Evans Towne Center Park

WHO:  Everyone

WHAT:  A park complex including a large playground, picnic shelter, water feature, walking track, and of course the large Lady Antebellum amphitheater.

WHEN:  I have been unable to locate official park hours (please let me know in the comments if you have info on this!), but I’m assuming the hours would be dawn to dusk.

WHERE:  7016 Evans Towne Center, Evans, GA.  At the corner of Evans Towne Center and Ronald Reagan Dr., across the street from the courthouse and library.

WHY WE LIKE IT:  The playground at this park is definitely the most exciting playground for “older” kids that we have found in the area.  It is roughly divided into two sides, one for toddlers and the other for ages 5 to 12.  The side for the older crowd easily pleases kids all the way up to age 12 (unlike many other playgrounds that give the same age range but provide little entertainment for the older set).  This side consists of a HUGE climbing structure with really high, curvy tube slides, a “zip-line-esque” monkey bar set, rope climbing structure, and more.  The toddler side consists of a smaller-scale climbing/slide structure, music making area, and bouncy rides.  My boys can entertain themselves for a looooong time at this park.  The water feature and the walking/biking track offer additional possibilities, and the location of the shaded picnic area adjacent to the playground makes it easy to snack or lunch there, and watch your kids from the shade (which I did in order to nurse the youngest).  The only two drawbacks to this playground are 1. the complete lack of shade in the playground itself (it is very hot on a sunny day, and you have to bring plenty of sunscreen!) and 2. the lack of a physical barrier between the toddler section and older kids section.  This was a problem for me particularly last summer, when I had a 5-year-old who was able to play on the larger structure but still needed some help, and a 2-year-old who wanted to play on the larger structure but really couldn’t.  The younger fellow ended up taking a fall from quite high up while I was busy with his brother, and after that I only took them there if I had another adult with me.  This year, however, with the 6-year-old fully capable of climbing the larger structure without a problem and the 3-year-old better able to keep up, we’ve been able to really enjoy the playground again.

HOW:  Just show up and play!  There are also lots of great outdoor concerts held at the amphitheater, so be sure to check out their calendar as well: http://evanstownecenterpark.com/

* My apologies for these pictures taken from my sad, ancient flip phone.  My camera is broken and I’m in the process of trying to finally upgrade to a phone from this century, so hopefully I’ll soon be able to replace these with better shots! 🙂

View of the playground from the picnic shelter

Inside the larger climbing structure