Great facility to work out in. Safe and friendly, clean. Great selection of programs.

Came to the Castle Downs Spray Park today as part of my Yelp quest to find the best of the best spray and splash parks in and around Edmonton. Castle Downs comes in at a strong 4 out of 5 stars. Today was a jam packed Sunday afternoon with so very many options including multiple playgrounds, giant gazebo, skatepark, 2 food trucks - ice cream and a Poutine/burger/fry truck, and the city of Edmonton Green Shack peeps. The Spray park had several zones including a musical piano, spray cannons, and loops of water you can run through. PROS Multiple water and playground zones -something for everyone Washrooms Food trucks Green shacks Huge grass fields/hills surrounding park Ample parking lot City of Edmonton Staff Rubber ground for majority of spray park and playground Lots of swings CONS Too big! So big that it was easy to lose track of my toddler even while playing with him on the playground and in the spray park Zones are not fenced in so if you lose track of your child, they could go missing quickly or wander to the parking lot/road. Close proximity of townhomes attached to the backing grass, again not fenced off, would also make it easy for a child to wander to a residential area. Some people may be thinking, hey watch you kid(s) and yes BUT if you are here with several children (especially toddlers) we all know how fast one can run off while attending to another child. The water cannons shoot water hard enough to nearly knock my toddler off his feet - good for BIG kids but not so great for my toddler and kindergartner Lack of shade - lots of people set their chairs up against the washroom building to try and find shade Very few benches/picnic tables In summary, Castle Downs park has loads of amenities and lots of space but so much so that it felt overwhelming at times and difficult to keep track of little ones. If you have a big kid that doesn't require sight and sound supervision, this may be the park for you! But if you're like me with a toddler and little kid, this park was a little too much for us coupled with a lack of shade or fenced in areas resulting in a solid 4 out of 5 stars. PS - If you are planning on coming here with little ones under 5 - I'd recommend a 1:1 ratio of supervision to toddlers :-) read more

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This facility is quite disappointing. I have been to William Lutsky facility and I can say with confidence that Castle Downs YMCA is way worse. I am not sure how the budget is divided between facilities but I wonder how the Castle Downs facility can be so poorly maintained. As soon as you enter, the facility has a vibe from the 70s, dirty, outdated and poor. The colour (maroon) screams antiquated. The weight room is dirty un-organized and not well designed. The supervisor of the weight room is an old man that would rather look around and talk to people instead of organizing or cleaning. Even the music in this weight room is old! In all honesty, the facility is close to my home but it is not worth paying almost $70 for such a poorly maintained facility. I am cancelling my membership because of that. read more

This location has it all.. A great splashpark, playground & a skate park. It's awesome for accommodating a variety of ages as well as interests. There are onsite washrooms with flush toilets which is a huge plus for any park location! There are lots of picnic tables and trees for shade if the sun gets to be too much for you. & of course the ice cream truck makes regular stops and today there is a fries truck too ( it's nearing lunchtime). A read more

Castle Downs Family YMCA - The washroom building and more equipment. - Summer Camps Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

I am an on and off participant at the Y. I have good experiences there and enjoy what is offered. However, it was disappointing to see 2 YMCA staff post publicly there disregard to COVID restrictions. No masks and the worst is not following the new restriction of not visiting friends. Please, follow the rules we are in this together. read more

We absolutely loves this place.....when it was open. The little guy really misses swimming. Hope you reopen soon.

This place supplies a whole day of entertainment for the whole family. The park is divided into several different sections. - One of the biggest structure is a pirate ship with lots of slides. -There is an even larger play structure with more slides climbing ladders, and lots of extras to keep the kids busy. -Off to the side is a smaller bit with structures that challenge your balance and strength. - A large sand pit with a smaller slides and a water feature. With a nearby stationary firetruck and spinning chiars. This area is more suitable for toddlers but the water feature draws in older kids as well. - A very large splash park pad with lots of different water sprayers. Some of which are interactive. - A large gazebo that is used for events - Finally a huge skateboard park. Not something my kids are into so I can't really comment on the quality of this feature but it always seems to be busy. With all these different play areas it is very easy to lose track of your kids. This can make it a stressful situation for parents supervising multiple younger children. If this is you I would suggest coming with friends so you can have more eyes around the entire park or just bring your spouse or a babysitter. During the warmer months there is usually an ice cream truck parked out front and sometimes on busier days there is also a mediocre food truck that comes out. But since it is a city park it's probably best to bring your own snacks in a cooler. Also if staying for an extended period I would suggest bringing some kind of sun shade as shade is in limited supply close to the park. You can set yourself up in the shade of a tree in the feild. Of coarse this is further out from the park so not idealic if you have younger children. When I take the kids to this park we usually make a day of it and invite friends and family to join us. On summer holidays the park usually has special activities going on. There is also green shack program which is open on regular days as well. I like that there is a washroom with running water available that also doubles as a change room. Draw backs include.: - parking lot can be to small especially on weekends and holidays. - the park is huge making it easy to loose track of your kids. Especially if they are smaller read more

