Jun 27

I slowed down on the deals this weekend, as I took the opportunity to spend time with my family and play some.  We visited a park in Auburn called Les Goves today (they just had a large free kids event last Friday you may have heard about). My mother in law takes the kids to this park often, but today was the first time I had visited. We had so much fun! This is one of the few parks I would recommend driving out of your way to visit. There is tons of fun for kids 2 to 12 years old, and you can easily make an entire days outing here.

Les Gove is in the down town Auburn area, and has both a decent sized water park and separate play ground area for kids.   I think that the water park and play area are two of the best in terms of free parks, that my family has enjoyed. The water park has plenty of spurting spouts, built in super soaker type water shooters, spray pools and more.  There was plenty of grassy area surrounding the water park to easily set up camp with your towels and blankets. The water area was a bit slippery today (my little one fell more then once). I heard another gentleman mention that its not usually that slippery and he planned to write the city, so hopefully that will be addressed soon.  Minus the slippery issues its a great spot for kids to cool off and play in the water for quite awhile.

When they tire of the water park area, there is a GREAT sensory park just behind the water park area, called Discovery Park. The website describes it this way: “Often, children with disabilities are left to sit and watch their able-bodied friends and siblings play. Instead, imagine all children playing side-by-side in a fully accessible and sensory-rich playground environment. That is the vision for Auburn’s barrier-free playground. Barrier-free playgrounds delight children of all abilities while providing a place where compassion and acceptance flourish. The sensory garden is an integrated system of spaces devoted to the five senses: see, hear, touch, taste and smell.”

I can confirm, it was a park with fun for all. We had kids with us ranging in ages from 2 t0 12 and all had fun (it was more of a stretch for the 12 year old to stay active though).   There were climbing walls and winding slides, a huge sand play area, modern versions of teeter totters, saucer swings, an in-the-ground merry go round, climbing rope web and more.  It is all built on soft foamy rubber, so little concern of injury for your kids while they are playing.

One of my favorite features of this park was the layout.  There were shady spots or sunny spots at both the water park and playground areas. There were also tables available to sit at. Most of the surrounding grassy areas provided easy visual access of the playground to watch your kids from,1423

0if you are not out there playing with them.  The park is also monitored by video surveillance, which hopefully lends to more safety for the kids playing.

In addition to all of this park fun listed above, there is also a library, sports fields, Parks and Recreation Administration Building, Senior Center and White River Valley Museum (admission is $2 for adults, $1 for kids but Wed. and 4th Sundays are always free) on site to visit and entertain the kids with. It really can be an entire days worth of fun, making it worth the drive if you live in a city other then Auburn. You can pack a lunch, bbq on site, or visit one of my families favorite burger spots just down the road – Big Daddys Drive In on Auburn Way (don’t let the old run down look of the place chase you away, their fried mushrooms, burgers, shakes and onion rings are all great).

You can find driving directions to the park here, and more detail about the park and location.

Do you have a favorite park for day visits in the Pacific NW?  Share with us, I am always looking for a new spot to take the kids and review for good old fashion (and affordable) family fun!

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