160 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94710
Hours: Saturday-Sunday (11 AM-5 PM)
Admission: Free for families on the weekend
Restrooms: Yes, there are public restrooms near the entrance to the park.
Parking Lot: Yes, free parking is available at the Berkeley Marina.
Gated/Fenced: Yes the park is entirely fenced with on gate to enter and exit.
Overview
The Adventure Playground is quite a sight to behold. Located just across from the Berkeley Pier, It brings with it a unique experience and twist on outdoor play that is sure to be a huge hit with kids. It has been around since the late 70’s and it focuses on junkyard scraps to make an incredible play space for kids. Fort after fort will allow kids to run from one area to the next and explore the intricate aspects of the playground.
Just remember, this is not your standard playground. Kids must be supervised but there are hammers, saw, paint and recycled materials for kids to add onto the already existing forts and structures. All of the forts here have been built by the kids. This playground is a super magical place that will absolutely blow kids away and allow their imaginations to run wild. The weekdays are only available to school groups and through group reservations, so be aware of that.
Features
- Wooden forts, slides and tunnels
- Everything unique one can imagine (old piano and a boat to play in)
- Zipline and huge net climbers
Scout’s Story
With a four day weekend from work, my wife and I decided to head out after I got off of work on Wednesday evening and make the drive towards San Francisco for the upcoming 4 days, with our now 14 month old daughter, Scout. We were super excited to head towards the Bay Area and to have a few days to explore with Scout.
The trip quickly started on a sour note. 14 month old Scout started to scream excessively from her car seat just a few hours into the drive. We decided to stop and get a motel for the night and to resume the drive in the morning. Being that we had done many long trips and drives with Scout, and this had never happened before, we were a little surprised but chalked it up to her just being a baby. We would soon come to find out that there was much more to it than that.
Scout’s Day at the Adventure Playground
The following day we made a few stops and had a great time before arriving in Berkeley. That weekend we made the quick drive to the Berkeley Marina and arrived at the Adventure Playground just as it was opening. We were in absolute awe of this place. Forts everywhere, an old boat for kids to play in, a zip line, an old piano for kids to pretend play. This was about as unique of a playground as I had ever seen.
We were helping Scout make her away around, as she had only been walking for a few months now. Something just seemed off though. After about 20 minutes she grew very lethargic and disinterested. This is not at all Scout’s personality. Needless to say, we didn’t spend as much time at the Adventure Playground as we would have liked. Scout continued to sit and too not want to move around much, so eventually we took off for the hotel.
Leaving the Adventure Playground and Scout’s diagnosis
The next few days had a lot of fun moments. Scout showed some very vibrant and energetic moments, but just didn’t seem to be herself. Although I wasn’t worried, my wife was and kept telling me that something just seemed wrong. We arrived back home the following week and things deteriorated with Scout and after multiple trips to the hospital, we finally got our answer as to what was going on. On August 16th masses would be found in Scout’s body and she would be admitted to the peds floor and on August 18th we would receive a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer. Our lives would forever change and Scout would begin her journey in her fight against cancer.
Looking back on it, I get a little sick to my stomach thinking about everything. How did my wife know something was wrong and I just thought it was a normal kid being sick thing. How could I drive 6 hours to San Francisco with her crying in her car seat with tumors growing inside of her and not know. While these are tough memories to relive I am excited for the day that we will be able to revisit the Bay Area and make new happy and healthy memories as a family.
