One of the greatest attributes of Champaign-Urbana is all of its lovely green areas, and that’s why chambanamoms.com does occasional reviews of local parks.
PARK NAME: Burwash Park
LOCATION: Burwash Drive, Savoy
AMENITIES: Burwash Park (click for a slide show) is a great place to get together with friends and family. It has a reservable pavilion (with picnic tables and electricity if needed), a play structure, sand volleyball court, two tennis courts, and a softball field.
GOOD FOR: All ages
LAURA’S TAKE: This is another park that we drive by all the time but had never stopped. That all changed after we went to a picnic party at Burwash a few weeks ago, when we went to this park which is tucked in between a church and a nursing home facility. The kids had an absolute blast there — and there was something for all ages. In addition to the playground, the kids loved the running up and down the small “hill” on the property.
The playground at Burwash is complex enough for older kids while younger kids can still have fun too. It has a triple – triple! slide, and a tunnel slide — which produced lots of laughs as the kids played bumper cars in it. There are plenty of swings here, one set of “big kid” swings and another set of baby swings. But the swing that was the biggest hit with my kids is the faux tire swing, which they would stay on for hours if I let them.
One thing I also love about this park: there’s no sandbox. OK, that’s a technicality. There is a beach volleyball court, so yes, it would be possible for kids to dig around in that sand. But it’s obviously not set up for that kind of play, and on one of the nights we were there, grown-ups were using the beach volleyball court for the game for which it was intended.
There is one other thing about this park that some people might like and others will hate: it has portable toilets. That is one of the biggest complaints I hear from parents of young children when they go to public parks, and with a few exceptions, most parks don’t have any bathroom facilities. Of course my daughter had to use the portable toilet, and while it wasn’t my favorite part of the evening, it was at least tolerable.
So the next time you’re looking to kill some time before a movie at Savoy 16, or you’re looking to get the kids some sillies out before heading to the grocery store, make a stop at Burwash.
Got a park you want us to check out? Let us know! Or if you’re dying to tell everyone why you love your favorite local park, we welcome your contributions at editor@chambanamoms.com.