Shillito Park

Shillito Park is located near the Fayette Mall down Reynolds Road. You turn left into the park and follow the road until you don't think you can follow it anymore (past the pool, past the tennis courts) and you will finally see it on the right. There is a parking lot right next to the park. It has permanent indoor bathrooms and a water fountain. There is also a pavilion right next to it, but it may be rented from time to time. There are some picnic tables around the park for parents to sit as well as built-in benches for you to sit within the playground (see above).

With the update of Jacobson Park, Shillito is the last all-wooden playground left in Lexington. And, it is very divided on whether or not people like this playground. It is a really neat playground with lots of little walkways and tiny staircases. There are a ton of different places to go and lots of different levels and slides. They have both baby swings and regular swings. As a bonus, the baby swings are usually in the shade in the afternoon. There are a number of slides including some that are enclosed, some that wind around and a really wide one with bumps. There are things for kids to climb up on, tires to climb into and monkey-bars. They also have a sand area, but the sand is pretty mixed with dirt. It seems like a great playground for older kids to run around (and they really do run) and play catch or hide and seek. We loved taking my son here when he was first working on steps (with assistance). There are a ton of steps everywhere here and there are hand-holds at a good level for small kids. He loved climbing up and up and up the curvy steps and then sliding down. But, I am ridiculously short and still felt like there were times I wasn't going to fit into those staircases. They are really, really tight. And claustrophobic.

There is also a train that runs by across the street that my son loves to watch when the trees are bare. The park is also a pretty good distance from the road and a very good distance from any main road. It does have a fence around some of it.

The cons to this park are that is is not at all handicapped accessible (which is part of the reason Jacobson got remodeled). The main concern I have heard from most moms about his park is that you can lose your kids in a split second. The fact that there are so many nooks and crannies make it impossible to find your kids sometimes. And, if you have multiple kids, there is no way you could always have an eye on them if they are in two different places. And, nothing is more terrifying than turning around and your kiddo being gone. I also know that there have been some issues with strangers going up to kids at this park. Not sure the intent, but this just adds to the concern of not being able to have an eye on them at all times. Another issue with this park is that since it is so intricate, kids don't always understand how to get back up to a certain slide. When we went today, my son just kept walking around looking for the steps to get back up to the slide he just went down. It became really frustrating to him with time. And, when you are trying to get them more independent, this is just frustrating to everyone.

Overall, I would recommend trying this park out at least once just due to it being so different from the other parks in the area. But, it does have its downfalls, so it may not work for everyone. If it doesn't work for you, keep in mind that across the light at Reynolds is a Culvers and Bruesters Ice Cream. So, it wouldn't be a wasted trip at all since ice cream always saves the day!