Springfield Parks, Greenways, and Outdoor Spaces
4/10/16

This evening we visited four parks, walked on two trails, and checked out the Springfield Skate Park and Spokes BMX Raceway. We had been to about half of these locations before.

#51 Fassnight Park  S. Campbell and Meadowmere
This historic 28 acre park is on Campbell Ave. south of Grand St. There is fabulous historic rock work in the pool house/pavilion and walls/bridges.We have been here many times before for picnics, scout day camps, softball games, swimming and just exploring, but not for several years. . The creek has been improved since we were last here and there is now a greenway trail and handball courts. There is also the pool, playground, ball field, basketball courts, picnic tables and grills. We walked around the park, down the trail and toured the Skate Park spending 45 minutes and walking 1 1/3 miles.

#52 Fassnight Pool S.Campbell and Meadowmere
This is the city pool we always used when our children were young, primarily since our children were spread out in age, it worked well for both young and older children with the "really shallow " shallow end. It is not much different from when we were last here. It now has a tall tube slide and toddler slide and a couple of water play features next to the wading pool. It has not opened for the season obviously but we walked around the fence to look at it.

#53 Springfield Skate Park 945 W. Meadowmere St.
This skate park is west of Fassnight Park just north of JFK stadium. It has a 13,500 square foot two-story indoor facility and a 25,000 square foot outdoor facility for bicycles, skate boards, scooters and roller blades.. We have never been here before and one of  the staff took us on a brief tour. They have open sessions and classes. and a small pro shop/concession stand. There is a charge for sessions and with the yearly membership the sessions are half price. There were several people using the facilities on bicycles, scooters, and skate boards. It seems like a very nice facility, the staff was very friendly and welcoming.

Fassnight Creek Greenway
This is a 1.2 mile trail that currently passes through Fassnight Park, and goes under Campbell, Bennett and Jefferson avenues, and connects by road to Phelps Grove Park. It will eventually be extended west to Jordan Creek and Wilson's Creek greenways. This trail was developed since the last time we were here so we have never officially been on this trail but have walked along the creek and in this area before. We walked the trail through Fassnight Park and down to the skate park and back.

#54 Loren Street Park 2155 W. Catalpa This 6.5 acre park is west of Kansas Expy. and is the home of Cruse Dog Park and the trailhead/parking for a 1 mile section of Jordan Creek Greenway. We have never been here before and we didn't see anything here other than the dog park. There is no parking on Catalpa St., the entrance to the parking area is off of Grand St, just west of Kansas Expy behind Walgreens. We walked south down the trail past the dog park and back spending 15 minutes and walking about 1/2 mile.

#55 Cruse Dog Park 2100 W. Catalpa
See the Loren Street Park entry above for location.  I knew there was a dog park but didn't have any idea where it was. This is a six-acre, fenced facility for dogs to go off-leash to run, play, socialize and exercise and is open from sunrise to sunset. There is a 4 1/2-acre section for large dogs and a one and a half-acre section for small dogs. The park is for registered users only but there are day passes available. Annual Registration Fee: $25.00 per dog (maximum of 2 dogs per person)
Daily Pass available for $10 (per dog), limit of 2 dogs per owner + $10 deposit. Dog owners must provide a current Certificate of Vaccination for Rabies, rabies tag number
and pet medical records from a licensed veterinarian
documenting current vaccinations for PARVO, DISTEMPER and BORDETELLA. There were several dogs in the large dog area tonight and they all seemed to be having a great time, running and playing. There were no small dogs here tonight.

#27(continued from 4/2) Jordan Creek Greenway.
We walked on this trail in Jordan Valley Park on 4/2 and this is separate 1 mile segment that runs from Loren Street Park south to James Ewing Sports Complex. We walked past the dog park and across Catalpa for a short way tonight and also briefly walked on the trail at James Ewing. We had never been on this segment of the trail before.

#56 James Ewing Sports Complex and Park 1400 S Scenic
This 86 acre park is south of Bennett St between Kansas Expy and Scenic Ave. We have been here several times before for softball games. There are multiple ball fields, tennis courts, picnic tables, grills, a playground, a segment of Jordan Creek Greenway and the BMX raceway. We spent about 15 min and walked 1/2 mile.

Spokes BMX Raceway Scenic and Bennett
We have seen this facility before from a distance but walked over to the fence tonight. According to the website it opens at 6 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays April-October. There are both wooden and dirt ramps.

#57 Rountree Park 2975 W. Bennett
I had no idea this 2 acre park existed. It is just west of James Ewing Park on Bennett St. It is referred to as Historic Rountree Park on some websites and as Rountree Cemetery other places and it appears to be an old home site or church yard. There is a walled cemetery, old wooden fences, brick paths, and a foundation. There are a few headstones of Rountrees left in the cemetery. We spent just 5 or 6 minutes walking around.

We spent a couple hours exploring these facilities, some of them new to us. We now have just 45 parks/facilities left to visit.