Jack Reid Park

Arrowtown's rugby ground doubles as a neighbourhood playground stop: between the Jack Reid Park field and the holiday park sits a compact council play area that local kids rate for its spinning gear and a tall rope climbing net. The town is about 20 minutes' drive from Queenstown,¹ and reviewers rate the hill views from the park almost as highly as the play.

Equipment

The Queenstown Lakes District Council play register lists six pieces: swings, a Spacenet rope climbing net, a double seesaw, a spinner and two Spica spinning units.² Reviewers single out the "eccentric" merry-go-rounds and the rope tower as what children come back for.

It suits school-age climbers and confident preschoolers best. The register shows no slide and no separate toddler section, so the youngest visitors will mostly stick to the swings and seesaw.

History and Cultural

The park carries the name of Jack Reid, Arrowtown's last mayor. He held the office from 1980 until the borough was dissolved in 1989, the third generation of his family to lead the town, and died in 2016 aged 95.³ The Arrowtown Community Centre, a $2.35 million council-managed building that opened in 2019 as the home of the Arrowtown Rugby Club and Arrowtown Scout Group, overlooks the field.⁴

Practical Info

On winter rugby days the playground shares the park with players and supporters, which makes it livelier than its size suggests. One reviewer notes there is no drinking fountain, so bring water bottles. Don't confuse it with the children's play area inside Arrowtown Holiday Park next door, which is part of the holiday park's own facilities.¹

For a bigger session, Howden Drive Playground is about 350 m away, and Rose Douglas Park on Cotter Avenue, the town's well-known "fire engine playground" with a replica fire engine, water pump and playhouse, is under a kilometre's walk.⁵