The Romneys: Cosmo Park

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Cosmo Park

Cosmo Park is the biggest park in Columbia. And, lucky for us, it's just 5 minutes away from where we live now. It's got a few playgrounds, one of which is HUGE, and then a ton of other stuff. In fact, I think I'm just going to copy & paste the list from the website because it's so big:

7 picnic pavilions
Telephones at park entrance, soccer concession, Antimi Shelter, Rainbow concession, L.A.Nickell Clubhouse
Antimi Sports Complex - 4 lighted fields - 250' fences, 2 lighted fields - 200' fences, 2 T-ball fields - 110' fences
Cosmo Fitness Trail
Bear Creek Nature Area (leash-free area for dogs)
Cosmo Nature Trail
Columbia Skate Park
Bear Creek Trail Trailhead Access
2 - Fishing lakes (Nickell Lake and Antimi Lake - see map)
4 - Football fields
2 - Football/Lacrosse fields
12 - Horseshoe pits (lighted)
L.A. Nickell Golf Course - 18 holes
L.A. Nickell Clubhouse
Off-leash area for dogs
Steinberg Playground
2 - Playgrounds (1 at Rainbow Softball Complex, 1 near Nickell Shelter)
Rainbow Softball Center - 6 fields
Rhett's Run Mountain Bike Trail
Remote Control Car Track
Roller Hockey Rink
19 - Soccer fields
8 - Tennis courts (lighted)
7 - Volleyball courts (6-sand, 1-grass)
5 - Restrooms (open April 15 to October 15; Nickell/Lamb restroom open year round)

Yeah, it's huge... 533 acres... definitely one of the coolest parks I've ever been to.

Jess & I really only spent time at the big playground. Based on our time there & the extra information from the website, this is how we rated Cosmo Park:

Attractiveness-- 3 stars
(It was pretty, but nothing fantastic or really special. But it's such a huge park that I wouldn't expect them to have awesome landscaping over every inch of the park.)

Ease/Safety--1.5 stars
(This rating was mostly based on the big playground, because that's where I spend my time with the girls. Because the playground is so huge and has so many different levels, separated by slides and stairs and ladders, it is nearly impossible to keep an eye on your kids, especially if you are pushing a stroller. With a stroller, you can't even get to all of the levels, so I mostly avoid Cosmo park unless I am only taking Naomi or someone else is coming with me.)

Playground Equipment Variety-- 5 stars
(I think if any playground deserves a 5, Cosmo Park does!)

This is a picture of the huge playground... you can't see some of it because of the trees, but it's still a cool pic. I took this from the Columbia Parks & Rec website, here.

Fun/Coolness Factor-- 4.5 stars
(The only thing that I can think of that Cosmo Park is lacking is some kind of water--there is no pool or lake or sprayground like at some of the other parks, so I feel like it can't quite get a 5. It doesn't have everything.)

Parking-- 4 stars
(They have lots of parking spread out throughout the park, but I couldn't give it a 5--the park is just too busy and too popular. I won't even go to this park on the weekends because it's complete insanity. The one and only Saturday I tried to go with Naomi, they actually had people directing traffic as you turned into the park. I went around the roundabout and drove right back out again. That kind of craziness just isn't worth it to me just to play at a playground.)

Composite Rating-- 3.6 stars

For such an awesome park, I feel like it should have a higher rating, but the low ease/safety score really brought down its average.

And finally, here are some of our photos from when Jess & I took the girls!

Aleta was exhausted & fell asleep in the stroller pretty quickly.

Naomi absolutely loves the swings. 90% of our time at the park is usually spent on the swings.

Some of the playground equipment...

This part is cool--it's like a deck area with a few different slides & some other toys, and then the deck area goes along other parts of the playground as well.