Skoglund Park

Skoglund Park is Roslyn's big football ground on Thames Street in Palmerston North, and its small playground sits at the heart of it, between the car park, the pavilion and the fields. The playground is mid-makeover: the council is refreshing it from October to December 2026, adding a spinner, a wheelchair-accessible seesaw and an in-ground trampoline for younger kids.¹

Equipment

Until the new pieces are in, this is a modest neighbourhood play space rather than a destination; one reviewer summed up the old playground as just ok. From the air the main play unit stands on blue-grey safety surfacing beside the pavilion, with two smaller pads of surfacing set into the lawn between the curving path and the car park. The park also has a small parkour station built from Lappset bars, with pull-up and dip bars and a short run of monkey bars that suits confident older kids and teens.² Worth checking before you go while the works run, as parts of the play area may be closed.

Access and Inclusion

There is no fence around the play area, and it sits right beside the car park, so toddlers need a close eye. A sealed path curves past the playground from the car park towards the fields, and the new seesaw is designed to be wheelchair accessible.¹

Practical Info

The council lists toilets, changing rooms, a drinking fountain, picnic tables, seating and parking,¹ and reviewers mention showers in the changing rooms. The car park is large, though Saturday football fills it, and reviewers find the fields hard underfoot even in winter. The ground is named after former MP Phil Skoglund.³

Dogs are not allowed on the sportsground, but next door Edwards Pit Park is the off-leash area. A 2 km easy lime and gravel walkway network links the fields with that restored clay quarry, winding through restoration plantings and alongside wetlands.⁴ Reviewers mention ducks, frogs and koi in the pond, and ducklings turn up in visitors' photos. Freyberg Community Pool is right alongside at 33 Thames Street, with indoor pools including a toddlers' pool and beach area, so a swim and a play pair well on a cold day.⁵ For a second playground, Rangiora Park is under a kilometre away in Roslyn.