Best playgrounds in Rotorua

Steam drifts across the play equipment at Kuirau Park Playground, where slides and swings sit fenced off metres from bubbling mud pools inside the country's only free geothermal park. That mix of steam and shoreline repeats around the district: playgrounds cluster along the edges of Lake Rotorua rather than in one town centre, so a wet-morning plan usually means picking a lakeside reserve over a suburb. At Hamurana, swings, a slide and a spinner sit right at the water's edge, worth pairing with the reserve's springs walk. Hannahs Bay Organic Community Garden, on the lake's southern shore, pairs a junior multi-play structure and ball catchers with an infant swing for the same picnic-table crowd. West of the centre, Linton Park keeps it low-key with swings including an infant swing on open lawn, a fallback when the lakeside spots are busy.

Smallbone Park in Hillcrest pairs its playground with a skatepark and one of the district's more active cricket grounds, handy before or after a match. For a bigger outing, the flying foxes and pump track at Lakefront Playground on Lakefront Drive pull the biggest crowds and need the most parking patience on a fine weekend. Geothermal steam gives several central reserves a faint sulphur smell, most noticeable near Kuirau and the lakefront. Rotorua Lakes Council maintains around 90 play spaces across the district, so a quieter neighbourhood reserve is usually a short drive away when the well-known spots fill up.