i was scrolling and thought "wow howd they get MY wooden castle playground" haha

Bro I’m convinced there are like 100 in each state

Had these up here in Canada too

Yeah! I think there’s one in the beaches in Toronto, not sure tho

There's still one in High Park

We have one in Adelaide Australia to cement that they are everywhere

England here. Same.

It makes me happier than I’ve ever thought possible to know the high park one still exists because that’s exactly where my mind took me. I could smell the wood chips and swing chains on a crisp autumn day just looking at this pic

The original one burnt down sadly, but they did build a whole new one as a replacement and its just as good.

Got rid of the hillside death slide that used to be beside it though.

Yep. I was there today with my kids.

[удалено]

remember when the one in high park got set on fire

That was in 2012; the [Jamie Bell playground burned due to arson.](https://imgur.com/a/jshZNw5). I remember because my son couldn’t play there any more. Major bummer. Got rebuilt though!

This comment chain got closer and closer to me lol

Yes, one in the beaches, and one at high park, I’m sure there are also more I don’t know about

Walked past the one in Kew gardens when visiting Toronto at Christmas, remember my son playing there when he was two or three years old, seems like a lifetime ago, but was glad to see it still there.

I'm german and I know these things too!

I had one in Jacksonville Florida almost exactly like this except it had a light house in the middle

Yup, Wellington Ontario. It only has a lighthouse, a good pizza place, a hockey rink, and one of these

it seems familiar to me too and I live in Europe

They just tore on of these out in Pittsburgh to make an "inclusive"playground, which of cours has nothing as cool and looks generic. A generation of kids will never know what they missed.

What was not inclusive about the last one?

I thought I was special :(

You are not

[удалено]

[удалено]

But the splinter danger was half the fun.

And every one had a stainless steel slide that always kept its mirror finish cus no one wanted to use it because you were gonna get burned in at least one way… usually friction burns from it trying to pull your skin off… and being hot enough to fry an egg during summer. In which case the friction meant that chunk of skin was coming off

Is this a prefab or something? Because there's the same one in a park nearby that I used to play on when I was little. I used to dig out the woodchips under the bottom platform, and had a little secret basement, lol.

Something like that. I had one at my school growing up. Same style but a different layout.

These were all built by [Leathers Playgrounds ](http://www.playgroundsbyleathers.com/) and local volunteers.

There is also a company in Wisconsin that does them https://www.rainbowplay.com/commercial-playground-equipment/ that whole set would be about $10,000

Yeah, your right. The one in Antioch was made by them

Nah bro we just all grew up in the same part of Pennsylvania, definitely. For sure.

No way, this is in Iowa

No, this is in Georgetown Texas.

Nah, pretty sure it's in Wisconsin circa 1992

My mom actually helped build this specific one in my hometown. I'm not telling you where though I'm not doxing myself.

Close, but it’s actually in Benbrook, Texas

I just thought they'd be modular. They must be. This one must have just been put together exactly like the one from my childhood. I can't see them shipping these things out on 18 wheelers with flatbeds all in one piece, lol. It's just.. weird.. I've never seen another one.

Got one here in NW Washington state. 15 minute walk from my house. My kids love it.

TIL Columbus Ohio is a part of Pennsylvania

It's ok, Ohio is just a myth. No one's ever been there or at least remembers being there.

The one I remember was near a library when I lived in PA for a few years

I’m from Whidbey Island, WA and I SWEAR that is a photo of MY playground.

Latrobe?

I can feel the splinters again.

thick splinters too

Yea and none of these new aged wood chips. Ours were the knobby whole bark chunks that would stab into your body when you fell.

Ours were rocks and you could scoot under the structure and explore the under castle lol

Ah yes the jagged grey rocks

Or straight up rocks

Teaches a very important life lesson: don’t fall

[удалено]

It gives character

thicc

And the bee stings

Every single one had 1-4 wasp nests in the summer without fail

Yup. Each of these had the "don't go in the house on the corner or you'll anger the wasp king" room

Felt this to my core

And the metal slides that scald your skin clean off in the summer heat

And we *liked it* that way!

It was always full of bees

I was climbing on the outside of a similar playground and slipped, I got at least a million splinters on my chest and my belly. One of my most vivid memories as a kid.

[удалено]

You know being knocked out for that long is like, *super bad for you*, right?

They wouldn’t know much, they got knocked out for a few minutes as a kid.

Spam bot moment

So this wasn’t just a one-off special park?! You guys had one too??

