When I last photographed Parklane Park in 2011, it was looking pretty sad -- and that wasn't because it was old or anything -- it just had an air of melancholy to it. I rarely ever saw more than a couple kids playing on it at any given time.
I brought my niece there once around 2016. She toddled up the steps, crossed the bridge, and gave the slide the side-eye.
Now, in 2025, a new playground -- multiple playgrounds -- have taken shape. In fact, the whole area (remember, if you will, the quarry-turned-landfill of yore) are now part of a sprawling grassland oasis that includes basketball courts, a skatepark, walking trails, and more.
Parklane Park is now bustling.
Prior to the ribbon cutting, we visited the finished-but-fenced playgrounds. I aimed my camera through the barriers and took these photos...
Some teens had gone through a gap in the fence and made a nest at the top of the play structure. My nieces were intrigued. The teens didn't stay long after we got there. Uh, sorry?
The new playground has lots of accessible equipment. Besides this spinner there's an accessible swing, musical instruments, and a variety of other things that can be enjoyed from any level.
A lot of the structures do require climbing mobility, though.
The playground officially opened on May 29, 2025, and a month or so later we went back...
The park was now bustling, and there were kids and families galore. Several picnic tables were prepped for birthday shenanigans.
My nieces weren't thrilled with the crowds. Said one (paraphrasing): "No one else was on the spinner, so I got on it, and then a bunch of kids came over, and then an adult started spinning it faster and faster and I couldn't do anything about it!"
So we went and got ice cream and called it a day.
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Parklane Park borders Main St. and Millmain Drive, and is sort of centered between 148th Ave and 162nd Ave. in SE Portland.
