Challenge Grove Park

First time at this park. I was passing it on way to appointment and said oh what, a pretty place. So friend and I decided to, take a look and walk around. What, an, awesome park. The playground is called Jakes place. It was fun, everything there was handicap and special needs acessible. It was quite big. The ground was made from recycled tires for soft landings. Swings and a sway cart which was quite, awesome and of course we had to test it out. There is, alot of cognitive play things and activities to do. Also handicap ramp which was neat. The Baseball Field Which Was Called Boundless Field Also Made Of Recycled Tires For Soft Landings Was Really cool. They also had a basket ball court with soft netting material. They, have a Parcourse workout section which was pretty cool also. Picnic benches and places to sit in the, shade. Bathrooms of course. Beautiful landscape of flowers and different plants. Plenty of shade and, decent parking. They, also have a boat launch and lake/​river to fish or, boat. Definitely can’t wait to go back when it doesn’t rain. Awesome place.

I came to this park the other day to kind of get out and get some air and also just to relax and do some homework and studying. I liked this park because there was more the ample parking. There were a lot of areas for people to come and play as well as a very nice running track for people that want to run without being on a street. There is a child’s playground here for the young-​ens to come and play if they want from a distance it looked nice. I say from a distance because I really wasn’t going to walk into the children s area to look cause that’s just creepy. I sat on the benches in the are to do my work and they really could use some maintenance not only were they very dirty but someone really went out of their way to damage and break them. I find this to be ridiculous that this was done to a public park and people decided to damage it but that is really neither here nor there. I will be back to this park regardless of the problems because all and all it was a decent park in the area without seemingly sketchy people there.

Challenge Grove Park will always hold a sentimental place in my heart, as it is the place where I trained for my first 5K. Four years later, I still find myself driving here from time to time to do the old running route. Besides that, I run through the park on an almost weekly basis, as it is part of my running clubs 12 mile Sunday run.
The park is open and welcoming. A year or two ago volunteers built the Build Jake’s Place, a «boundless» playground which welcomes children of all abilities and disabilities. During my most recent visit to the park this past week, I noticed that a second new playground area is being built. (I can’t find the info now, but I think I read that it is going to be a softball/​baseball field of sorts, again for all children, regardless of ability/​disability).
The park also includes a quarter mile track, restrooms, bocce court, a basketball court, and baseball field. There is also what appears to be a soccer or football field set back behind a wooded area that I have not ventured to, but I often see games being held there. A short walk to the other end of the park brings to to an area of the Cooper River, and a large grassy field area where one could spread out and relax.
For the runner or walker, there are also some trails, which Cherry Hill Township has been making a point of maintaining in the last year or two, and has encouraged people to take advantage of these areas. I only recently ventured back in these trails, and they are really beautiful, well maintained, and not long or complicated enough to get you lost. If you prefer the roads, a lap around the entire park (Caldwell Road, Park Blvd., Kings Hwy., and back into the park on Bortons Mill) is about a 1.25 mile run.
The park area is also home to the old Croft Farmstead, but I’ll be honest… I don’t know what goes on in those buildings, just that it’s a historic area in the township.
One thing the township/​county needs to improve are the restrooms. On the occasion that they are actually open, they are absolutely awful. Smelly, filled with graffiti, no paper towels, and just filthy. The water fountains could use some upgrading, too… they are forced to be turned off in the winter because they don’t utilize no-​freeze technology, and in the summer the water is just hot, and therefore useless to an overheated endurance runner. If the park could fix either one of those things, they’d easily be a 4 or 5 star park in my eyes.