Parks & Recreation Department - Parks & Facilities
Fun Forest
Rebuilding Fun Forest After Fire Damage
On the early morning of April 1, 2010, an arsonist set fire to a major play structure at Fun Forest - children's imagination playground originally built with the intended purpose of building young minds as well as bodies - located in Chesapeake City Park. The Fire Department was called around 4:30 a.m. to extinguish the fire, and they did quickly. Fortunately, the other pieces of equipment in Fun Forest were not harmed.

On three acres of City Park is Fun Forest, the ultimate children's playground, imagination center and family adventure area! Built by over 1,800 volunteers from private, public, and community sectors, open since 1995, and winner of the Virginia Recreation and Parks Society "Best New Facility in Virginia" award in 1996, the playground has an older children's area which encourages gross motor-skill development and features a dragon, three-way underground telephone, shaky bridge, dolphin tunnel slide, and many more challenges for the older child.
The
science and learning area teaches mathematics and science while
children have fun playing with mirrors, whisper dishes, and
a planet walk. The toddler playground invites little ones to
steer a plane or truck, swing, slide and more. Fun Forest is
truly a place for the entire family: The story circle offers
a great place to sit, visit with friends and neighbors and
enjoy the beauty of the outdoors, or get a bird's-eye view
through the bird-watching tubes on the nature walk.
The
newest additions to Fun Forest include the Fossil Dig-a dinosaur
buried in a pit under sand scattered with "fossils" to take
home if you're lucky enough to find them-and the aquatics area,
apropos to our locality, where you'll find turtles, sharks
and a whale for climbing.

Many
of the attractions are handicapped accessible, with paved paths,
slides, swings, picnic tables and benches to accommodate wheelchairs.
There's a wall decorated with tiles of hand prints, messages,
and signatures of early contributors and a history wall of
paintings of events in Chesapeake's past done by local school
teachers. There's something for everyone.
City of Chesapeake, Virginia


