Your Guide to Greenfield's Playgrounds

My kids and I spent a few days visiting every playground we could find in Greenfield (tough assignment, I know) and ranking them on a scale of 1-5 stars, with five being the best.

Below you will find our opinions, and some facts, too, about each playground. Please note, we were rating playgrounds, not the parks in general. Many of the parks, the county parks in particular, offer a lot more than just playgrounds (though sometimes it seems as though the playgrounds are an afterthought.

I've listed below what we think constitutes a nice playground. We didn't rate the presence of bathrooms as very important because, as a germ-a-phobe, I prefer to have the kids go before we leave the house, but I did indicate the playgrounds that have them.

My children are aged 10, 6 and 4. My 4-year-old, though small for her age, had no problem playing at any of the playgrounds listed even though most are for ages 5-12.

Here's what we like in a playground: Variety, i.e. forts, slides, swings, etc; not too busy; some shade; clean; and benches for mom.

Bonuses were "awarded" for bathrooms and nature trails.

And here's what we don't like: litter/trash; vulgar graffiti; lurking teenagers; worn/dirty equipment; extremely busy with playground or childcare groups; lack of shade.

Here they are, in alphabetical order:


Where: 10777 W. Cold Spring Rd.
What: This 25-acre park is located on the Oak Leaf Trail and is owned by Milwaukee County. Though this park is designated 7-12 years old, my 10-year-old thought the equipment wasn't very interesting or challenging. It was also a bit worn and dirty.
2 playground sets: 7-12 years
Equipment: A bit worn
Surface material: Sand
Climbing equipment: Some
Forts: Yes
Swings: 2 baby, 4 kid
Benches: yes
Shade: Bordering playground with picnic tables under mature trees.
Parking: Lot, not too far from playground.
Bonus: Restrooms, 4 softball fields, pavilion with kitchen, open space, located on Oak Leaf Trail.
Rating: 3 stars


Where: 6105 W. Norwich Ave.
What: Armour Park is a 16-acre park owned by Milwaukee County. Like the other county parks on this list, it has more litter and graffiti than the city parks, however Armour was much cleaner than the two other county parks. The kids thought there was lots to do between the two playground sets with many slides.
2 playground sets: 2-5 years and 5-12 years
Equipment: New
Surface material: Wood chips and padding
Climbing equipment: An abundance
Forts: Many, plus "ice cream shop window"
Swings: 4 baby, 0 kid
Benches: yes
Shade: Bordering playground
Parking: Lot
Bonus: 4 basketball courts, 16 acres of open recreation space, athletic fields
Rating: 4 stars


Where: 3300 W. Barnard Ave.
What: Located adjacent to the Greenfield Middle School, Barnard Park is a 10.8 acre park that is part of the Milwaukee County park system. This park was littered with some trash and had disgusting graffiti scrawled across the equipment. There were adolescent boys loitering in the park. There were also a lot of wasps flying around. The kids felt the slides were too small.
1 playground set: Under 8 years old
Equipment: a bit worn
Surface material: Sand
Climbing equipment: Some
Forts: yes
Swings: 4 baby, 4 kid
Benches: yes
Shade: Wooded alongside but playground is sunny
Parking: Street, park is a bit of a walk from street
Bonus: 6 basketball courts, 1 volleyball court, woodland nature trail, athletic fields
Rating: 1 star


Where: 3460 S. 45th St.
What: Officially dedicated in August 2008, the one acre Coopers Hawk Park is owned by the City of Greenfield. The kids loved this park. It's shady and has a great variety of things to do for a small neighborhood park.
1 playground set: 5-12 years old
Equipment: New
Surface material: wood chips
Climbing equipment: Yes
Forts: Yes
Swings: 1 kid
Benches: yes
Shade: Yes, most of the playground is shady
Parking: 4 spots next to park
Bonus: See-saws, cool triple slide, nature path
Rating: 5 stars, the kids' favorite


Where: 5065 S. 43rd St.
What: The 4.2-acre Creekwood Park is a City of Greenfield park. Honey Creek winds through a wooded area of the park. Located off of busy 43rd St., the park is quiet and scenic.
1 playground set: 5-12 years old
Equipment: New
Surface material: wood chips
Climbing equipment: Yes
Forts: Yes, including "ice cream shop" window.
Swings: 2 baby, 2 kid
Benches: yes
Shade: Gazebo
Parking: Designated spots along 43rd St., playground is set quite far off the road with a paved trail leading to playground
Bonus: See-saws, gazebo with picnic table, nature trail, Honey Creek, open area

