94 parks
Playground equipment and ages, splash pads, restrooms (and whether they're open in winter), real shade ratings from the city's tree inventory — all on one filterable map. Built from official City of Boise data.
Curated straight from the data. Tap a list to see every match on the map.
94 parks
Park boundaries, amenities, playground equipment, ages and surfacing come from City of Boise open GIS data and Boise Parks and Recreation pages, pulled July 2026.
We rate shade by crunching the city's tree inventory — every managed park tree and its trunk size — into tree cover per acre. Leafy means dense mature canopy; full sun means pack hats. It's a good proxy, not a promise.
Winter status follows the city's park restroom list: heated buildings stay open year-round; the rest are winterized, some with portable toilets as backup.
Every park was checked against aerial imagery: parks with a dedicated lot are marked as such (shared school/complex lots are noted), and the rest have on-street parking. Small curbside pull-in lots can be easy to miss, so treat this as a strong guide rather than the last word.
A 0–10 measure of how good a park is for kids, computed only from the data above. What matters most drives the score: a core out of 9 from the playground (3.5), tree cover (2.5), open grass to run on (1.5) and restrooms (1.5). Water features, shelters and trails are bonuses that only add (capped at +1) — a shady neighborhood park with a great playground and a lawn isn't marked down for lacking a splash pad. Parking is logistics, so it's shown but never counted against a park. Every park shows its full breakdown — no vibes, no sponsorships.
True splash pads are at Comba Park and Molenaar Park, and Borah Park has a drop-in spray pad. Ann Morrison Park and Grove Plaza have interactive fountains kids can run through, and Bowler, Fairview and Franklin parks have button-activated misters. All run Memorial Day through Labor Day.
24 parks have heated restrooms open year-round, including Julia Davis, Ann Morrison, Camel's Back, Esther Simplot, Veterans Memorial, Terry Day, Bowler, Hobble Creek and Redwood parks. Everything else is winterized roughly October through April; about 30 parks keep a portable toilet through winter. Use the "Year-round restrooms" filter to see the full list.
52 parks have equipment sized for ages 2–5. Standouts: Camel's Back Park (rubber surfacing under mature shade), Cassia Park (2020 rebuild with an accessible We-Go-Round spinner), Molenaar Park (2021 playground plus splash pad) and Veterans Memorial Park (brand-new 2025 playground). Filter by "Toddler equipment" to see them all.
23 Boise playgrounds have bonded-rubber surfacing that works for mobility devices (versus wood chips), and 14 of those were designed for accessibility. Cassia, Camel's Back, Terry Day, Ann Morrison and Hobble Creek are good starting points — use the "Accessible playground" filter for the rest.
City-run outdoor pools sit inside Borah, Fairmont and Ivywild parks (Ivywild has a toddler pool and slides). For open-water swimming, Esther Simplot Park's ponds allow swimming and wading with beach-style edges — pack water shoes.
Both exist. Parks marked "reservable" here take bookings through Boise Parks and Recreation — popular ones (Julia Davis, Ann Morrison, Kristin Armstrong Municipal) book out for summer weekends. Shelters at parks like Manitou and Sunset are first-come, first-served.