Grand Army Park / G.A.R. Park
108 Main Street
Haverhill, MA 01830
Date/Time Visited: Thursday, June 10, 2021 @ 11:30am
Bathrooms: none (public restrooms available nearby at the library and City Hall)
Parking: spots located on Welcome Street.
Shade: Not directly on playground, but trees shade a bench next to fenced area and grassy areas of the park.
Benches/Tables: Many benches, no tables.
Additional Features: Playground area is completely fenced in, trash cans available, paved walkways.
With my two toddlers, I decided to visit a park I passed by many times, but just had never visited before -- Grand Army Park. Grand Army Park, also known as GAR Park, is located in the center of Haverhill MA. It is in a convenient location, neighboring the Haverhill Public Library, YMCA, Town Hall, and Market Basket. Since the park is in a busy part of town, there is some street noise, but nothing we found disruptive. Parking for GAR is located along Welcome Street.
My kids, 3 years old and 1.5 years old, were very eager to play on the playground! I loved that this playground is completely enclosed in a fence. It is such a relief to know, when you have multiple small children and only one set of eyes, that there is no chance of them wandering off. There was also a bench located conveniently just outside the fence, under the shade of a tree, if you’d prefer to sit and watch while you let your children burn off their energy.
There are several slides, a tunnel, monkey bars, fireman’s pole, and ladder. Both my children wanted to go through the tunnel, that has an upward angle. My 3 yr old had some difficulty climbing through this obstacle, though a 4 year old could likely climb up with ease. My youngest was happy as a clam to climb up the stairs and slide down the smaller slide by himself. The twin bumpy slides are a nice addition so the kids could race down together.
We were the only family at the playground on the day we visited, which made sense as my oldest and other children were at school. Others walked through to enjoy the nice weather, walk their dogs, or pass through on their way home with groceries. The park is host to a Korean War Veteran Memorial statue as well as a memorial bench. The names of the Haverhill men who died in the war as well as donators are carved into the walkway by the large memorial of a soldier with the flags surrounding. It should be noted that the memorial, all maintenance, and repairs in the park are paid for by the local Korean War Veterans.
The grassy areas were spacious with plenty of room to sit and have a picnic with your kids. There are paved walkways, which makes it so much easier when pushing two toddlers around in a stroller. Several businesses are nearby, so you could easily pickup food or ice cream to bring to the park. There are no picnic tables, so I would suggest bringing a blanket to sit on. The benches are plentiful, so you could also sit and eat on those. While I found the inside of the park to be clean, there was some litter near the pedestrian sidewalks on the outskirts of the park. Within the park there were several trash cans for park goers to depose of their waste.
Our trip to GAR park was fun and my kids have been asking to go again. It’s a very convenient location for us as we go to the library weekly. I can definitely see it becoming a regular spot to play at!
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