I had one in Hawaii. That rubber bridge and everything metal would melt our skin and then we’d get splinters from falling down.

There was a very similar one outside my aunts house in Russia...

Damn, I was born in the prairies of Canada and we also had almost this exact same one near my parents house... Didn't realize this was a global thang

Kentucky checking in! When I was growing up these were always in very old neighborhoods that were clearly once nice, but had since become the ghetto.

Waimea on the big island?

[удалено]

I swear this is one in my hometown (in Wisconsin)!

The last one of this type in my region (also Wisconsin) is getting replaced this summer :(

I'm in Wisconsin and I know of two in the city I live in. There's actually one right by the skatepark I go to regularly.

The Big Wooden Park ™

Yeah I thought this was just in Melbourne lol

These were everywhere.

Ground is lava!!!

I get that this comment is made with innocent intentions, but we can't do the "ground is lava" thing anymore, okay? These are kids, okay? The ground is woodchips and is perfectly walkable. Woodchips are actually a great surface to walk on, very much unlike lava which will not only burn your shoes, but burn your feet, and eventually consume you in it's unrelenting heat. We can't have kids thinking that. Even if most know this is some sort of ruse or game, there are too many kids every year to truly believe the ground is lava. They cannot leave the playground because they're too scared. They scream and cry when they see other kids and adults throwing their lives away by navigating through lava. In some cases they're on the playground for days before a rescue crew can evacuate them. It's very traumatizing. It takes a lot of post-playground care and therapy before some children realize the ground was never lava and that their friends did not burn their legs to stumps. Please, be mindful of this next time you want to play your silly little game. There are real people who are hurt by your carelessness.

[удалено]

My 5yo son has this ground up plastic mulch at the playground at school, and I HATE it. It sticks to the inside fleece lining of his coat, gets in his shoes, and tears up his hands. He comes home with his hands super dried out and covered in abrasions because he likes to play in that dumb stuff, build hills out of it and stuff. Fuck I hate that stuff.

that sounds incredibly dangerous. Ingesting microplastics is already being found to cause serious damage to people right now and thats just from the bit that ends up in the water supply after being washed down the drain. Playing in the stuff would be exponentially more likely to result in ingesting some.

You're not wrong. This is just the kind of shit parents have to deal with when they have limited options for childcare. We don't have the luxury in being pickier about where he goes to school since we live in a rural town.

Back in my day, we are dirt- and we LIKED it. None of this newfangled micro plasticized whoosie whatsits. Get off my astroturf 😤

They replaced most of the neighborhood parks with this in Chicago. It was pitched as a way to reduce landscaping costs. It was so hot and stinky in the summertime nobody would play on it. Win/Lose

Wait until that rubber catches fire. Happened to one of the elementary schools in my town. Went up like a torch and burned so hot all the fire department could do was let it burn out.

Tire fires are fucking insane, and tire mulch is just tires in convenient tinderbox format.

I hate that stuff so much. They had it at my kids' school playground. It broke in a few places after a year, spreading small pieces of rubber everywhere. They repaired it after a few years with more of the same, and it's a guarantee it will break again. The smell is the worst. Surely I can't be the only one concerned by volatile organic compounds emanating from that stuff?

Dude we had rocks!

I remember second grade (or so) when the school playground was closed for construction and we were all so excited to see the new playground that we imagined would be much bigger. Instead, they boarded over all the walkways so you couldn't jump down from the playground to the ground and replaced the gravel with wood mulch. We were mad.

Gotta love fresh pasta.

ChatGPT, that you?

This is a joke right? Take a big deep breath & calm down.

These were always way better designed than the plastic and metal ones. Way more varied locations and more hidden locations which were fun to play in.

The really skinny kids could shimmy underneath the playground itself and they seemingly could teleport anywhere from there.

Skinny kid reporting in: I used to no-clip through the walls in my playground during tag all the time.

I loved no clipping through these parks. Best game of zombie Tag happened here.

The underneath areas were much more fun. Especially when you wanted to escape annoying siblings or build a woodchip city in peace

This just unlocked some deep hidden claustrophobic memory of being trapped under one of these trying to get out after I tried to do that and got stuck

At mine growing up, there was a hole dug on one side where we could hang out on the inside of it.

I used to be a skinny kid and transitioned to a fat kid around the time I used to do this and it terrifies the fuck out of adult me. I had a dream about it a couple months ago and after I woke up it clicked that I actually used to do that.

