PARC LAIRET

Arrondissment: La Cité-Limoilou Address: 171 avenue Eugène-Lamontagne Nearest bus stop: J.-Mance (buses 4 and 802) Parking: Street parking Playground surface: Wood chips Age range: 18 months-5 years; 5-12 years Swings? Yes - 4 for babies; 4 for older children

Sandbox? No

Splashpad? Yes

Swimming pool? No

Toilets? No

Picnic tables? Yes

Other facilities: Community garden.

This is an extremely well-hidden park in the middle of a working-class Limoilou neighborhood. It’s not visible from any major street; look for the small sign at the intersection of avenue Eugene-Lamontagne and Rue Jalobert and follow the bike/pedestrian path 100 feet.

What I liked: This is an unremarkable but perfectly pleasant park. I’ve found that there are always about the same number of people there whenever I go, so it avoids the “empty morning, late-afternoon rush” that some other parks in the area have. With the opening of the new kids’ play area in front of the Videotron Centre a five-minute walk away, this place will probably be even less crowded in the future. It has a decent-sized playground structure and a fairly ordinary splash pad, with some cool rock formations. Everything’s in good condition and fine working order. There’s also a good-sized grassy area to run around in, and enough trees to be able to find some shade if you need. There’s a bike path right next to it that is a spur off of the Saint-Charles linear path, so it’s easily accessible by bicycle as well.

What’s not as good: There aren’t separate playground structures for younger and older children, so it’s a bit hard for small kids to navigate. Also, there’s a small brick building right next to the splash pad that I’m not sure what it’s used for -- there’s graffiti on it and it needs some weeds pulled and general TLC.

PARC PHILIAS-GRENIER

Arrondissment: Beauport

Address: rue des Merles

Nearest bus stop: Labelle (buses 250, 350, 550, 800)

Parking: Free street parking

Playground surface: Wood chips

Age range: 12 months-5 years; 5-12 years old

Swings? Yes - 2 for babies; 2 for older children

Sandbox? Yes

Splashpad? No

Swimming pool? No

Toilets? No

Picnic tables? Yes there is 1 with shade but also a few benches

Other facilities: Grassy area for running around or soccer play

What I liked: The toddler play area is nicely thought out and has things for all stages of being a toddler.

What I didn’t like: Sandbox is small and clearly not the priority for maintenance and lack of sitting places.

PARC BLEU

Note: I’m not actually sure what this park is called. It’s part of the larger Parc de l’Escarpement, which covers 99 hectares and also includes Parc des Brumes. On the Quebec government website, it’s called “Aire de l’Islet-de-la-Montée”, while on Google Maps, it’s simply labelled “Parc Bleu”, I guess because all the playground equipment is blue, but I don’t think either of those are its official name. A sign near the playground said that it was actually called “Something des Sept-Coeurs” (I couldn’t read it properly because it was partially covered by COVID-19 posters). Anyway, it’s just up the street from Les Galeries de la Capitale, in a quiet, pretty residential area behind Le Mesnil medical centre.

Arrondissment: Les Rivières

Address: The Quebec government website says it’s located “entre les rues de l’Islet et de la Montée”. I parked on rue de l’Islet.

Nearest bus stop: de l’Islet (buses 82, 185, 382, 582, 803, 982)

Parking: Free street parking (maximum 90 minutes)

Playground surface: Wood chips; astroturf

Age range: 18 months-5 years; 5-12 years

Swings? Yes - 2 for babies; 2 for older children

Sandbox? No

Splashpad? Yes

Swimming pool? No

Toilets? No

Picnic tables? Yes

Other facilities: None

What I liked: The castle! Even though most of it isn’t suitable for children under 5, they can still have fun banging the drums and ringing bells at the base of the structure, or looking for the hidden objects in the treasure hunt. This playground is used by the Lebourgneuf branch of the Petite École ABC English immersion daycare, so they will find many English-speaking friends to play with.

What I didn’t like: The toddler section is really basic compared to the castle. The splashpad is activated by a sensor that is too high for many children to reach, so you (the parent) will probably have to press it for them, getting soaked in the process.