Tire Park at Patapsco State Park

On the last day of spring break (Easter Monday), I took the kids to the Tire Park at the Hilton area of Patapsco Valley State Park. They have a nominal fee for entering ($2 for a car) but we only had a five-dollar bill, so we overpaid (though I did make a note to myself so I can go in one other time without paying!).

The playground is made up of used tires, mostly imbedded in the ground. The kids ran around and played on them. A couple of lines of tires are set up as running courses. After they raced each other, they wanted to race me. They did one-on-one races with me. I felt it was a little unfair, having to run twice in a row while they had breaks in between each race. On the other hand, my longer legs were a benefit here.

Before I got dragged in

A lot of other kids were there (mostly younger), so my kids were selective about where they played. Seemingly everyone selected out of this particular piece of equipment:

Unused!

Some tires were stacked together to make little forts, though the tires were on their rims, leaving holes to go in and out.

View into a tire fort

My kids' favorite thing here was the tire swing. They had me push them while the both rode.

Making a face for the camera

Making two faces for the camera

After a while, they wanted to ride individually. First, big sister pushed little brother around (a not uncommon occurrence). 

Ready to let go!

Pushed with all her might

Then they traded positions.

All his might might not be enough

We had a fun time. My children especially appreciated that the nature center was closed so no education happened on the last day of their school break.

At least they could appreciate the art

I did find a geocache while we were there, so we got our money's worth. At least we will when we visit one and half times more.