Riversdale Reserve Playground

Riversdale Reserve's playground in Avondale, Auckland, puts a compact play area right beside a skate park, so a preschooler on the basket swing and an older sibling on the ramps can both be busy within sight of each other. It sits off the car park of a big sports park at the base of the Rosebank Peninsula, a name the council links to the historic Riversdale Farm and the nearby Whau River.¹

Equipment

The council lists a free-standing basket swing, a climbing frame, a spinning wheel, a fort with a slide, a climbing net and swings, and rates the play area for preschool, junior and senior ages, on a mix of bark and rubber mats.¹ One regular calls it small but enough for a few children to have fun, and popular with neighbourhood families. Older kids get the skate park's grind rails, ledges and funbox, a full basketball court, a volleyball court and fitness stations along the path between the fields.¹

Practical Info

Shade comes from a few mature trees and the play area is only partially fenced, with the car park alongside, so stay close with toddlers.¹ Accessible toilets and a drinking fountain are a few steps away; the toilets and the car park gates open 7am to 9pm in summer and 7am to 6pm in winter. Drive in from Riversdale Road, walk in from Taramea and Dampier streets, or take a bus to the stop outside 124 Riversdale Road. Dogs are banned on the playground and must be leashed nearby.¹ One reviewer reports a car break-in here, so leave nothing on show. Bellgrove East Reserve and Orchard Reserve playground are each about 400 m away for a second stop.