The Waukee Brief
Whether it's a blue-sky Saturday or a rainy Tuesday you need to survive, Waukee has more for kids than people expect - a free splash pad, one of the metro's best inclusive playgrounds, 22 parks, disc golf, and a library that runs real programs, with trampoline parks and pools a few minutes away in the metro. Here's the parent's cheat sheet, sorted by weather.
Nice day: the free Fox Creek splash pad, Triumph Park's EPIC inclusive playground and fishing pond, Centennial Park disc golf and Gaga Ball, plus 22 parks and the paved trails. Rainy/cold day: the Waukee Public Library's free programs and the Waukee Family YMCA, or a short drive to metro trampoline parks and the movies. Lots of it is free.
When the sun's out, start with the free Fox Creek splash pad, then Triumph Park, where the 15,000-square-foot EPIC inclusive playground and an 11-acre fishing pond sit next to the Miracle League field. Centennial Park has disc golf, a Gaga Ball pit and two playgrounds, and there's a playground near almost every neighborhood among the city's 22 parks. Older kids like the paved trails for biking.
In town, the Waukee Public Library runs free story times and STEM and maker programs all year - the quiet, no-cost rainy-day answer for younger kids - and the Waukee Family YMCA has family programming. For big energy-burners, families head a few minutes into the metro: Sky Zone trampoline park in Grimes and Urban Air in Ankeny, plus the movie theater at Jordan Creek Town Center in neighboring West Des Moines.
Waukee's free water play is the Fox Creek Park splash pad, open in the summer season. The city does not yet have its own outdoor pool, though a new outdoor aquatic center has been proposed. In the meantime, the Waukee Family YMCA and metro aquatic centers are a short drive away.
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Plenty. Outdoors: the free Fox Creek Park splash pad, Triumph Park's 15,000-square-foot EPIC inclusive playground and fishing pond, the disc golf course and Gaga Ball pit at Centennial Park, 22 parks and playgrounds, and paved trails for biking. Indoors: the Waukee Public Library's free programs and the Waukee Family YMCA, with trampoline parks and more a few minutes away in the metro.
Yes. The Fox Creek splash pad is free in summer, the 22 parks and playgrounds are free year-round, Triumph Park's EPIC inclusive playground and Centennial Park's disc golf and Gaga Ball pit are free, and the Waukee Public Library runs free story times and programs.
For little ones, try the Fox Creek splash pad and play pods, the neighborhood playgrounds, Triumph Park's inclusive EPIC playground, and the Waukee Public Library's story times, which are geared to preschoolers.
Waukee has a free recirculating splash pad at Fox Creek Park that runs in the summer season. The city does not yet have its own outdoor pool, though a new outdoor aquatic center has been proposed, so families also use the Waukee Family YMCA and metro aquatic centers a short drive away.
In Waukee, the main indoor options are the Waukee Public Library's free programs and the Waukee Family YMCA. For trampoline parks and bigger indoor play, families head a few minutes into the metro, including Sky Zone in Grimes and Urban Air in Ankeny, plus the movie theater at Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines.
Parks & playgrounds · Triumph Park · Trails & bike paths · Things to do