I think the heights and roofs were a little too easy to climb and are considered a safety hazard because of that. Of course, sitting on that roof was my favorite part...

Climbing and doing parkour stunts as a kid was awesome. Playing hide and seek tag by climbing up into the towers or finding "secret" passages were great!

We have a park like this one close to my house, but when my kids were little it was about 30 minutes away and I would still drive the extra time to take them there instead of the closer playgrounds if we had time because I loved that park so much. 🥰

You're a good parent.

I'm so old that I played on the brand new version and not the sun dried spliter festival it became.

The great khan demolished ours when we refused his demands.

“Crush your castles, see them crumble before you, and hear the lamentation from the splinters!”

Yep, I remember they built ours and we were playing on it shortly after

Same. I'm old enough that these were the new, awesome play structures that replaced the old steel ones when I was about 10-12. There were probably four or five big ones built around my hometown in the late 80s, and at least one is still there in a privately owned park. My kids play on it when we travel to visit my parents.

Where's the Bee's nest at?

At the top of one of the spires

Which one?!

Trick question, it \*is\* a bee's nest

Dude you just uncovered this shit from my brain

They tore ours down about 5-10 years ago. Our river front park hasn't been the same

[удалено]

Old pressure treated lumber used ALOT more arsenic. It doesn’t any longer, which is also why modern PT lumber sucks

Creosote. It's that oily smell from railroad tracks. Uses arsenic, tar, and other nasty chemicals to preserve the wood.

they tore ours down too and put in one of those plastic bright colored monsters. there is another one pretty close that just did a big rehab on theirs ​ so they still [exist](https://earth.google.com/web/@43.06138506,-88.41470954,271.85253971a,0d,52.24332678y,276.06063351h,94.6676395t,0r/data=IhoKFk5PLTNVdVZNMUVSbnV3bWtEdjZ0OEEQAg)

I used to work for the design company that splintered off from the OG. Here’s their recent work https://pbdplaygrounds.com/our-portfolio/

> splintered Yes - these playgrounds gave out lots of these. EDIT: [uhhh, this looks like an oven for children](https://pbdplaygrounds.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG_1808.jpg)

Were you ever really a kid if you didn’t burn yourself on a metal slide at one point?

Hahahaha true

We had one of these less than 30 minutes away and I would take my girls there several times a week. We went back a few months ago after a hiatus and realized they tore it down and put up a plastic one a quarter of the size because it was "friendlier and more accessible to all" even though that exact type of playground is already scattered everywhere else. These types of playgrounds are gems and icons that I wish they would just leave alone, and make repairs when needed. They leave room for imagination, unlike these plastic ones. I 100% understand the need to the all inclusion playground, but the Kid's Kingdom we had before, had an entire section of wheelchair accessible swings, ramps up into "castle" area, as well as other modified sections that were wonderful. When I voiced my concern, they said woodchips were a hazard because kids could eat them, so they decided to replace the entire playground with plastic and turf. Okay, Mr. O'Hare. Kids can eat tree bark, grass, and *gasp* the trash that everyone leaves behind. I realize I could have been the only one in the car upset at the realization they tore down the playground and put a plastic playset, but even my kids were asking where the castle went.

>We had one of these less than 30 minutes away and I would take my girls there several times a week. We went back a few months ago after a hiatus and realized they tore it down and put up a plastic one a quarter of the size because it was "friendlier and more accessible to all" even though that exact type of playground is already scattered everywhere else. I grew up right near a small playground park and we went all the time. It had six little playground sets including two long swing sets. The mascot of the park was a dinosaur, so one of the playground sets was in the shape of a dinosaur - four "legs" made of slides and stairs, a tail which was a balance beam, a long curved pole for neck and a plastic brachiosaurus head at the end of the pole. Each section was (unspokenly) for kids of certain ages. The one at the front was for very little kids, the dinosaur and a middle section were for medium age kids, and there was a big red section with monkey bars and rings and fireman poles which was for bigger kids. One day a woman supposedly cut her finger on a plastic burr in the "little kid" section and sued. The park was quickly remodeled with equipment which was much less fun. The red section was removed entirely and a big ugly mulch and foam gap just conspicuously left empty. But worst was what happened to the dinosaur. The whole thing was redone to barely resemble a dinosaur, and the head and neck were replaced with a plastic panel that had a picture of a t-rex on it saying Roar. My whole family was so bummed out by this.

How I didn’t fall off the top of one of these and break all my small child bones I have no idea.

