Lions Park

The first park for my reviews is none other than Bremerton's Lions Park Located at 251 Lebo Blvd, Bremerton, Wa. This is a park I grew up going to during the summers and I can tell you that it has changed and evolved so much over the years.

It now boasts two full size baseball fields, one basketball court, and four tennis courts, So bring a friend or the whole extended family and play some games! There are also two covered areas that have picnic benches underneath and two public bathrooms.

This has to be one of my favorite parks by far for the views. You can see beautiful views of the cascades mountain range on one side and a nice view of the Warren Avenue Bridge on the opposite side. There is a long section of waterfront property great for bringing those kids of yours in bathing suits in the summer to cool off. All along the waterfront there are benches that are perfect to read a book on or do the daily crossword puzzle if that's your thing. It also has a boat launch ramp with free public access for those of us that love water craft. So bring your jet skis or kayaks and enjoy the water.

The main thing that this park boasts of is wide open space. Lions Park is 17.04 acres, and most of that space is large open field, perfect for touch football, kite flying or a game of Frisbee. Another feature that I liked was that there were two separate paved walking paths. One was 0.7 miles long and the other was 0.9 miles. So get your girlfriends together and go walk the park. You can log miles in no time at all. Note that the 0.9 mile track has stairs at one end so it is not stroller friendly.

The unfortunate part of this park is that the playground has seen better days. The designers of the park went for a more natural feel for the playground instead of all metal and plastic which is nice. My favorite part of this is the whale rock sculptures that they have installed. They are great for climbing on and playing tag around. There are also the normal slide and set of swings but your out of luck if you want to use them at the same time. The slide is located in the main play area, but the swing set is on the other end of the park located between the baseball fields. The main play area also used to have a zip line, which would have really improved my opinion, but they have taken it down possibly due to damage. So if you want your kids to have a good time at this park you'll either need to bring your own fun, or at least bring a few of their friends along because the playground will not satisfy for long.


List of things to bring with you:

• Frisbee
• Swim suits and a towel
• Running shoes and jogging stroller
• Basketball
• Baseball/ softball and Mitts
• Kites
• Tennis rackets and balls 
• Boats/ Kayaks
• Camera for the awesome views
• A good book to read
• Friends

Now for my ratings of the park out of five stars. 

Facilities--✪✪✪

Play ground--✪

Open Space--✪✪✪✪✪

Views--✪✪✪✪✪

Walking Paths--✪✪✪✪

This park has a lot going for it but you really do need to bring your own fun to it whether it is sports supplies or a swim suit and towel, but it is a great place to run and exercise. Just don't bring your kids hoping they will be entertained by themselves. Overall Rating--✪✪✪

Launch!

Did you know that there are over 25 parks in the city of Bremerton alone? And there are even more in the surrounding area such as Silverdale, Gig harbor, Port Orchard, and Bainbridge Island! And these are just county parks so no need for that pesky Discover Pass that always gets lost in the mess we call our car.

Having two small children myself, I frequent these parks quite often but I find it is easy to get stuck in a rut and only go to one or two parks that are the biggest and often most crowded...but there are so many others to choose from! So I am challenging myself to get out of that rut and go explore!

This is going to be my written record of every park that I visit. On this blog you will be able to find an address to each park, a list of things to bring with you when you visit, and an honest review of the parks facilities, play equipment, scenic views, and general space, plus anything else that is particularly interesting to me. At the end of each blog I will provide a rating on each park on a five star scale.

I hope that this blog is useful to other moms in the area, so that they too can get outside this summer and explore the area with their children! Happy Park Hunting!