Shrine Of Our Lady Of The Snows, Belleville, IL

Location: 442 S. DeMazenod Dr, Belleville, IL 62223

Amenities: Playground, picnic shelter, sprayground

Website: http://snows.org/

Playground ground cover: Poured rubber, wood chips

This is a great playground! It has lots of unique things and has a ton of fun features. The playground is right across from the Visitor's Center and restaurant and there are restrooms there. The Shrine is a large campus but just follow the signs to the visitor's center and you won't miss the playground. There are 3 large play structures, 1 for older kids and 2 for younger kids. There are 2 baby swings, 4 sling swings, and 1 adaptive swing. There are also 2 teeter-totters, a play house, some log structures, and a splashpad. There are lots of benches and a nice covered pavilion between the playground and the sprayground. One unique feature is the sidewalk that goes around the play area. It has the creation story and paintings all around it. For example, one sign says "On the fourth day God created the sun, moon, and stars", and there are sun, moon, and stars painted on the ground. There are also different carvings on the play structures of bible stories. There is a rope to climb, a clear tube to climb through, a wooden bridge, and lots more to do. 

Rock Spring Park, Alton

Location: 2100 College Ave., Alton, IL 62002

Website: https://www.riversandroutes.com/directory/rock-spring-park/

Playground Ground Cover: Poured Rubber and dirt

Rock Spring Park is home to an 18-hole disc golf course completed in 2008. The course length is 2,266 yards with concrete tees and DISCatcher targets. The combination of excellent terrain use, innovative pin location, and a fantastic risk/reward tradeoff on the front 9 holes make this a must-try park for all ages. 

This park also turns into a winter wonderland every year during the Christmas season. Dubbed Christmas Wonderland the "Grandpa Gang" installs over 4 million lights every year. 

The first playground you come to has a small play structure with a couple slides, a small tunnel, a steering wheel, an abacus, a little telescope, and some bars and poles. There is an old covered pavilion here too. As an added bonus it's partly shaded. 

This dino play structure is further back and kind of overgrown. 

There are 4 sling swings but there are lots of weeds around.

Nice creek!

There is also a 2.4-mile loop trail here. It's considered an easy route, it takes an average of 47 min to complete. This is a popular trail for hiking, trail running, and walking, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of the day.

Killion Park, Alton

Location: 2400 Washington Ave., Alton, IL 62002

Website: https://www.riversandroutes.com/directory/james-killion-park/

Playground Ground Cover: Mulch

This bleacher is facing this little building but I have no idea why. It doesn't look like a stage? The basketball court is behind the bleachers, so it's a little strange. 

This playground has a small structure for little guys with a tic tac toe board, a maze board, and a small slide. It's partly shaded. 

There are 4 sling swings but 3 of them are so high up they are unusable. 

Stand-alone slide

5 more sling swings

The larger play structure has a bridge, several slides, and some bars and poles.