Rating: 5 Stars, this mom's favorite park)


Where: 4820 S. 74th St.
What: The 3.4-acre Dan Jansen Park is named after famed Olympic speed skating gold medalist and native Dan Jansen. This park has a lot to do and is great for younger climbers, but our experience was dampened a bit by lurking teenagers. Equipment is a bit worn and dirty as well.
1 playground set: 5-12 years old
Equipment: A bit worn and dirty
Surface material: Padded mats
Climbing equipment: Yes, better for the younger kids in the 5-12 range.
Forts: No. (Except for the area under the slides where the teenagers were).
Swings: 2 baby, 0 kid
Benches: yes
Shade: Shelter
Parking: Along busy 74th St. Difficult to open car doors due to traffic and a challenge to cross street if you park on other side.
Bonus: Bathrooms, shelter, softball field, open space.
Rating: 3 stars

Where: 4711 S. 47th St.
Where: Another playground with a good variety of playsets, but located very far apart. There are some fun wooden bouncing platforms between the sets. The nicest playset is set toward the back of the school with a beautiful view of a marsh. Playground has a path to Konkel Park which is located next door.
3 playground sets: Elementary aged children, includes 1 for smaller children
Equipment: Some a bit worn but good condition, playset in back is new.
Surface material: Wood chips
Climbing equipment: Yes
Forts: No
Swings: 8 kid, 0 baby
Benches: Yes
Shade: No
Parking: School parking lot, located very far away from playground.
Bonus: Basketball court, open space, bouncy platforms, scenic.
Rating: 4 stars

Where: 5300 S. Honey Creek Dr.

What: The kids loved the huge variety of playground equipment at this school. In addition to playground sets and swings, there are also some "old school" monkey bars. The equipment was a bit worn but probably to be expected at a school.
3 playground sets: Elementary aged children, includes 1 for smaller children
Equipment: A bit worn but good condition.
Surface material: Wood chips
Climbing equipment: Yes
Forts: No
Swings: 8 kid, 0 baby
Benches: No
Shade: No
Parking: School parking lot, located very far away from playground.
Bonus: Softball field, open space, helicopter toy.
Rating: 4 stars


Where: S. 112th St. & W. Armour Ave.
What: The 2.6-acre site includes asphalt trails that surround the Greenfield Estates development (that isn't yet developed) and connect to Falcon View neighborhood park. It's a nice, quiet little neighborhood park.
1 playground set: 5-12 years old
Equipment: New
Surface material: Wood chips
Climbing equipment: Yes, lots.
Forts: Yes
Swings: 2 kid, 0 baby
Benches: No
Shade: Not around playground but mature trees on site.
Parking: On very quiet street.
Bonus: Open space, see saws.
Rating: 3 stars


Where: 3550 S. 51st St.
What: Glenwood School has a lot of swings and newly laid wood chips with plenty of monkey bars as well. A little sparse on play equipment and the slides are inaccessible to small children due to a lack of stairs on the playset. Really not a lot to do for the younger end of this range.
1 playground set: Elementary aged, probably starting at 5 years old.
Equipment: Some new
Surface material: Wood chips
Climbing equipment: Yes, lots of monkey bars.
Forts: No
Swings: 12 kid, 0 baby
Benches: Yes
Shade: No
Parking: School parking lot far away from playground.
Bonus: Open space, basketball courts, softball fields, woods with trails.
Rating: 3 stars

4335 S. 36th St.
What: The 4.4-acre Haker Park is owned by the City of Greenfield and is a nice, clean neighborhood park. The play equipment offers a lot of variety of activities for the entire age range.
1 playground set: 5-12 years
Equipment: New
Surface material: Wood chips
Climbing equipment: Yes, some
Forts: Yes
Swings: 2 kid, 2 baby
Benches: Yes
Shade: Gazebo
Parking: Quiet street
Bonus: Open space, gazebo with picnic table, nature trails.
Rating: 5 stars


Where: 4425 S. Honey Creek Dr.
What: Honey Bear Park is a 0.7-acre park owned by the City of Greenfield. Though it has a nice variety of equipment that is different than other parks, it is a bit worn and the wood chips are thin.
2 playground sets: 2-5 and 5-12 years
Equipment: Newer
Surface material: Wood chips, a bit thin.
Climbing equipment: Yes
Forts: Yes
Swings: 2 kid, 2 baby
Benches: Yes
Shade: Gazebo
Parking: Quiet street
Bonus: Open space, gazebo with picnic table, view of Honey Creek.
Rating: 4 stars


Where: 6130 S. 40th St. (Note: The location of this park is wrong on online maps, including the one here in the Patch directory and Google Maps. It is located at 40th and Mangold, south of Ramsey. You must take 43rd St to Mangold to access park.

