Review for Harrer Pool parties only: Don't. We contacted the park district 1 month prior to…read moreintended party date to pay deposit to secure the party room. After scheduling and paying deposit for the pool party and confirming we have 1 hour set up and 1 hour post party to clean up, we tried to contact the Harrer pool coordinator for room specs, table number, size, chairs and equipment availability so we know what we needed to buy or not buy..table covers wall decor and such. Nothing. Emails and phone calls not returned. Was contacted 2 days prior to party by the new coordinator only to be asked about the cake. Coordinator told my daughter, the birthday celebrant's mom, we had to be out of the room exactly at noon. We were pushed out at 1145.. why? They had their own party to go to. Will never opt for a party space that NEEDS to have a coordinator on site. Have used the field houses for parties before and will continue to use them again. OR will rent Oriole Pool party room and instead (as long as that particular "party planner" is NOT part of the deal) So terribly disappointed.

This review is purely for the 'open' volleyball Thursday nights. I've gone to the gym for years…read more The workers there are friendly and helpful. The older woman that looks to head this "open" volleyball seems to pick and choose when she would like others to take part. My friends and I have slowly started to participate in the open volleyball here, but have noticed that her attitude towards us participating is not very kind. We come from different suburbs in the Chicagoland area - not exactly close. But we're turned away because she felt that they couldn't let one more team play (even though other players told us we were welcome). Third week in a row we were given attitude while trying to take part in "open" volleyball. I would suggest MG park district try to come up with a sign up sheet or better method of signing up to partake in "open" volleyball. Because if I have to travel from far to only be told I cannot play, it should not be called "open" volleyball. We would have made other arrangements to play had we known we would be told we cannot play there. Instead we wasted 45 mins trying to arrange another court to play. Unprofessional and rude.

A nice little park (it's 5 acres on paper, but most of it is forest or ravine) tucked back in a…read moreresidential area, Port Clinton Park is walking distance from downtown Highwood and the old fort. Since it's kind of hidden, and there are only two or three dedicated parking spots, it is mostly only known by the local neighbors. A good chunk of it is wooded, with a small baseball/softball diamond at the northeast corner off of Bloom St., and a playground off the St. John's entrance. There's an okay-ish basketball court adjacent to the playground, that sometimes doesn't have a net on the hoop. Last I checked, they put one picnic table back, though they might have another there soon. The playground equipment is great quality, everything is well maintained, and the park district does a good job tending to the landscaping. The only lights are from neighboring houses, so head out before dusk. I also recommend you use quality mosquito repellent, because - despite the best efforts of the park district - the mosquitos can be kind of awful in the late summer just because of its forested nature. The small parking area along St. John's is gravel, and can only accommodate two or three vehicles - just be careful not to block off the neighbors' driveway north of the parking spots. You can also park along Bloom St., and walk through the path to the playground, but it's a narrow-ish section, so pull as far to the side as possible. Also, interestingly, I have seen whitetail deer chilling out at the park, so maybe to be a little careful - they'll mess ya up if you startle them. Maybe also watch your kids around the edges, as some of the wooded area is just thick enough that younger kids can be hard to find when playing hide-and-seek. Ravines run through it, so also make sure younger kids don't accidentally stumble down. They're not really dangerous, but dirty, and could be a little hard to climb out of without getting muddy.

Great place to go and get some practice in for baseball - builds confidence in a youngster . Has a…read moreconcession stand and also mini golf $1 tokens for batting cages gives you 15 pitches $10 is more than enough batting time

Pioneer Park is a great park with decent amount of parking, located on the northeast corner of…read moreHarlem and Touhy. The mini-golf course consists of 18-holes and has various obstacles, including some water fixtures and stream in the middle of it. My kids really enjoyed the mini-golf course. The batting cages were a lot of fun too! They have several different spots/pitches, including slow/fast softball and slow/fast baseball. The machines were in good working condition, although occasionally you would have to hit the button to reset it, but it's not a really big deal. We only did the slow softball pitches, and they were mostly balls vs strikes, but adjust accordingly and you'll be hitting them in no time. They also have a concession stand where you can order some food and drinks, ie hotdogs, pop, chips, etc. Overall, the place doesn't get too crowded, at least the times we went on Friday night. Smack some balls to relieve some pandemic stress yo.

