Blandair Regional Park in Columbia is a huge park! It is divided into three areas, North, West, and East, all located off of Oakland Mills Road in Columbia. It has been over a year since we visited the park as our last visit was on Labor Day in 2021, and it was too crowded. Why I thought Election Day 2022 would be any better, I don’t know… The warm weather we’d been experiencing the previous few days had cooled down, and with the kids off school, I thought we could visit each area of Blandair Park to check out the different playgrounds and the ninja course. Even better, friends had agreed to join us!
We started our day off in the North Area as this was the playground we had been to on our previous visit, and, unlike our previous visit, the back area of the playground was now complete and open! Pebble was super excited about that because that area included the swings, which she loves. The North Area playground is the largest and newest playground at Blandair. It is fenced in, and you go through two gates to enter. Once you are in the playground proper, there is a map of the six play areas to your left. There are restrooms available too, a large structure just outside the fence. Due to the fact that it was Election Day, and many kids didn’t have school, the place was hopping! I made the decision to focus my attention on Pebble, and let Stormy and Rainbow explore with strict instructions not to exit the playground without me. Once their friends arrived, they were happy with the extra bit of freedom I gave them to explore. It helped that their friend’s mom parked herself on the bench near the exit with their puppy dog which gave the kids a fixed home base to return to as needed for drinks and snacks. They also loved getting puppy snuggles.
There was so much to see and do, it was overwhelming! Pebble went from one thing to the next, not settling into one specific spot to play. She wanted to see and try everything! There was so much to climb on and up, all three girls were in heaven! They love playgrounds with lots of opportunities for climbing, as well as monkey bars and swings. Pebble tried out a slide in one of the big kid areas, then explored the music area, and a climbing structure with rope netting. After that she gave me some gray hairs when she climbed up into an area with two towers, ropes strung between them. She just had to climb the tallest tower! There is so much to do in this playground, I couldn’t begin to describe it, and the variety means that kids from babies on up can enjoy the playground.
We spent close to an hour at the North playground before we climbed back into the car, and drove over to the West area. There is another playground here, but it is much, much, much smaller. I could sit on a bench and chat with my friend for a bit, before Pebble called me for help, as I could see the entire playground from the bench. Just beyond the playground are three ball fields, and there is a restroom right next to the playground. This playground had a simple wooden fence surrounding it, so if you have a runner, be prepared because they could easily escape. The West playground has one structure dedicated to the younger set, and it was covered by a shade structure. There was also an older kids structure, complete with an obstacle course and rock wall. At the back of the playground there is a swing set, and a hold and spin playground spinner. All three girls had a great time checking it out with their friends. Rainbow and Pebble both loved the fact that the younger kid’s set had monkey bars that were set closer to the ground. Pebble can’t go from hand to hand yet on the bars, but she can hook her knees over a bar, and hang upside down. Rainbow just liked climbing up on top of the bars, then doing flips around one of the end bars.
It was at this playground that my girls weathered their first big problems of the day… Stormy wanted to be like Rainbow, and climb up to sit on the bar of the hold and spin spinner instead of hanging on by her hands. Being older and weighing more, she had to try again and again to get her legs up, and it was frustrating her that her younger sister could climb up and she couldn’t. When she finally succeeded, I was able to relax, as I knew she wouldn’t be happy if we headed to the next playground before she succeeded. Pebble also had a bad fall at this playground. She was climbing up through a stack of three triangles, one of top of the other, but she lost her footing at the top. Poor Pebble fell heavily straight down the middle, and landed hard on the ground. She was more scared than hurt, and we spent a good chunk of time cuddling on the bench on the side of the playground. Before long, she was back up and climbing something else. If you have littles 5 and younger, keep an eye on them at this structure, it is easy to slip!
Before another hour had passed, the girls had requested to move on to the East Area where the challenge course is. Last time we were here, there was a big clock that one could start so that progress could be tracked. Sadly, the clock wasn’t working, but that did mean that there was no line to start the course. Instead kids were running around the course, trying out the various obstacles at their own pace. Pebble and Rainbow both liked climbing over the net wall, and doing the lily pad step bridge, using the ropes to help themselves up or down to the next step. Stormy practiced multiple times on the obstacle that required her to move from one large triangle to the next, each triangle higher or lower than the one before it. These triangles were supported in the air by ropes, with a hole in the middle of each for one to transverse. Stormy discovered she could go over the tops of the triangles faster rather than going through them.
We didn’t stay long at the obstacle course. This was, after all, our third playground of the day, and the kids were winding down. They were also having so much fun playing that we hadn’t gotten much lunch in them. My friend and I made the decision to head for home, and feed the kids in the car. Feeding them their lunch in the car also meant Pebble couldn’t fall asleep, which was a definite plus! If she’d napped, she wouldn’t fall asleep at bedtime for hours and she’d keep Rainbow awake, too. If you haven’t checked this park out yet, I’d recommend it! Just be forewarned that the North Area playground can get very busy and it is impossible to keep eyes on multiple kids at once. Happy trails!