What: Jim Smrz Park is 0.89 acre park and Greenfield's newest park, named after a long-time park advocate. It is a nice, little neighborhood park featuring a small playset with lots of fun features.
1 playground set: 5-12 years
Equipment: New
Surface material: Wood chips.
Climbing equipment: Yes
Forts: Yes, with seating
Swings: 2 kid, 0 baby
Benches: Yes
Shade: No
Parking: Quiet street
Bonus: See saws
Rating: 3 stars


Where: 5151 W. Layton Ave.
What: The 34.5-acre Konkel Park is a city park that offers a lot more than just the playground areas I'm focusing on here. There are two playground areas that can be quite busy during the summer and weekends with playground and childcare groups as well as various events that rent out the facilities. My kids really enjoy both park areas, but love the south side one more when it's not too busy. The sand in the sandbox area and under the swings is remarkably clean for the amount of use this park gets.
4 playground sets: 5-12 years old for the 2 on the north side, and 2-5 and 5-12 years old for 2 on the south side
Equipment: New
Surface material: Padded mats

Climbing equipment: Yes, a lot.
Forts: Yes, including "ice cream shop" window.
Swings: 4 kid, 2 baby on north side, 2 kid, 1 baby on south side
Benches: Yes
Shade: Around perimeter of north side park with picnic tables and pavilion, no shade on south side park.
Parking: Parking lot a bit of a walk from north side playground, long walk with paved trail over scenic foot bridge to south side playground.
Bonus: Restrooms, drinking fountain, sandbox with diggers, softball fields, volleyball courts, shelter area that can be rented out, walking, biking and nature trails, wetland overlook, scenic pedestrian bridge.
Rating: a hesitant 5 stars (we avoid it when it's really busy)


Where: 4587 S. 72nd St.
What: Lavies Park is a small neighborhood park owned by the city of Greenfield. The kids found it a little uninteresting. It is also quite noisy due to its proximity to the highway.
1 playground set: 5-12 years old
Equipment: New
Surface material: Wood chips.
Climbing equipment: Yes, a lot.
Forts: Yes
Swings: 2 kid, 0 baby
Benches: Yes
Shade: No
Parking: On quiet street
Bonus: None
Rating: 3 stars


Where: 6921 W. Cold Spring Rd.
What: Maple Grove has four playsets with a good variety of activities for younger children especially. One playset had a broken bridge with plywood blocking access. All were a bit worn with new wood chips underneath. Swings were removed when we were there.
4 playground sets: Elementary aged, 2 playsets seemed especially for the younger of this range.
Equipment: A bit worn, damaged

Surface material: Wood chips
Climbing equipment: Yes
Forts: Yes
Swings: 0 kid, 0 baby (were taken down, should be 6 swings, assume all for kids)
Benches: Yes
Shade: No
Parking: School lot, long walk
Bonus: Open spaces
Rating: 3 stars

Where: 3717 W. Howard Ave.
What: Part of the Milwaukee County Park System, the 47.4-acre Zablocki Park is a busy park that offers a lot more than just a playground. As a matter of fact, the playground is probably the least desirable part of this park as it is usually filthy with litter and graffiti. We live within walking distance and rarely visit because of the condition of the playground. It is hands down the dirtiest park we visited (and consistently so). Kids do like the equipment and amount of swings, though.
1 playground set: 5-12 years old.
Equipment: Newer but worn and full of graffiti.
Surface material: Sand full of litter.
Climbing equipment: Yes
Forts: Yes
Swings: 4 kid, 4 baby
Benches: Yes
Shade: Around perimeter
Parking: Lot near playground
Bonus: Restrooms, drinking fountain (very dirty, though), softball and baseball fields, open play fields, picnic areas, tennis courts, golf course, lots of open space.
Rating: 2 stars