It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and we all decided an adventure was in order! I packed a picnic lunch, and we set off to explore Angel Park Playground in Perry Hall, MD, right next door to the Perry Hall Library. The address is 9685 Honeygo Blvd., Perry Hall, MD 21128. When you make the turn into the drive, bear to your right into a parking area directly next to the playground. There is parking if you go left, but that lot is more convenient if you are heading into the library. There are restrooms at one end of the playground lot in a separate building near the amphitheater. We kept the portable close to hand because if Pebble waited too long to tell us she had to go, we wouldn’t make it. The restrooms are fairly close, but not right next to the playground. Fortunately, we didn’t need the portable this trip, whew!
Angel Park Playground is a big playground! It isn’t as spread out as Blandair’s North Area Playground in Columbia, but there are a lot of places in the older kids’ play area where a child could go, but not an adult. I was very grateful my husband was with us, and I doubt I’d try this place on a weekend with 3 kids by myself. The entire playground is fenced on three sides, with a fourth fence set up as a barrier between the older kids’ play area and the younger kiddos’ playground. The entrances to both areas, however, are wide open archways set near each other in a small courtyard. There is also a third archway branching off from the courtyard that leads to a memorial garden. Here you can read about how the playground came to be, and little Ryan Szcybor whose fight against cancer inspired the building of this unique park.
My kids, no surprise here, beelined straight into the older kids’ area. I tried to follow Pebble, and my husband tried to keep an eye on the other two. It was almost impossible, though, as they could enter the structure in one place and pop out another. This playground is jam packed with things to do and so amazing! There are cargo nets to climb, tunnels to slip through, slides, swings, even a platform swing…. There are monkey bars, two sets, with one closer to the ground that Pebble could use. The entire structure looks like wood, but isn’t…. Bridges, obstacle courses, a spinner, and so much more!
The absolute favorite part, though, were the zip lines. There are two zip lines, with one being your standard platform style that you can stand or sit on. The other is a chair where one can strap a child in and let them go! Pebble loved, loved, loved the chair zip line and would wait patiently in line for a try. We’d push her back and forth three or four times, then let the next child take a turn. There was always a line, this was the most popular area of the playground! Pebble’s new friend, who she’d met at Lake Waterford a few weeks prior, joined us with her family. We discovered 2 four year olds could easily fit on the chair zip line together, which made things a little easier.
Eventually, Pebble and her friend decided to explore the smaller kiddos’ area. Here they discovered a slide made out of metal tubes that allow one to roll downward like they were on a conveyor belt. This slide was a major hit with all of my girls and my friend’s three kids. Pebble and her friend would slide down side-by-side on their stomachs giggling, then run around to the stairs to do it again, and again, and again! Rainbow was right in the thick of things with them, and she even rode down the slide once on Stormy’s back. This slide, plus the zip lines, were the winners of this playground trip.
When lunchtime rolled around, we ate our food in the pavilion where there is a cluster of picnic tables. The ceiling of the pavilion is decorated with stars. After lunch, the kids checked out the amphitheater, and then they returned to the playground to run amuck some more. It is a very unique playground. I loved how each piece of equipment had a plaque with the name of the piece and who in the community donated it. The playground is also accessible to all, and, for the first time ever, I saw a dedicated wheelchair swing. The designers of this park thought of everything!
My girls and their friends absolutely loved their time here. It is a playground that is def worth a visit, although, if you have multiples, bring extra hands. Happy trails!