This park has a great atmosphere during the summer time, with water spouts and tucked away in a…read morequiet neighborhood. Swings for the kiddies and slides.

Great park! Lots of kids so obviously need to be vigilant. But there is lots to play with. There…read moreare swings, tons of slides, lots of place to run and have fun.

Pretty decent neighborhood park not too far off of Willow Road. Emphasis on "neighborhood" park as…read morethere is no designated parking lot for this park; you'll have to hop on a residential side street and park your car there, and walk across the street. Greenview Park has a small little playground, swings, a few outdoor exercise equipment, like a rower and leg press. There's also a half-court basketball court, a small little field, and a small walking trail. Not too bad, if you're in the area and looking for a secluded park to hangout with the family and enjoy the fresh air.

I have been here many times. This time I decided to smoke a cigar and sit on the shore rocks. You…read morecan see the Chicago skyline long in the distance. There are really nice homes that are huge in this area almost reminds me of Kevin McAllister's home from, "Home Alone." The Park has plenty of benches and also a jogging path along the walkway. The only con about this place is that you need to be really careful walking in the grass because dog poop here are like land mines! *Kaboom*

#magic I love it here!…read moreMiles of biking, running or walking paths. Beautiful beach to run through the waves. A nice park to lay on a blanket. A hop, skip and jump to Northwestern. Watch the sunrise and a full moon come up over the water. My favorite meditation spot.

We looked at this park for accessibility for mobility challenged people. Know before you go! Here…read moreis what we found: - 4 handicap accessible parking spaces - 1 handicap accessible restroom - Terrains are wood chips, fields, beach volleyball courts, sand box, and plastic surface - Park layout is: A school playground and basketball courts - 2 ramps to get into the park as well as 2 play ramps - No handicap accessible water fountains - The bigger playground is accessible Nice Park!!

I'm in a few park and playground social media groups, and the park at the Des Plaines Park District…read moreAdministrative Center has come up a time or two as being particularly good. I decided we should finally go check it out. If you're coming here for the playground, don't make the boneheaded mistake I did: Stopping at the Iroquois Community School, which is right off Touhy and when I saw the school's playground I thought we were at our destination. You will be sorely disappointed if you stop at the wrong one. If you make your way here via Birch Street, you'll go all the way to the end of the street, turn left, and find the park on the other side of the building; if you take Maple Street to get here, drive down toward the barricade dividing the street and you won't be able to miss it on your right. With all that out of the way, this is a fantastic park. When we left the school playyard, something just seemed off and I am so glad that I went around the block to find the actual playground we'd intended to visit, at the DPPD. It's all the way back at the end of the road; you'll essentially dead-end into when you head down Birch. This is my current favorite playground. The equipment is fantastic and so much of it is geared toward the littlest kiddos, which is not always the case. Here there are small things for them to climb on and under, there's a little "farmers market" booth with different play elements, crawl spaces, slides, and so on. My little girl had fun just running around the place, and she also did some crawling and climbing and sliding and enjoyed trying to feed the big turtle sculpture, as well as naming the turtle's body parts that she recognized. Toward the tail end of our visit, she spotted the swings, which is her favorite so we spent a while there before heading out. All told, we spent about 45 minutes here. The first time, that is--we've since been back again in the last week or so since our first visit and were there for an hour or more. There are several picnic tables in this playground area as well, so many of the parents were hanging out there whilst the kids ran around. This playground is geared toward younger kids (10 and below). The terrain is turf, grass, and paved walkways throughout, and it's fully fenced which is one of my favorite features of a park right now (though some parents are better than others about making sure the gates are actually closed). There's a private parking lot, very convenient. I hope we see you there!

On Sept 15, we went to the Fall Festival to see Live bands play on stage but what we saw was…read moredrunken brawls break out during the concert. Prior to the bands playing and during the breaks, announcements were constantly made for Alcohol Sales. Alcohol impairs judgement and I highly suggest that at future park district events that No Alcohol Sales occur, especially events that are promoted as "family friendly".