Arbor Oaks

This profile of Ann Arbor’s Arbor Oaks Playground is part of our Playground Profiles Series. Are you interested in sponsoring the series? Contact us for details.

Each week Ann Arbor with Kids is profiling a different playground in the Ann Arbor area including Ann Arbor, Saline, Ypsilanti, Dexter, etc. Today we are profiling Arbor Oaks part of the Ann Arbor system.

Ann Arbor’s Arbor Oaks

Arbor Oaks Park is in a neighborhood park off E Ellsworth Rd and Stone School Rd. Among the locals it is known as “The Pirate Park” with its pirate themed structure.

Arbor Oaks – Playground Features

Playground Profile Last Updated: August 29, 2017

This playground profile was collected prior to our new format which did not gather all of this data. We have included our best guess in the conversion and will add them to our list to be updated. Information most likely to be incorrect is number of slides and structures

Playground Best for: Kids Under 5, Kids 5-8
Structures: 1
Accessible Structure: No
Slides: 3, Straight Slide, Curved Slide, Racer Slide
Monkey Bars: Yes
Zip Line: No
Climbing Apparatus: No
Merry Go Round: No
Bouncers: Yes
See Saw: No
Sandbox: No
Natural Play: No
Swings: 2 traditional swings, 1 baby swings, 0 parent/baby swings, 1 adaptive swings, 1 tire swings
Ground Activities: No
Surface: Wooden Mulch
Shade: Partial Shade – Afternoon & Evening Shade
Seating: Yes, Benches & Picnic Tables

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Arbor Oaks – Park Details

Park Owner: Ann Arbor
Location: Arbor Oaks Park, 2090 Champagne Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Parking: Street Parking –
Bathrooms: No
Walking Trails: Paved – A large paved circle with benches at regular intervals. Great for biking, getting your daily steps in pushing a stroller, or walking a wheelchair.
Water Play: None
Picnic Benches: Yes, At Playground, Nearby, Full Sun, Splinter Free (not made of wood)
Pavilion: No
Sports Fields: Basketball, Open Fields

Arbor Oaks Description

This past week my husband wanted to take our boys to help a friend with a building project in a neighborhood off Stone School Rd. I needed a back-up plan (since the men actually wanted to build stuff and not just pretend with the kids) so I looked up parks nearby. Arbor Oaks Park was the biggest green on the map in the neighborhood. So after a little ‘construction’ we headed over to the park to play.

When we asked a passerby about parking on the street for the park they said “you mean the Pirate Park”? (um…YES!!!) They call it the Pirate Park because the play structure has sails like a ship. The neighborhood kids apparently like to pretend they are pirates. My kids, who are a little small to understand complex role play, liked Shark Hunting from on top of the wiggly whales!

The climbing structure is easy for younger kids but also fun for older kids. There is a swirly slide and a side-by-side double slide. A fun faux-rock climbing area. There are also a few monkey bar type structures for older kids: regular ones and a circle that you grab onto and spin around on while hanging. There were a few elementary school girls hanging and doing somersault flips on the latter. And even though there is no merry go round there is a tire swing that is set up to be pushed around fast with plenty of room on the sides. Dizzying!

Arbor Oaks is not far from the Ann Arbor airport and you can frequently see planes fly overhead.

If your kids are old enough you can teach them how to play checkers on a special picnic table. You can play with leaves, wood chips, blades of grass, or small rocks.

My boys are in the early stages of learning to ride pedal bikes. Because of this I am constantly noticing the trail and surface surfaces to see if they are bike-friendly. This park not only has nicely paved trails (all of them), but all the trails into the park connect to an inner circle that is perfect for loops and loops of bike riding. And the trail is flat, so super easy. We didn’t have our bikes with us but I will definitely be volunteering my husband and kids for more construction help to give us more excuses to go to this park.

Beyond Arbor Oaks

One of the trails off the circle connects this park to the Bryant Elementary School playground. If that is your elementary school skip the bus one day and play at two parks after pick-up!