This little playground is visible from the street on Eagles Dr and located between a few residential buildings. There’s a shared lawn space beside the play area and a dry stone stream along the perimeter. Two mysteriously shaped spring riders and a small multi-level platform sums up this little play spot. 

The platform has interesting patterns, a simple pair of binoculars, steering wheel and joystick. The main structure is ambiguous enough that it could be anything from a ship to an Uber UFO. 

We didn’t stay here for long because my kids quickly found throwing the stones from the dry creek was more entertaining than the play structure itself. Probably a good spot for little toddlers looking for a quiet place to play.

Street parking is quite limited in the area with a few two hour spots. It’s also very close to Jim Taylor Park playground and the Reconciliation Pole.

Back in the day when I attended UBC, this southern area of campus used to be a giant parking lot called, “B Lot”. Now, it’s completely unrecognizable as it’s been converted into a residential neighbourhood called Hawthorn Place. The then-brand new Forestry building across the street was the only reason I could find my bearings, as my kids and I checked out the playground at Jim Taylor Park in UBC.

Here we found a wooden playground off to one side, next to some tall hedges. The structure with a slide has a rope net, ladder, corner ladder, twirly pole and sliding pole. There’s also a couple of stools to sit on underneath.

A monkey bar set and a vertical climbing structure round out this playground, that’s catered for the 5-12 yr old range. 

My two year old is a pretty good climber but he had trouble climbing the ladder and was frustrated he couldn’t get to the slide easily. My 6 year old also didn’t enjoy this park, only because the slide gave him an electrostatic shock. He concluded that, “This playground is as bad as slipping on an old potato.”

This leisurely park has a peaceful walkway, lush green lawn, fountains and a dry stone stream. It shares the space with the Old Barn Community Centre and a lodge-like Bean Around the World coffee shop with outdoor seating. On the opposite side is an area that features a 12 x 12 tiled checkerboard floor. I’m curious to know if giant chess or checker pieces are provided during certain times for the public to enjoy a game.

Across from the street is the aforementioned Forest Science building, large community green space with amphitheater-like outdoor seating, as well as a carved wooden arch, beautifully gifted by the Sopron School of Forest Engineering for UBC’s role in taking in student refugees during the Hungarian Revolution. 

Most striking though, is the Reconciliation Pole, that stands front and centre across from the Forestry building. You can read about it HERE in it’s own dedicated post. 

The unique climber hills make this playground look very familiar to the one at Shannon Mews Park. The hills invite children to climb over and under but can be a bit tricky for the younger ones. My two year old was able to climb them but going down was a bit too steep.

The hills link two platforms, one of which has a double curved slide, arched ladder and steps. The other platform is a bit underwhelming as it has a half climber hill to go up and another to go down. My two year old was confused how to get down this second platform as he was expecting another slide, although a sliding pole is an option for older kids.

Shaded partially by the nearby condo building and some trees, it’s a fun spot to stop by if you’re wandering the neighbourhood and enjoying the park’s greenscape with it’s open water features and fountains.

There’s also some bright yellow lounge chairs on either side of the park where we sat to eat our hotdog lunch. One set of chairs is under a pergola with an additional picnic table and overlooks the park from a patio-like ledge.

The Wesbrook community centre is within walking distance if one needs the washroom facilities. If visiting in the summer, bring your swimsuits because the community centre has a splash pad to enjoy as well. 

It’s easy to make a day of it at Wesbrook village, which has many other playgrounds to explore – Noble Park playground, Smith Park playground, and Khorana Park playground.  We will feature them all soon!

This all natural, driftwood play structure is hidden in a small wooded area out at UBC. 

Shaped like a nest, one can only guess what creature dwells here. Our guess is that a giant UBC Thunderbird nests here with it’s wooden eggs. I’d like to believe we were able to mess around in it’s nest because it was off on a coffee date with some giant sparrows at Olympic Village.

Just like River District’s Driftwood Playground, this one at East Campus Park also has wooden branches that twist and turn in all sorts of interesting shapes.

Surrounded by tall evergreens, it’s very well shaded and feels secluded, even though this narrow wooded patch is in the middle of a residential area. A walking path ushers students past the nest but otherwise, it’s deceptively “forest-y.” 

The walking path leads to a slightly denser forested area with old stumps scattered about. We came across a bunch of broken glass bottles, giving clues as to what the area is like during the evening hours. 

There’s also a set of pull up bars, if you have the random urge to get ripped while forest bathing. There were some structural hints that there might be additional fitness equipment added in the future. Just a guess.

As there’s no easy way to find this gem on Google Maps, a handy Plus Code is here to help. Click on our map to see where to go, because using words is hard.