When you start getting targeted ads about an amazing park less than an hour away, they stick with you.
That’s how I felt about Bonnet Springs Park, anyway. I had seen it shared by some Tampa and Orlando-based moms as the park to visit with kids in tow. I mean, I have some favorite parks for the kiddos – like these – but this seemed like a whole new level.
So over Memorial Day weekend, we made the trek. After a pitstop at Starbucks, we drove about 50 minutes to Lakeland, Florida. Bonnet Springs Park is located right off of I-4, so it was an easy drive from Wesley Chapel, and we got to pass some of our Plant City favorites along the way. I’m looking at you, Parkesdale and Dinosaur World.
When we saw the park welcome sign, we knew immediately why this place is so popular. It’s huge! Per their website, the park is 168 acres, as seen on their map below, and it has a ton of activities. After entering the park, we still needed to drive for about five minutes to get close to the playground. That parking lot fills up early, so if you need to park elsewhere, not to worry – there is a tram. That’s right, the park is so big it needs a tram.
And we loved it. We spent a good chunk of time in the playground, with highlights that include the extra long slides and the excavators, before making our way to Mable the Owl. Mable is amazing! This giant owl is perfect for your little climber, and we definitely hung out here for a bit, while our son scrambled around. We also enjoyed Los Trompos, which are great spinning rides – there were several adults enjoying them too, though I personally can only spin for so long!
Since it was Memorial Day, they also had some visiting exhibits, like a petting zoo and a dinosaur fossil dig, but honestly, our kid was happy just to play in the shade of some of the giant trees. It was hard to convince him to go home! While it’s not close enough for us to go all the time, I definitely think we’ll go back in the future. And when we do, the Florida Children’s Museum will be a must-visit – it looks so cool!
