Finch Park Creative Playground is located at 205 Church St, in Ramsey, NJ.
DIRECTIONS: Route 17 N to the Spring St/Grant St exit. Make a right onto Spring St. After you make the right, stay slight right to remain on Spring St. Make a left onto N Island Ave and then a right onto Church St. Park entrance is at the Ramsey Senior Center on your right.
DESCRIPTION: Beautiful new playground with very cool equipment. There are several different areas for the kids to play. There is a very cool sand box area, a toddler area that looks like a pirate ship, and a larger playground that looks like a castle. The ice cream man visits this playground often.
PARKING: Large paved lot close to playground
PICNICKING: Picnic tables are scattered throughout area
HANDICAP: There is a paved walkway into the play area and two handicap swings. Mulch ground cover will make it hard to maneuver but there are many things to do that are low to the ground for easy accessibility. There is also a ramp to the built in sand box area.
CLIMBING: Bars, rings, rappeler, parallel bars, stairs, chains, fireman’s pole, mushroom caps
PLAYTHINGS: Tic-tac-toe, steering wheels, prints underneath, play house, puzzles, rock walls, very cool twisty tunnels
SANDBOX: Large built in area that is partially fenced with lots of toys
SLIDES: Two chute, one double, two bumps, one corkscrew
SPORTS: Baseball fields, basketball courts
SWINGS: Four full size, two toddler, two handicap
OTHER COOL STUFF: Toddler area has very cute train.
MAKE A DAY OF IT: Just minutes from downtown Ramsey with plenty of cool places to go. For lunch try Pietro’s Pizza on the corner of Main St and North Central Ave.
Does anyone know how busy this playground gets during the morning & if the picnic tables are inside the fenced in area or not?
I recently visited this playground with my 2 year old and not yet 4 year old daughters. It was definitely a big hit with them, and me, as it’s new, has much different climbing things than the usual, and the sand box actually has shovels/buckets/etc already there for the kids to play with, which is sponsored by a local girl scout troop. In response to the above questions, there are a few picnic benches within the fenced area, but not many. When I went it was very slow – and it was in the early morning hours of around 9-10am. But after speaking with another mother, she said it was extremely odd that it was so barren there because it is usually packed with kids – and many are older kids who have no regard for the little ones, nor do their parents who watch on yet act as if they took no notice of their 11 year old knocking down a 5 year old. This information really frustrated me, as I thought this to be the perfect park for us. The only disadvantage was that when we were there, ALL of the climbing things had dirt on them – like real dirt – and my girls were COVERED within 5 minutes of playing (not even kidding – it was on faces, arms, legs, all over their clothes… I even have pics of them so dirty…lol). The same mother I spoke to said it was most likely due to the older kids who ride their bikes in the park, kick up dirt, and then climb all over everything with it all over them. I’m not sure how they could get THAT much dirt on everything, but hey, anything is possible. I will DEFINITELY go back to this park, even with the dirt situation. I’m thinking once Sept hits and most kids are in school, there won’t be such an over crowding or older kid problem (which again, I have yet to substantiate for myself). I say DEFINITELY go to this park even if only to check it out. It’s not big at all, totally fenced in (ok, maybe 90% fenced in), and it’s got tons to do in such a small space.
We went here for the first time last evening. Our two year old son loved it! I wish I was a kid again so I could play on the many features. It was clean and well maintained. I like the unique swings for the 2-5 yr olds that help them feel secure.
Technically, it is fenced in, but both gates are left open and one is at the end of a ramp down within the park. You could close the gates, but wouldn’t be able to make sure no one else had left this one open after you closed it. This is not really an issue, since any young child like mine should be closely watched, anyhow.
Thank you, Charlie Finch, for giving this land to the town all those years ago. You made Ramsey a better town, and you made so many kids happy.
Hay are there lights at the basket ball courts