Berkeley: Aquatic Park

Here's a picture of the playground in Aquatic Park, Berkeley, CA. Officially, the playground is called Dreamland for Kids, but because it's right by some active railroad tracks, the local kids refer to it as the train park.

It's a really great structure that is not made from pre-fab parts but actually built out of logs and lumber. (Architect's plan of the playground.)
Towers, ramps, ladders -- they're all here on a wood chip surface. Also, old school tire swings:

Here's Austin checking out one swing with Luca (in red) and Elliott (in blue). The landscaping is pretty nice, too, and includes a butterfly garden maintained by the local garden club.

In fact, the whole park was built by volunteers (some pictures here). One of the architects involved lives a quarter of a mile away and is named (and here I'll actually use last names because he deserves the credit) Seth Wachtel. Along with being a great designer and directing the undergraduate architecture program at University of San Francisco Seth is also an excellent father to Maia, Elliott (above in blue) and Oliver (below in dad's arms). And his wife makes a mean pumpkin soup.


Here's a San Francisco Chronicle article on the park.