This park was recently updated by the city, however still a pretty simple park. It is in a quiet…read moreneighborhood setting with very limited parking keeping the number of kids attending low. The update from the city included resurfacing of the basketball court (3 hoops / 1 for little kids), a couple of covered pavilions and a pair of exercise pieces added. The park has two sets of swings - one for little kids and another for bigger kids. There are two sets of playgrounds for under 5 and over 5 age groups. There are a lot of benches and picnic tables under some nice tree cover from the sun. And there is a sidewalk around the entire area for a nice loop by skates, bikes or scooters.

This is a small (1.5) acre park located in the Palm Beach Farms neighborhood of Boca Raton. Pine…read moreBreeze Park has parking along it's perimeter. Park amenities include a playground, basketball court, and walking path. Upgrades to the park were supposed to be made this summer to extend the walking path, add outdoor exercise equipment, resurface the basketball court, and add two new pavilions. This a cute park and there were a lot of people in the neighborhood using it especially now that Palm Beach has moved into phase 2 of reopening and the playgrounds are open. If you are looking for a larger park, I recommend the newly opened nearby Hillsboro El Rio Park South which has a much larger playground, longer exercise paths, and access to El Rio Canal for boats and kayaks.

Meadows Park is a nearly 13 acre park centrally located in Boca Raton just east of Boca Raton…read moreMiddle School. Set next to a canal, it has a plenty of parking and many shade trees. A popular amenity at Meadows Park is its 8 lane, 25 yard by 25 meter pool with two diving boards. Resident children pay $2 and adults are $4 while non residents pay double. You can also purchase monthly, semi annual, and annual memberships. The Boca Mantas Swim Team trains at the pool and the pool offers swim lessons. Meadows park is also the home of the 1.4 acre Boca Community Garden which opened on October 16, 2021. The garden is sponsored by the Junior League of Boca Raton, Brightline, City of Boca Raton, Community Greening and Tree City USA. Garden plots can be rented by Boca Raton community members from $60 to $110 per plot. Residents can also participate in gardening classes. Inside the garden is a gazebo with seating. There is a new playground being installed that is themed to match the community garden. The garden smelled lovely and I really loved exploring it and getting inspiration for things I can grow in my own school community garden. The garden and pool make Meadows Park a special destination in the Boca Parks and Rec holdings. The park also has a baseball field, sand volleyball court, tennis courts, picnic tables, and grills, and a paved exercise path. The park will be even nicer when the brand new playground is completed. Come out and enjoy all this park has to offer.

On the weekends I like to explore new parks for exercise and I discovered this lovely nature oasis…read moreright next to a church tag sale I was attending. All of the parks in Boca are meticulously maintained and University Woodlands is no exception. You can find it across the street from the prestigious Pine Crest School on St. Andrews Boulevard. The L shaped park doesn't look like much from the road but pull in and prepare to have your expectations exceeded. Park amenities include baseball fields, restrooms, picnic areas, and beautifully landscaped and shady playground surrounded by pine trees.. The park also has soccer fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, and grills. Come out and play sports, take the kids to play, or enjoy a picnic. I enjoyed the paved exercise path that winds through the park. The first cool front is finally coming our way. Get out and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Another nice kids playground in Boca that is shaded. The park has basketball & tennis courts, large…read moreopen fields for soccer, softball or kickball. The playground is near a covered picnic area, multiple tables, grills and bathrooms. The area is also well shaded with large trees. The playground has two sets of equipment for climbing, slides and a large log for hiding. The only downside of the large trees are the amount of berries falling on the sidewalk around the playground. The berries are smothered in the soles of your shoes.

This is such a cute little park that I discovered while running errands. At just over an acre it is…read morewhat Boca Raton calls a pocket park. Pocket parks arose from the desire in the community to have places for kids to play instead of another building on the vacant land. Although small, the city packed a lot into this pocket park. It has a 3 story play structure with slide, swings, play house for toddlers, benches, picnic tables, and a paved walking path. Yale Newman Park was dedicated in 2002 in honor of Yale Newman who was born on August 17, 1914. Mr. Newman and his wife had visited Boca Raton during their honeymoon in 1938. They moved to the city upon Mr. Newman's retirement in 1972 from his position as the Superintendent of recreation in Long Island, New York. Mr. Newman served on the Park and Recreation board for 24 years during which he saw the number of parks grow from 11 to over 41. if you visit a park in Boca Raton, you can thank Yale Newman for it.

Once upon a time there was real German nobility in Boca Raton. The Count and Countess Hoernle were…read morea philanthropic couple who raised money for the arts, education, and social organizations. Their names are on 50 buildings in the area including this park. Countess De Hoernle passed away at the age of 103 in 2016. This 80 acre park was created in 2012 on land that used to belong to the IBM Corporation. The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District used 13.9 million dollars of tax money to build the park. This park also known as the Spanish River Athletic Facility has a lot of amenities. It is ADA accessible. It has many sports fields including 4 baseball / softball field, football field, and 4 soccer fields. There is restrooms, concession stands, a playground, picnic areas with tables, and exercise paths. Lacrosse and rugby are other sports played in the park. My favorite part of the park is the exercise path that runs around the 20 acre lake. I loved watching ospreys diving into the lake and coming up with fish. This lake attracts a wildlife including birds and even a snake that crossed my path. There is a fitness zone with outdoor exercise path along this path but it is currently closed because of Covid. This path connects under the bridge to the path that runs through Pondhawk Natural Area across the road. That path also leads to the Spanish River Library. You can really get a great running/ walking workout here. There are even more exercise paths that run behind the athletic fields in the back of the park. Another great thing about this park is that there is a lot of security which puts your mind at ease that your car is less likely to get broken into compared to other parks. I saw security driving around on the golf cart several times during my visit. This park is open every day from 8 to 11 except for Sunday when they close at 6. I love working out at this lovely park.

