For Christmas this past year, we headed west to visit family outside Chicago. The weather was a bit gray and rainy, but it didn’t stop us from getting outside a number of times during our stay. The temps ranged between the mid-30’s and into the low 40’s, and, with the proper gear, i.e., fleece leggings, winter coats, and hats and mittens, we were able to visit a few new-to-us places. The first outing was to Harvester Park in Burr Ridge, Illinois, only about 30 minutes from my in-laws condo. The playground here had been expanded, and the new area was themed after historic Route 66, which originally ran past the southern border of Harvester Park. The address for Harvester Park is 15W400 Harvester Dr., Burr Ridge, IL 60527. The Burr Ridge Community Center is also located here, and the Center is open from 8:30am to 4pm. There is a free-standing building directly next to the playground that houses restrooms, but we discovered those were closed for the season, so we were glad we visited on a day the Center was open and we had access to restrooms.
Upon arrival to the park, we discovered a large, mostly empty lot. My girls piled out of the car, and headed for the playground. They blitzed past the older section of the playground in favor of the new Route 66 themed areas. Their first destination was Illinois, and the 30-foot Sears Tower. The Tower has a 16-foot tube slide, and each section of the tube represents a leg of the highway that replaced Route 66 across Illinois. There is a smaller 6-foot slide, along with a network of tubes within the tower that kiddos can use to climb to the top. For those that don’t want to climb through the tunnels, there are stairs along one side of the Tower. At the base of the Tower, there are a variety of switches and other manipulatives for kids to turn and press to pretend they are operating the building. There are informational signs about the building, too, hung in the “basement” area. My kids didn’t care a fig about any of the information I just gave you. They were thrilled to be able to climb the giant tower and go down the giant slide. I was the history nut reading everything in sight!
While Stormy and Pebble clambered through the tower, Rainbow headed over to New Mexico. In Santa Rosa, New Mexico there are over 20 lakes and sinkholes which link-up underground. Here in the playground, the sinkholes were represented by three small in-ground trampolines, which we all had a blast jumping on. Rainbow would take a running start and bounce her way through all 3 sinkholes. Even my husband got in on the fun and was happily jumping in one of the sinkholes.
In addition to Illinois and New Mexico, there were sections of the playground that represented Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Arizona, and California. Rainbow loved the elevated boogie boards in California where she got to practice her balancing skills. Sadly, our first foray to this park came to an end when the predicted rain came earlier than expected, and we only got in an hour at the playground. Due to disappointed children, we made it a point to return to the park later in the week.
On our second visit, the kids bounced back and forth between the older area of the playground and the new. Pebble discovered the sandpit, which came with a conveyer belt and pulleys. She loves playing in sand, and this area was a massive hit! Stormy, meanwhile, found an area dedicated to archeological digging. She had to find things like a Native American stone mortar, a gold cup, an Aztec digging stick, etc. Yet again, I was one reading the descriptions of these items while Stormy carefully excavated them from the sand. There was a slide in this older area made out of a series of pipes that rattled as the kids rolled down it on their bellies, and a hollow tree one could climb in and through. Off to one side of the playground was a pavilion that looked like a barn. It housed a variety of household objects that one could make music with, from cooking tools, to work tools, to horseshoes, etc. There are buttons to push that play music from different eras, and signage that detailed how the music tied into the area.
Harvester Park was an experience, and we felt that we’d barely scratched the surface on what this place offered, even though we’d visited twice. We watched the kids zip through the Route 66 areas, returning often to the sinkholes and the Sears Tower. On our second visit to the park, we also discovered a treehouse, and a nature trail, along w/ outdoor exercise equipment. My girls are already asking to return to the park when we visit family in June. I’m sure the playground will be busy then, as there is a water feature that will be running next time we visit. Water features are always, always a draw for kids of all ages! If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend visiting this park, it is worth the time to explore! Happy trails!
https://www.brparks.org/harvester-park