Not sure why some folks are negative. I have been going here for over 10 years. The place is clean, and well organized. They tweak the layout based on client feed back. All the people both young and older who work there a kind, helpful and professional. Music types may vary based on the time and crowd type. Great family type facility and safe. read more

Heavy on the chlorine in the pool but clean and attentive staff, friendly and accommodating. On site works well with the YMCA to provide personal training support for hourly sessions. Kinesiology at its best with Dean and Ashley to monitor the progress and recommend solutions. read more

This is the biggest park in our area, with lots of grass for running around, plenty of shade, and lots to do for all ages. Bonus: there's a bathroom! The parking lots is also fairly large, but it can get full fairly quickly when there are special events, but never fear; you can always park at the YMCA across the field of you don't mind a little walk. The lash park has lots of different types of "splashers" (is that the right word?). Some are gentle enough for the wee ones, and we started taking Finn here when he was not even one. Now, he rips around everything. There is a small sand pit, but it's mostly rubberized matting with plenty of grip. Tons of slides, several kinds of swings, lots to climb on, paved bike paths, and a concrete skate park, this place really has something for everyone, and places to eat are right across the street if you forgot to pack a lunch. read more

This surprising large facility is located on 153 Avenue just east of Castledown's Road. It's looks smaller from the outside, but on the inside it has a lot of perks for YMCA members such as workout and cardio equipment, a couple squash courts, 110m track, gym with basketball hoops (a must), a couple of studios and of course the grand-daddy of them a all ... a pool. It is a good facility. However, if I were to make a slight critique, I would say that the workout equipment looks old. They could use an up-grade and for me a few key pieces were missing such as an inclined bench with handles for inclined leg raises to work those lower abs and a range of kettle-bells (however, they have some neat medicine with handles which were a nice touch). The change rooms are clean and spacious. The staff friendly and even say things like "have a nice weekend!" I frequent YMCA in Edmonton and Calgary and have never heard anyone say that to me. Impressive. My only other critique would be there appears to be a lack of single, attractive women in their early 30s grunting away to Kylie Monogue in the background. But I can't blame the facility for not fulfilling a man's daydream! Enjoyed using this facility! read more

I do like this place. Though it is an older facility the staff are friendly and the equipment is up to date in the fitness area. There are times when the equipment is broken, but they have been really good about getting it repaired as quickly as possible. The music in the fitness centre is never too loud. I like having the option to swim or take classes all in the same building. read more

Now this is a really, really fun park! It's a bit of a drive up to Castledowns from where I (and my nephews) live, but I would certainly make the drive to watch them play the afternoon away in this park. With one of the best spray/splash parks in the capital area, as well as having lots of green-space. I can see why it is so popular. I also really love that this is a stop for food trucks to come, as not all of us remember to pack a lunch - and I just really love ice cream! read more

It is a well-kept and well-organized facility. All ages welcome and they provide variety fitness classes to members. Their cardio machines (treadmill and eliptical) are better models than lots of other ones I have used throughout the city gyms. read more

I love that the park is always busy, but big enough to accommodate. The daycares in the area use this park, and my kid loves tagging along and joining in on all the fun. Its always clean, people working the park are there quite often, and I'm really impressed with how modern playground equipment tries to make safety key. read more

Gets overtly crowded on hot days. Need way more parking and tables for people. The splash park part could use a few more features. The amount of people there on a hot day if the splash park section was extended Times two it would still be a little crowded. There in a huge area there's lodes of space they could make more parking and a bigger splash park. read more