Over the last few years the Grayslake Park District has been renovating and improving neighborhood parks. Nestled in the Deer Point Sub division, Antler Park in Hainesville is one of those recently renovated neighborhood parks. While it’s a small neighborhood park, it has enough features that children of all ages can enjoy it. Located just off of nearby bike trails, it’s a perfect place to stop for a break or meet for a playdate.
If you have older kids that love climbing, they will love all the options here. In addition to the monkey bar bridge there is a vertical ladder tube and a rope bridge that connects to a decent-sized, climbing pyramid. It’s a great set-up for kids to play follow the leader, which we enjoyed over and over again on our visit.
The only downfall of this park is that the structure suitable for toddlers and preschoolers (with the small slides) is connected to the larger climbing structure (with the larger slides) by the wavy monkey bars — as seen in the photo above. If you have a fearless toddler who thinks he’s a big kid, I would stay within arms reach because he will likely run right for that bridge.

If your kids are into spinning and swinging, this park has plenty to offer! The swing set provides both standard swings as well as buckets seats for the little ones. There is also a large disc swing that we piled four kids onto! They loved it! It also has one of the newer merry-go-rounds that are molded with seats for younger kids and spots for older kids to stand and hold onto while spinning. It was another popular spot for my kids who love to spin themselves silly.
While not necessarily a destination playground, I love knowing where all the good neighborhood parks are. Running errands or going to see friends is definitely more fun when you know there is a great park nearby. And, you can always offer a park visit as an incentive for little ones to tag along. Take a quick spin through it with us:
Antler Park
Deerview Drive, Haineville

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