Adelaide in summer is H-O-T, but that doesn’t stop our kids from wanting to get out and about to their favourite playgrounds. A shaded playground is always a winner in our books, and shade or lack of, is one of the main topics of conversation whenever we post a playground review. So to make it easy to find a spot with lots of natural shade from trees, or great shade sails over the play area we’ve put together a list of our top picks for shaded playgrounds in Adelaide and regional South Australia.
Have we missed one? We’d love to know about it in the comments below.
Below are what we think are THE BEST shaded playgrounds you’ll find in Adelaide (in no particular order) To find out more about these playgrounds or to find one in your area scroll down.
- Wigley Reserve Glenelg
- Apex Park Hawthorndene
- Largs Bay Ice Cream Playground
- Mitcham Reserve
- Sherry Park Mylor
- Keith Stephenson Park
- Marshmallow Park
- Bonython Park
- Meadows Playground
- Quentin Kenihan Accessible Playground
- Orphanage Park Millswood
- Morialta Adventure Playground
Angus Neill Reserve Seacliff
Find it at: Esplanade, Seacliff Located opposite the tranquil beach that runs between Seacliff and Brighton, Angus Neill Reserve is ideal for large gatherings. There’s plenty of parking available around the park and it is extremely well-maintained. During the warmer…
Cormorant Drive Reserve
Find it at: Cormorant Drive Hallett Cove A new playground and reserve has opened at Cormorant Drive down at Hallett Cove and it is very cool (especially for dino lovers) This reserve has an interesting history with a Diprotodon (Giant Wombat) fossil remains found here…
Mitcham Reserve
Find it at: Corner Old Belair Road and Norman Walk, Mitcham This ripper was upgraded in December 2018 and we absolutely love it! The new playground updates are a credit to Nature Play Design and the City of Mitcham with a great mix of the nature play elements…
Jervois Street Reserve Playground South Plympton
Find it at: 43 Jervois Street, South Plympton Jervois Street Playground in South Plympton is up there with Morialta and Glenunga as one of our favourite playgrounds in Adelaide. Some of the Jervois Street Reserve highlights are: Fully fenced junior playground with…
Heron Way Reserve, Hallett Cove
Find it at: Heron Way, Hallett Cove This is a great playground with amazing views over the ocean. The reserve includes a 5-way swing, tunnel slide, water and sand play, nature play, fitness equipment, shade sales, toilet, seating, shelter and BBQ facilities. The…
Hugh Johnson Boulevard Reserve
Find it at: Hugh Johnson Boulevard, Sheidow Park The Hugh Johnson Boulevard Reserve upgrade is complete and we love it just as much as the locals. There are multiple areas for play including a sports area complete with netball and basketball rings and soccer goal….
Largs Bay Foreshore Ice Cream Playground
Find it at: Esplanade Largs Bay The Largs Bay foreshore play space redevelopment in 2024 brought to life an amazing concept which feels like came straight from the imagination of us as kids! This one is a very popular site with local and visiting families and the ice…
Don Moseley Park, Keith
Find it at: Heritage Street, Keith ***CLOSED FROM FEBRURAY 2025 to JULY 2025** for extensive playground redevelopment. Good news, the park is still open for toilet amenities and a kick of th footy on the grass, however the play equiptment, including the train is all…
Point Malcolm Reserve Playground – Semaphore Park
The awesome Point Malcolm Reserve playground is on Military Road, Semaphore.This one million dollar project was funded by State Government and City of Charles Sturt Council (who are continuing to impress with their amazing open space developments). It’s located in one…
Semaphore South Foreshore Playground
Find it at: Esplanade, Semaphore South (Opposite Arthur Street) In 2023, Port Adelaide Enfield Council have opened this fabulous $400,000 playground at Semaphore South foreshore. The beauty of this one is the consultation phase invited local kids to draw what they…
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Find it at: Corner Cedar Avenue and Croydon Avenue, West Croydon Renamed after local legend Eileen Harris, and with an upgrade in 2024 this shaded playground is fabulous for the under 10s. Spacious and with plenty of quality equipment for the kids to climb and challenge themselves on, it also features shade sails and natural shade from surrounding trees. No toilets or BBQs at this one, but definitely a quality suburban playground.
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Find it at: South Parklands, Lightsview A fabulous adventure playground has been added to the Lightsview development, which is well worth the trip! Opened in April 2021, the nature play themed park includes water play, a huge number of logs and balancing beams to test out kids and parents alike! Throw in a climbing hill with slide, a basketball court, sand play area, in-ground trampolines, swings and even more slides, we love this park for older kids. For the parents there are a couple of BBQs and some under cover bench seats and tables. The nearby wetlands are sensational and really add to the relaxing vibe of the park, and we absolutely loved the little board walk path between the ponds. Toilets have now been built (new since the park opening) but there's not a lot of shade and parking can be tricky so be prepared you might have to walk a little way to get here. NB: Toddlers might be better at the Lightsview Toddler Playground as this area is unfenced and quite big and with the wetlands nearby it can be a bit hard with little ones.
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Find it at: Ashley Street Torrensville Ashley Street Playground is a medium sized playground more suited to locals to the area. I probably wouldn't drive too far to specifically go to this park, but if you live in the Western suburbs it's a nice option for a playdate for something different. The playground area is fully fenced which is great, and there are also enough bench seats to go around. It's really annoying when a playground only has one bench seat for all the Mums and Dads to squish on 🙂 The equipment includes a spiral slide, monkey bars, climbing wall and ropes, swings and a liberty swing. What we liked about this playground Really nicely shaded with a big shade sail stretching over the whole thing Fully fenced! Yay no run aways Clean and tidy BBQ was right next door and nice and clean Tennis courts right next to it Liberty Swing Clean and tidy What we thought could be better The toilets were a bit dim. Not very grassy, if you want to watch the kids playing you have to sit on one of the bench seats or on the rubber floor Street parking is available, but there's…
