In late August, I took Pebble to Watkins Park in Upper Marlboro to visit the Wizard of Oz-themed playground, one of Prince George’s County’s many Imagination Playgrounds. The playground, the Nature Center, and the Old Maryland Farm were big hits with Pebble, and we spent the whole morning here playing. Then I told Pebble about a second Imagination Playground at Watkins Park called the Maryland Horse Racing Playground, a favorite of her older sisters, and, when we headed home for lunch, I took her on a drive to see it. Most visitors to the park only drive as far as the parking lot for the Wizard of Oz playground. That is the main attraction (along with the carousel, the train, the farm, and the nature center), and, in the summertime, this playground becomes a packed, chaotic mess of families and summer camps.
Now, how does one find this elusive, hidden playground? Simple, drive past the lot for the Wizard of Oz playground, and continue straight down the road until you come to the intersection with the road that loops around to the Nature Center. Turn right, and then make the first left. Once you make this left, go straight until the road branches. This is another loop, and one keeps to the right to follow it as it curves around a variety of picnic areas. Keep you eyes peeled, the playground is on your left as you come around the curve at the far end of the loop. Not only is this playground mostly crowd free, but it is also partially shaded, which is a great feature in the summer. Pebble took one look and said, “Oooohhhh!” She also begged to try it out, but I told her we would another day as we were both getting hungry.
In mid-October, I finally got a chance to return to Watkins Park with Pebble and my husband, and Pebble was sooo excited! Just as a heads up, this playground isn’t accessible year round. When we arrived in the park, we found maintenance hard at work assembling the lighted decorations used for the Christmas drive-through that begins after Thanksgiving. Nothing was lit up, but Pebble had fun looking at all of the decorations, from the tornado for Wizard of Oz, to an American flag, to a steamship, and lots of different Santa’s doing things like fishing and ice skating. Fortunately, the road back to the picnic areas and the playground was still open, but maintenance often closes it off during the day during the Christmas season due to the lighted decorations, and they don’t plow it during the winter, either. Here it is December, and Pebble has been asking to go back, but I’m not sure we can. I will probably wait till spring to visit again. Oh! As for facilities, there are no bathrooms directly next to this playground. There are bathrooms at one end of the loop, but it can be a bit of a walk, plus these bathrooms are locked seasonally. I can’t remember if there is a porta-potty… I bring our portable, and we often use the indoor bathrooms at the Nature Center.
On this sunny and cool day, Pebble was practically vibrating with excitement when we parked next to the playground. She couldn’t wait to explore! Her first objective was the trio of spring-mounted horses that one could ride. She loved climbing onto their backs and rocking like crazy! The playground is helpfully broken into two main areas, one for older, one for younger. The younger area includes the spring-mounted horses, a tunnel to climb through, haybales to jump across, and a playset that looks like a barn. Just below this area is a small swingset with two regular swings, one baby swing, and one swing for a child with disabilities. The older kid’s area is a bit nerve-wracking for parents due to its height. There are two spots where a younger child could have a bad fall. One is at the opening of the catwalk across the starting gates, at the top of the rock wall one climbs to reach this point. The second is at the top of a tall ladder that goes from the ground to the top of the catwalk. Pebble didn’t have any issues, but I remember Rainbow giving me a few gray hairs, here.
Pebble had two instant favorites on the playset for the older kiddos. The first was climbing up the boulders, around the carved horses’ heads, to the entrance of the catwalk over the starting gates. The second was the large tube slide from the uppermost level. She was scared of this slide at first, but I went first, and after that we couldn’t keep her off. Pebble even tried climbing up the tube slide from the bottom to the top. The tube slide could easily be reached by taking the stairs to the uppermost level of the playset, or by climbing up to the catwalk over the boulders. There was another twirly slide one level down from the tube slide, as well as a tunnel that led down to a trio of slides that were melded together, but each was a bit higher than the other. Pebble liked to tell us she was starting with the highest one first, then the middle one, then the small one.
For over an hour Pebble darted from one area of the playground to another. She played “The Floor is Lava,” and tried jumping from haystack to haybale to playset, and back again without touching the ground. Like Rainbow, she also returned to the spring-mounted horses again and again. She had so much fun exploring every inch of the playground, and, when she started to tire, we asked if she wanted to see the Nature Center again. We loaded her into the car with her snack, and made the quick drive over. We stopped briefly to see the giant Christmas tree in the circle near the Center. The star was up on top, but the lights were still being worked on.
At the Nature Center, Pebble checked out the turtles in the enclosure in the center of the building, then wandered around checking on other animals. At one enclosure, the Kenyan Sand Boa, she asked her dad and I for help finding the snake. Sadly, no luck as the snake had completely buried itself under the sand. At the moment of our fruitless search, one member of the staff was feeding an animal in a nearby tank. She told us that the snake in the enclosure was a baby, and that was why we had trouble finding it. To Pebble’s delight, she opened the tank, and gently lifted the Kenyan Sand Boa out. The staffer told Pebble all about Kenyan Sand Boas, and told her that this one’s name was Dune. When Dune was placed back in the tank, Pebble was able to watch as Dune happily slithered back under the sand. I don’t know the name of that staffer, but she absolutely made Pebble’s day!
We stayed a bit longer in the Center after Dune went back into hiding. Pebble loves to play in the children’s corner where the blocks and puzzles are. Soon enough, though, we rounded her up and headed home for some lunch. It was another awesome adventure at Watkins Park. As much as I love the Wizard of Oz playground, I think I prefer the Horse Racing one, especially with three kids to keep track of. Come spring, go looking for this hidden treasure, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Happy trails!
https://www.mncppc.org/3204/Watkins-Regional-Park
