Veterans Memorial Park

Veterans Memorial Park is a destination park with it’s pool, ice rink, skate park, and ball fields, but a neighborhood park sized playground. The playground is small and almost like an after-thought to the rest of the park.

The playground is on the hill between the ice arena and the softball fields. There is a walking path that connects it to both the parking lot by the pool/ice arena on Jackson and the gravel lot by the skatepark/baseball fields on Maple. If you park by the pool you will walk downhill to the playground and uphill back to the car. If you park by the skatepark, you will walk uphill to the playground and downhill back to the car. The path to the pool is steeper than to the skatepark.

The structure at Veterans Park includes two slides – straight and twisty.

It also has a set of curved monkey bars.

The playground at Vets Park does have three great advantages though – rubber surface, shade, and location. The rubber mat base in the structure area keeps it from getting muddy after a rain. The playground is also surrounded by large trees shading it most of the day. With the nearby ballfields, the playground is a perfect diversion for young children who are at the park for a sibling’s game or practice.

When you arrive at Veterans Park on Jackson, the first thing you will notice is the outdoor pool and building behind it with the locker rooms and ice arena.

The ball fields are often busy on summer nights with youth and adult baseball and softball games. The playground is a nice place to distract younger siblings during games.

The skate park is a more recent addition to Vets Park. Older kids, tweens, teens, and adults will enjoy showing off their skills. When it is not too crowded, younger kids can take out scooters, or just be entertained by the skateboarders.

In winter, there is a great sledding hill. And there is no reason you can’t stop by the playground while bundled up.

Veterans Park frequently has events at the pool, ice arena, and skate park. These include Tot Swim, Open Skate (ice skating) times, and All-Girls Skate at the skate park. In addition, they are the destination park on the west side of town and have hosted outdoor AADL events and other community events.

Veterans Park is centrally located on the west side of Ann Arbor with several strip malls across the street. Westgate Shopping Center is diagonally across the Jackson & Maple intersection from Veterans Park. Among the shopping and dining options at Westgate are Zingerman’s Roadhouse, AADL’s Westgate Branch, Nicola’s Books, and Barry’s Bagels. Maple Village Shopping Center is across Maple Rd from the park. Maple Village includes Plum Market, the Secretary of State’s Office, Crumbl Cookies, and more. Across Dexter Rd you will find Aldi and Knight’s Steakhouse.