Thursday, April 14, 2016

Simpson Park (Valley Park, MO)

Categories: Parks, bike trails, fishing

Highlights: Beautifully tree-lined, paved biking/walking trail around a little lake (0.8 miles). Good-sized playground with a small plastic "rock climbing" wall. Playground surface is poured rubber, nice for pre-walkers and open-toed shoes. Lots of (largely shaded) benches & picnic tables with good sight-lines of the playground. (Seasonal?) drinking fountains, restrooms, and trash cans. HUGE grassy areas, some shaded and some open, including soccer goals.The lake has a couple of docks and looks great for fishing. Covered pavillion near the water's edge with charcoal grills. Very quiet and nearly unoccupied on a Thursday afternoon in April.

Pro tips: There's no koi and not much of a beach, but you can still bring bread to toss in the pond at the fish. If you want to go straight to the playground/dock and skip the trail, follow Google's driving directions to "Simpson Park;" if you want to park and take the trail in to the playground, turn up on the west side of the park on Grand Glaze Drive (signs for the wastewater treatment plant) and turn right at the marked trail entrance for a small parking lot.