Best playgrounds in Delaware

A fully accessible playground designed so every child can play — by its own billing one of the best in the state, and the one we'd start with if you only have time for one.

An accessible playground plus a rock-climbing wall, a folk-art barn, and paved trails in one stop on the Brandywine — the choose-your-own-adventure pick when the playground alone won't fill a morning.

Playgrounds, a fishing pond, and Thursday-night summer concerts — the best free family park in southern New Castle County, and easy to stretch into a whole evening.

A playground steps from the creek, the trails, and the zoo — Wilmington's backyard, so you can stack two or three things into one trip.

A 200-acre county park where the playground shares the grounds with horses, ponds, and trails — you can usually spot the Mounted Patrol horses in their paddocks, which buys you another twenty minutes.

The regional library sits inside Talley Day Park, so story time and a large ADA-accessible playground are the same trip — the easiest two-for-one in northern New Castle County.

A neighborhood playground with trails on the grounds of a long-gone amusement park and an 1800s resort — the history is the bonus once the kids are done climbing.

A riverfront park and playground in Delaware's colonial capital — let them run, then walk the cobblestone streets and the courthouse that anchors the state's curved border.

Not a playground but the hot-day substitute: a free city spray park at 9th & Lincoln, the one-hour cool-down that costs nothing and needs no plan.

Kent County's anchor — Dover's big lakeside park with a split-age playground, a paved trail, and fishing, all free. Just no swimming.

Milford's free riverfront walk: a flat, paved mile with a playground and a painted-yacht scavenger hunt, ending in a walkable downtown — good for strollers and scooters alike.

The best destination playground at the beaches, and it sits inside a park that also has swimming beaches, a WWII fort to climb, and a touch-tank nature center. A state-park vehicle fee applies; the playground is free once you're in.

A newer playground near the Indian River Inlet, with seven miles of ocean and bay beaches around it — swimming, calm bay water, and a marina if the swings wear off. State-park vehicle fee applies.