Lindenwood Park Takeaway. A Lovely Little Working Class Park. Everything you could want in a neighborhood park. Playground Complete. The playground will keep your kids busy for an hour. Locking in a 7 / 10 score. Tennis courts, a skating rink, baseball fields, soccer field space, playgrounds, and paved walking trails. Checks every mark without being a standout in any. A
I really like this park. It's one of the best parks in St. Louis.
Better for adults with a very, very respectable 7.8 / 10. It's not as fancy as big names like Tower Grove or Lafayette Park, but still extremely functional. All walking paths lead to the gazebo, bathrooms, and pavilion with picnic tables in the center of the park. It's the only park I've been to in the area with a full-blown roller rink. They keep the bathrooms locked in the winter.
Lindenwood Park Experience Summary
I've been driving by Lindenwood Park for years. It's close to our friends and babysitter who live in that part of the city.
More recently, I've been driving past on the way to review restaurants in the area. Mom's Deli is basically on the corner of the park. You could walk to Menya Rui for dinner or grab a donut at Donut Drive In after an afternoon in the park.
I finally stopped on an overcast Wednesday afternoon on my way to lunch at Mom's.
Parking along the park's north edge, I took a stroll down the main walking path. While the walking path twists and turns throughout, I stayed on course to the center hub of the park. The word that kept running through my head as I approached the center hub was "practical."
From the pavilion, bathrooms, playground, tennis courts, skate rinks, ball fields, and gazebo, it checks every box and more for what you'd want in your neighborhood park. But you throw in a set of walking paths on par with Francis and Lafayette Park, and now you have a Tower Grove Park light.
As an aside, Lindenwood is another park with classic St. Louis architecture surrounding it. I love walking the perimeter of the major parks to see brick after brick of row houses.
Lindenwood Park Playground Breakdown
The Lindenwood Park playground area had three main apparatuses in a main playground, little kid's playground, and a rope climb.
Add swings and several other single-use pieces of equipment, and you will get a Playground Complete setup that keeps kids busy for an hour.
Main Playground
As far as main playgrounds in the area go, the Lindenwood version is a bit small. It does have three slides, one of which is twisty, but it's not a tall setup, so each slide ride is quick.
It does well in terms of ways to reset your slide runs. I count at least ten ways to access it, including going back up the slides. A good time to reset value with a lot of entrance vectors, in my made-up park review jargon.
There's nothing particularly unique about this set like the Rocket Ship Park.
A microcosm of the park as a whole, I'd say.
Climbing Net
I'm a mixed bag on climbing nets. This particular climbing net has the benefit of connecting to the main playground. At about 10 feet tall and pretty wide, it offers a good number of ways to climb.
The "problem" I've seen with climbing nets is that sub-five-year-olds can't really use them, and the older kids do a run or two and get bored. Unless it's a base or fort for some larger game, once you climb it, you've climbed it.
They seem like they'd add more to the park experience than they do. Maybe some kind of bias in how parents think kids use parks.
Other Apparati
The little kid's playground and the swings round out Lindenwood's major equipment selection. The little kid playground is your typical one slider low to the ground. It might be the exact same model they had at Lafayette Park. It's, again, practical but not memorable.
The standard swings combine normal swings with a selection of little kid bucket swings.
You'll find a random splattering of other one-off pieces of equipment. Some drums, a balance beam, and other little things of the sort.
Lindenwood Park Amenities And Miscellaneous
Lindenwood is a lot like Stacey Park near me. Its charm is in its function. You can take your kids to the playground, go for a walk around the walking paths, and then catch up to them on a soccer field.
You'll find the pavilion is the perfect size and in the perfect location for a birthday party. It houses half a dozen picnic tables next to the playgrounds and bathrooms.
Speaking of bathrooms, the town closes them in the winter, part of a trend all around St. Louis. You'll find them right next to the playground area in the center of the park.
And lastly, every community outdoor sport is available. It has:
Tennis Courts - Although they were a little waterlogged on my visit.
Roller Rink - The only roller rink I've seen in the 20+ parks I've visited.
Baseball and Soccer Fields
Walking Paths - Crisscrossing the northern half of the park
Gazebo - For the town crier of course
Parking At Lindenwood Park
Parking at Lindenwood Park can be found around the entire perimeter. It spans several blocks wide and long, with plenty of parking to find.
Lindenwood Park Receipt