Great Parks! Green's Filling Station Park in Yorkville

Do you have a mini Jeff Gordon or Danica Patrick zooming around on your driveway or sidewalks? Then I have a park for you!

Photos by Tara Burghart.Green’s Filling Station Park in Yorkville is all about transportation: One of the slides is mounted on what looks like a truck, kids can pretend to steer a dune buggy, even the royal blue garbage cans are decorated with images of cars and motorcycles.

But the real treat is the asphalt “road” that encircles the entire playground, with a white dotted stripe down the middle to keep the traffic in the correct lane. Along the way, there are traffic lights (not operational when we visited, unfortunately) and signs that require the riders to stop, check for a railroad or yield to pedestrians. They can even pedal up to get gas at a couple of toy pumps.

We took my daughter’s Radio Flyer “Scoot-About” along, and she loved rolling along on the road. It would be an awesome place to organize a tricycle or scooter race, or for a child learning to ride a bike, with or without training wheels.

The park is located in a new housing development, so shade is hard to come by. There is a nice covered shelter -- aka “garage – that has two large picnic tables underneath, and there are two more tables right next to playground.

The playground equipment for the older kids looked like fun – there’s a fireman’s pole and a cargo net wall and a spiderweb-like climbing structure.

But the equipment on the toddler playground was quite limited, and my daughter got bored of the slide quite quickly and she’s not too into swings.

In addition to the playground equipment, there is also a mini-skate park.

One caveat: Make sure you know how to get to the park before heading out. The  park’s address is 2736 Autumn Creek Blvd in Yorvkille. That address didn’t show up on my car’s GPS, not surprising since my car is likely older than the housing development. But Google Maps doesn’t know what to do with that address either, although Autumn Creek Boulveard shows up on Yahoo Maps, if not the park’s exact address.

However, it’s easy to find with a bit of advance prep. Find the major intersection of N. Bridge St. (Route 47) and Veterans Parkway (Route 34). From there, head east on Veterans Parkway – drive just about 2 miles and you’ll come to a stoplight for Autumn Creek Blvd. Turn left and stay on Autumn Creek Boulevard, past the model home and sales office, until you reach the park.

By the way, many of the parks in Yorkville have a theme – including the circus, the Civil War and railroad. That means this likely won’t be Go West Young Mom’s last trip to Yorkville.

The Yorkville Parks & Recreation Department even solicits theme suggestions on its website. So Go West readers, do you have a theme that you think would make for a great playground or park?