crafts area. Children can attend various classes here-music, playgroup, storytime, and yoga.
Do you have a favorite inclusive park in Kansas City to add to our list? Please share it in the comments below!
Kansas City’s Best Parks for Sports-Lovers
Parks are often best known for their playgrounds and nature trails, but many also contain game fields and other sports amenities. Here, we’ve listed some of Kansas City’s best parks for sports-lovers. From soccer to pickleball to disc golf-and everything in between-these parks have something for everyone.
Happy Rock Park, 7600 NE Antioch Rd., Gladstone, MO
At nearly 80 acres, Happy Rock Park contains ample space for sports. It features 5 lighted ball fields, 4 soccer fields, 4 lighted tennis courts, and a basketball court. Hikers will enjoy the 1.3-mile looped trail, and children can play on 3 different playgrounds.
Heritage Park, 16050 Pflumm Rd., Olathe, KS
In addition to its softball, football, and soccer fields, Heritage Park has an 18-hole disc golf course, outdoor exercise equipment, and a 40-acre lake where you can go fishing and boating. The park also offers several athletic programs-including adult softball and youth soccer. Additional amenities include a playground and a 30-acre off-leash area for dogs.
Hickory Hills Park, 8420 W. 54th Terr., Overland Park, KS
One of the best aspects of this park is the free, first-come-first-serve athletic venues. These include a basketball court, tennis courts, and a multi-use field. Its baseball/softball field can be rented but is otherwise first-serve. The park also contains a looped trail and a playground.
Indian Valley Park, 11606 Knox St., Overland Park, KS
Similar to Hickory Hills Park, all of the amenities here are free and first-come-first-serve-although the baseball and soccer fields can also be rented. The tennis court doubles as a pickleball court, and the multi-use field is perfect for various sports. Be sure to check out the roller hockey rink, which includes a sideboard border, regulation height and width goals, and player benches. Last but not least, the park contains a trail for hiking and biking.
Leawood City Park, 10601 Lee Blvd., Leawood, KS
This park has something to offer for every sports-lover! It contains 11 soccer fields, 6 lighted tennis courts, 3 basketball goals, 2 baseball fields, and 2 sand volleyball courts. Joggers will enjoy the looped half-mile trail, and swimmers can stop by the park’s aquatic center. The park also serves as the trailhead for both the Tomahawk Greenway Trail and the Indian Creek Greenway Trail.
Legacy Park, 1201-1501 NE Legacy Park Dr., Lee’s Summit, MO
Besides featuring multiple athletic programs, Legacy Park contains practice field venues for baseball, football, and soccer. The park’s 22-acre lake is a popular place for fishing and boating, and the disc golf course and t-ball fields provide even more fun.
Macken Park, 1002 Clark Ferguson Dr., North Kansas City, MO
3 baseball/softball fields, 6 tennis/pickleball fields, 4 racquetball/handball courts, and a soccer field are all available to rent at this park. There is a one-mile asphalt trail for joggers, plus a half-mile trail for skaters and bikers. If your kids want to take a break from sports, look no further than the park’s 2 playgrounds.
Platte Ridge Park, 17130 Hwy. 371, Platte City, MO
This gem in Platte City includes 4 baseball/softball fields, a volleyball court, a soccer field, and a 5K cross country trail. If you like fishing, head over to the pond-it contains largemouth bass, bluegill, channel catfish, and grass carp. Multiple athletic programs are available, many of which were created by a partnership with the YMCA. Of course, the park contains a playground as well!
Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park, 87th Street Parkway & Lackman Road, Lenexa, KS
Recent additions to this park include 2 tennis courts and a roller hockey rink (which is also ideal for soccer and broomball). Visitors will also enjoy the basketball court, disc golf course, sand volleyball courts, and multi-use fields. A fishing pond is available, as are walking trails. If you like swimming, you’re in luck-the park contains the Indian Trails Aquatic Center. Other amenities include 3 playgrounds and a community garden.
Do you know of any other great parks for sports-lovers? Please share them in the comments below!
Best of August
Missouri State Fair, Grand Carnivale at Worlds of Fun, Butterfly Festivals, Apple Picking… these are just a few of the things we LOVE about August with KC kids!
Note: We are looking forward to each event on this list. They are numbered to correspond with their position on the map, not in order of preference. We love them all.
LEGO DREAMZzz
We recently had the opportunity to attend a premier of the new and exclusive LEGO DREAMZzz: Z-BlobRescue Rush’ 4D Movie at LEGOLAND Discovery Center Kansas City at Crown Center. Along with viewing the new movie, which will be a permanent addition to their 4D line-up, we were also able to enjoy checking out several new themed additions to the LEGOLAND experience.
First up, we headed to LEGOLAND’s 4D theatre for the showing of the DREAMZzz movie. This new film was produced exclusively for the LEGOLAND Discovery Centers and LEGOLAND Parks. The storyline is taken from the new LEGO DREAMZzz product line, which includes a television series and DREAMZzzLEGO building sets. The audience is introduced to the Dream Chasers: Mateo, Izzy, Z-Blob, and friends as they battle The Nightmare King and his army from the Grim Realm, the Grimspawn. In the DREAMZzztelevision series, Mateo and his friends discover that they can enter Dream World when they sleep-and with the help of Z-Blob (a goo-based character)-they are able to help protect the creatures of DreamWorld from The Nightmare King and his evil henchman, the Night Hunter. During the Z-Blob Rescue Rush’, the audience will experience the movie in 3D with special glasses, as well as other 4D sensations-like wind and even rain! This fun new movie was definitely a hit and was enjoyed by all ages. It has been a while since there was a new movie at LEGOLAND 4D Cinema, and the Dream Chasers movie was a great addition.
Next, we moved on to MINILAND, where we got to go on a Dream Creature Hunt to solve a word puzzle using clues we found in hidden DREAMZzz LEGO set scenes. It was a fun challenge to try and spot the hidden clues-especially when nighttime descended upon MINILAND! After guests successfully complete the Dream Creature Hunt, they will receive the highly-coveted Dream Chaser ID Card. Another Dream Chaser activity guests can complete is the Mashup Build Challenge. Kids (and more than a few adults) loved creating their own LEGO Dream Creature!
After all the Dream Missions had been completed, we explored the rest of the Discovery Center. We were excited to experience several newer additions, like the DUPLO Village for the littlest LEGO lovers, as well as some old favorites, like the Kingdom Quest and Merlin’s Apprentice rides. Kids will love the Great LEGO Race Virtual Reality Experience–and parents will appreciate the new coffee shop! Another big hit was the Pizzeria-the kids had fun creating their own LEGO “pizzas”.
Throughout our time spent enjoying the new and improved LEGOLAND and the new Dream World attractions, the employees, aka Model Citizens, were very helpful, cheerful, and really went above and beyond to ensure we had a BRICK-tastic time.
We highly recommend heading over to LEGOLAND Discovery Center Kansas City soon to check out the new DREAMZzz 4D movie and other amusements-there’s so much to see and do! And while you’re there, be sure to also visit SEA LIFE, Kaleidoscope, or the shops at Crown Center.