This is part of the Spanish River Athletic Park. The trail is paved and can be shared by cyclists…read moreand pedestrians. You can go around the lakes and stop by the Pondhawk Natural Area if you so desire. The trail links up with the El Rio Trail. As you exit the park, you can cycle west toward Military Trail and still be on the sidewalk. As you exit the park, you can ,also, head east and get on another part of the El Rio Trail ,or you can ride a bike over the bridge that goes over the expressway to add onto your ride. The big downside is that some people don't stay to the right while walking, so you end up with them blocking the path. There are signs at one part of the lake that say Dog are prohibited, but people seem to ignore that. To sum it up, it's a nice place to ride or walk except for inconsiderate people.

Johnie McKeithen Park is a spacious 10 acre park in Deerfield Beach with two entrances, one off…read moreNorthwest 1 Terrace and one off of Deerfield Avenue. The park was named in honor of Johnie O. Mckeithen, a veteran. Johnie along with his wife Oveta Thompson-McKeithen were Deerfield Beach community activists and leaders. Oveta has her own park in town named after her. Mr. McKeithen passed away in 1987. Mckeithen Park has some great if basic amenities to offer the neighborhood. It has a large pavilion with restrooms, one small picnic pavilion, a basketball hoop, two tot playgrounds, and my favorite part, a walking trail connecting the park's east and west areas with exercise stations. Throughout the park are a lot of trees to provide shade. The city is interested in making improvements to the park including adding a skateboard rink but area residents are resistant. Professional skateboarder Jamie Foy who is from Deerfield Beach offered to pay for the rink and a park redesign. Right now basic park park improvement plans are underway but the park is pretty quiet. It will be interesting to see if the future holds more improvements that will attract the young people in this community to the park.

Lakeview Park is nestled in the back of the upscale Lakeview neighborhood in Delray Beach. The…read moredesirable neighborhood dates back to the early 1970's and mainly features large, single family homes. Lakeview Park is the neighborhood park for this community. Park amenities include a boat ramp, pavilion which can be rented, picnic pavilion, picnic table, playground, restroom, wand walking path. My favorite part of the park was the gorgeous view of Lake Ida, a popular spot for boating, fishing, and bird watching. The lake was named after the wife of Delray Beach's founder and was once a part of a huge farm. The area was later transformed into a park in the early 1970s. There are two other, much larger parks on Lake Ida, Lake Ida East Park and Lake Ida West Park. An interesting thing I noticed at Lakeview Park is that it had a number of new trees planted. This is the same thing I have been seeing at all of the parks in Delray Beach. The trees are part of the Delray Beach tree planting program which aims to put in 10,000 trees by 2025. To complete the goal the city entered into an agreement with Community Greening in 2022 funded by the Tree Trust Fund. Community Greening is an Urban Forestry nonprofit with the mission to increase South Florida's tree canopy. I love the work they are doing and it is great to learn more about them. If you want to get involved in planting more trees there is a list of events they need volunteers for on their website as well as a list of days they are giving away trees.

One of Delray's larger parks, the name gives it away. This park is located on the eastern shore of…read moreLake Ida in a very nice residential neighborhood. There is a big parking area and a boat launch with space for cars with trailers. The park has a big pavilion that can be reserved from the city (see the web page for info). Picnic tables throughout, barbecue grills, a nice playground, a permanent building with restrooms and a walking trail that goes around the park. From the lakeside, you can enjoy the birds, perhaps do some fishing, or watch over in the distance as the cars go northbound on I-95. I found it quite peaceful. [Review 990 of 2024 - 1866 in Florida - 22018 overall]

Merritt Park is a multi-ethnic neighborhood in the southwest corridor of Delray Beach. It is south…read moreof Atlantic Ave and can accessed from Swinton Boulevard.. The park was named for the neighborhood and it was built in the early 1960's to provide recreation for children residing in the immediate area. Merritt Park is enclosed with a chain link fence. Park amenities include two lighted softball fields, stadium bleachers, 2 half-court basketball courts, playground, field, and restrooms. While the field is very popular for athletic games, the playground is rather basic and showing its age. To make the park more attractive to children the city has added a brand new ninja style course called ELEVATE by Burke. The course uses different obstacles to get you in shape and can be used individually or by teams. You can make the course even more challenging by incorporating burpees, jumps, and sprints. To learn how to use the equipment you can watch tutorial videos at bciburke.com/elevate. There are also directions on the backside of the sign in the park. I love these new ninja style courses that I have seen being added to parks and make exercise more fun. None of the kids were on the dated playground. Instead they were all on the inviting ninja course climbing and jumping and having a blast.

Elevate, excellent exercising in the outdoors, elevate, elevate, elevate, yes, indeed, elevate,…read moreexercising outdoors