I normally love to go out of town on the weekends for day trips. Those little trips are therapy to get me through the work week. However sometimes just staying in around town on the weekends is desired. I always like to see something new still and I haven't been to and exploring Tacoma's city parks is a good way to get that quota met.
I haven't been to McCarver Park at all until recently. It is actually a very adorable little park. This park is attached to a school and as a result of that this public park doesn't have the usual general public hours as most of Tacoma's city parks have which is usually approximate dusk to dawn hours. The hours that are open to the public here are when school hours are not in session. So that mean somewhere after 3 pm during the week, weekends and in the summer when school is out most likely. I'm guessing the park serves as a playground for the students of the school when it is in session and the park is closed off to the public for safety reasons. At first it didn't make sense to me but after observing the set up more it makes perfect sense. The location of the school in the Hilltop Neighborhood could be a partial reason as Hilltop can be one of Tacoma's rougher neighborhoods.
The park itself is very quaint and has a lot of features that one would hope with a city park. There is lots of playground equipment... some fairly high tech looking. I think I'm the generation that is a bit too old to understand how this equipment works but they have good old fashioned swing sets too. lol The park also has adorable art pieces all over the grounds. There is a community garden nearby that looks like it has it's own gate so I'm guessing the park hours don't apply to that little corner of the park. There is a second garden as well on the other side of the park near the school building and I imagine that is for the students and the school.
McCarver Park isn't necessarily a huge park but it is great to have a stroll around and the view isn't too bad either! read more