Playground Profile: Longmeadow Park

Some of my favorite parks are hidden gems tucked away in quiet neighborhoods. They are just as big and fancy as some of the better-known parks, with considerably less traffic. Hidden in the Longmeadow subdivision near the Mundelein Target, Longmeadow Park is the perfect summer picnic and park playdate spot.

We stopped by this park right after a summer break Target run.  When we pulled up, my car was the only car in the parking lot, which meant we had the whole park to ourselves. My first impression was “wow, this park is actually really big,” as it features not only sprawling grassy fields but two large play structures with 11 slides total.

My six-year-old son gravitated towards the play structure that was set farther back, which seemed to be geared towards older kids. I would say this structure was best for children ages five and older. This is a great park for kids to burn off energy as it has nearly every climbing apparatus imaginable.

The park also has some really impressive sets of monkey bars. I felt that my six-year-old was too young for these, as they are quite high, but I think this would keep bigger kids and even tweens occupied. At one point a jogger even came through and was using these for pull-ups as part of a workout.

The other structure was geared for younger kids. It was a large structure that mostly had an array of stairs, ramps, some low slides, and a car steering wheel. My one-year-old couldn’t really do much yet here. I would recommend this section for children ages two and older. There are swings for younger children, so she was satisfied.

Among moms, I often hear that they either love parks with sandboxes or hate them. Personally, I love finding a park with a good sandbox for my children to play in. I was pleased to see that they had two sandboxes with diggers.

Another huge perk of this park is the sprawling grassy areas. It sits on 49 acres of land.  Seriously, this is the ultimate picnic park because based upon that fact alone. There are soccer goals, a baseball field, and a huge gazebo with picnic tables inside.  I immediately regretted not bringing a ball — or even a sandwich with me. We will have to come back with friends.

Overall, this park is great for children preschool-aged and up!  I love finding parks like this that keep you coming back. It will definitely be on my rotation for parks this summer.

Some tips about Longmeadow Park :

• They only have a porta potty in the parking lot.  Bring hand sanitizer if you think your kids will be using it.
• The parking lot is rather small, so if you have a lot of friends coming you may have to park on the streets.
• The basketball court is the parking lot, so I really wouldn’t recommend coming here just to play basketball.
• The park is located in full sun with the exception of the gazebo. That means on sunny days the equipment will likely be hot. I would recommend coming here in the early morning or early evening but avoiding mid-day.

Longmeadow Park 
1800 Somerset Ln, Mundelein, IL 60060
Connect with the Mundelein Park District: website | Facebook

Longmeadow Park was a stop on our 5th Annual Playground Tour!