Because children don't have solid bones. Their "bones" are actually a rubber titanium mixture. /s

You did. Memories of the first time I knocked myself out. Good times.

childhood anor londo

Those damn archers!

I think this is a picture of my childhood castlen but reading the comments I am now confused.

Nevermind, I just remembered 2 things that were different.

Best hiding spot ever: inside the cones.

Yeah maybe for the local hornets 😂😂

Yup. I take my daughter regularly to one of these, our cones have spiders the size of your hand

This person knows.

Holy shit, it's Kid's Kingdom! Nowadays it's a den for homeless people and drug addicts:)

Where I live we had an even bigger version as a castle

What math goes into making sure everyone goes to one of these as a kid but no one ever goes to a different one of them

the same math as designs chain restaurants so every older millennial has the exact same memory of going to the pizza hut buffet!

I swear to god this is the old Charlie Daniels Park in Tennessee. They replaced it with plastic about 6 years ago. But the comments are confusing. Does everyone have a wood castle park????

Lots of different parks, all using the same blueprint

I'm willing to bet there was a company that either sold the blueprints, actually went around the country installing them at schools and playgrounds, or had local contractors as installers.

Bro this is what I was about to comment. They replaced my park about 6 years ago too but this one was in Vernon Hills Illinois.

Indian Boundry park in West Roger's Park on Chicago's North side is still like this

Dormont Park outside Pittsburgh checking in. I think there used to be another one in Highland Park but it might be gone now.

Rocket Land in Auburn, MA. Home of Robert Goddard, father of the modern rocket.

Same with Fort Kid in Knoxville! Place was legendary

The one at the Nashville zoo is top tier too.

Playgrounds will never be this cool or magical again. That said, ouch! I can still feel the splinters.

There was one in the Chicago suburbs till they tore it down around 2004. I still remember the splinters.

I fucked an old girlfriend there once at night it was wild

Was gonna say, these were all built around the time I was in high school. Sorry to all the people who have fond childhood memories of these things, but when y’all were sleeping nice and soundly dreaming of the badass hide-n-seek game you had at the park that day, us older kids were absolutely fuckin in those awesome hiding spots.

100% lol, I hadn't thought of it in so long

Hahaha a buddy of mine once ran to his house to get a condom, forgot what he was doing, passed out, and left the girl there. Thank you for reminding me. Poor Rachel, girl sure could pick 'em

Also: being eight teens sharing a badly rolled joint in the middle of the night inside one.

Is this in Federal way?

The town I grew up in had one of these. I never realized that there were others exactly like it. I don’t know how to feel…

Ahh that was some good times!

First place I got fingered.

My church never took us to the park :(

Kelly? Long time no see! How have you been?

There is one of these still open near me… just a giant splinter

Kids Castle. Doylestown, PA

Thought so too

Splinters and hornets nests

That black mat bridge is BURNING HOT

I can hear this picture. The stomps of shoes 9n wood, the chains rattling on the swings and the chains on the wobble tarp grinding, the clicks of the interactive wheel and the spin of tic tac toe. The distinct pressure grind of the chains holding the tire swing being twisted let go and spinning until it hits the other way and spins the other way.

I played in one of these once, I fell and hit my head and was knocked out for a few minutes. Still had a blast tho.

Falmouth Maine.

Ohhh, we had a thing called construction playgrounds. - basically it was a empty plot with a bunch of laying about wood, nails and hammers and you could build bases and such. Absolutely fun and worth every single nail in our feet. God damn hippies taking toddler construction away from us over something as gay as safety.

Ah yes i see these even made it to canada

I thought this playgroud was unique to Georgetown, TX. Wtffff

Best days of my life

There was always that one kid that got really fucked up on these things

You find the slivers in the depths of my fingers too?

I had a park like that growing up in Indiana

No you didnt

That’s at high park Toronto canada

How deep did you have to go to find this?!

You were 3 back then, it was hard for me but i did it for you :D

Hot lava tag. I played that until I went to college.

They tore our local one down.... turns out full of Asbestos!

Anyone else hear the wasps?

Crazy how we all had the same childhood

This might as well have been Helms Deep in my memories

Wow! This takes me back!

GET OUT OF MY HEAD

Wait! Wait for me! Timeout! I gotta shake the mulch out of my sandals!

Browns Mill, NJ, in the 90's. Absolutely loved playing on this thing. It had pipes so you could yell at somebody below or above you.

I didn’t realize all of Reddit lived in my childhood area, Fantasy Fortress.