Ashley Okland Star Playground in Des Moines, Iowa
Ashley Okland Star Playground is a super cool playground in Des Moines, built to be all-inclusive and available for everyone to play on. There is a dirt nature trail for hiking that is perfect for young kids, too. The playground has all rubber footing, great for muddy days. Built in memory of a local realtor, you can see more about her story here.
Address
5300 Indianola Ave, Des Moines, IA 50320
Basic Park Details
Type: Places to play and places to hike
Bathrooms: Yes
Shade: Yes, shaded shelter and shaded trails
Playground: Yes
Trails: Yes, dirt trail
Water: Yes, stream
Other notes: A part of the larger Ewing park, this has ramps for wheelchair access and a wheelchair-friendly swinging deck, in addition to adaptive swings and baby swings. There is a great hiking trail for young kids – not stroller-friendly, lots of little bridges, and muddy after rain.
Ashley Okland Star Playground Details
This is a playground within a different park, a hidden nature trail, and it’s well worth the drive. This is one of my favorite parks to recommend for people who have a younger toddler and older child to entertain, there are lots of unique features for all ages. The rubber footing makes it ideal if you’d like to avoid mud, too.
My kids love the climbing options!
There are lots of bridges, steps, and little turns; this trail is not stroller-friendly.
You’ll eventually come to this random road, it’s used for soap box derby cars, if you cross over it you will see several other paths as a part of a mountain biking trail network (map shown here). If you’re in a hurry or worried about getting lost, you can just walk along the side of the soap box derby track up to the red bridge but I’ve never had any trouble winding around the paths.
