Shaded Playgrounds in the Kansas City Metro
Exploring the best shaded playgrounds across the Kansas City metro area! As temperatures rise and summer brings the hottest days of the year, finding a cool and comfortable spot for kids to play becomes essential. In this blog post, I'll highlight playgrounds where shade is abundant and playtime can be enjoyed throughout the warm summer months. Whether you're a local parent seeking a new play destination or a visitor looking for a family-friendly spot, check out one of these shaded playgrounds in the Kansas City metro area.
Kansas City (Kansas) Shaded Parks
Antioch Park- 6501 Antioch Rd., Merriam, KS 66202
Antioch Park offers three semi-shaded playgrounds, an old-timey “Dodge Town” to explore, lots of mature trees, walking trails, and a pond.
Restrooms, shelter house, paved parking, and water fountains available.
Black Hoof Park - 9053 Monticello Rd., Lenexa, KS 66220
Nestled by Lake Lenexa, Black Hoof Park features four playgrounds, and two of them get decent shade. The nature play scape is nestled inside the trees, providing good shade. Nearby, there's a sand pit and a little stream for playing. Take the paved path around the lake and find the fourth playground by the boat ramp.
Restrooms, shelter house, paved parking, and water fountains available.
Big Bull Creek Park - 20425 Sunflower Rd., Edgerton, KS 66021
This park features a nature play area with two small splash pad water features. It has shade tents and receives additional shade along the tree line near the play equipment.
Restrooms, shelter house, paved parking, and water fountains available.
Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead Playgrounds - 13800 Switzer Rd. Overland Park, KS 66221
We love visiting Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead to bottle feed goats and look at all the animals, but the playgrounds here are great too. They have mature trees surrounding the play equipment, which gives a lot of great shade on hot summer days.
Restrooms, shelter house, paved parking, and water fountains available.
$5 per person ages 3+
Electric Park - 9305 Loiret Blvd., Lenexa, KS 66219
This park features a toddler play set and a big kid play set with shade tents covering the playgrounds. This provides decent shade depending on the time of day.
Restrooms, shelter house, paved parking, and water fountains available.
Franklin Park - Roe Ave. & Somerset Dr., Prairie Village, KS 66208
One of our favorite shady parks! Franklin Park has mature trees surrounding the playground, giving a lot of shade, plus it has a water stream, a nature play area, a sand pit, swings, and playsets.
Restrooms, shelter house, paved parking, and water fountains available.
Matt Taylor Park - 12650 W. 82nd Ter., Lenexa, KS 66215
This park is nestled in a neighborhood with quite a bit of shade from nearby trees. It has a toddler play area and a big kid play set.
Street parking and shelter house available
Neale Peterson Park - 6136 Mission Rd, Fairway, KS 66205
This toddler-friendly park is located next to the Fairway Pool and is sometimes called Fairway Park. It has a cute firetruck and market toddler play set, swings, and a second play structure for older kids. It gets decent shade from the nearby trees.
Street parking and paved parking by the pool. Shelter house available at the park.
Sapling Grove Park - 8210 Grant Overland Park, Kansas 66204
This is a small park but gets great shade, especially in the afternoon and evening. It has a playground, a small splash pad, and a paved trail.
Restrooms, shelter house, paved parking, and water fountains available.-
Strang Park - 9879 W. 88th Terrace Overland Park, Kansas 66212
Strang Park is a fenced-in park that has a couple of big trees inside the play area that give off decent shade in the summertime. This park has it all - swings, toddler play set, large tower with a slide, in-ground trampolines, and more.
Restrooms, shelter house, paved parking, and water fountains available.
Thompson Park - 8045 Santa Fe Drive Overland Park, Kansas 66204
This park is located in downtown Overland Park and has great shade, especially in the afternoon and evenings. It has a large rope climber, a turf hill with a tunnel, and a small splash pad.
Restrooms, shelter house, paved parking, and water fountains available.
West Flanders Park - 10920 W. 55th St., Shawnee, KS 66203
A castle-themed park near downtown Shawnee, West Flanders Park has a loop trail around it and gets great shade from nearby trees. It has a community garden and lots of grassy space to play.
Restrooms, shelter house, paved parking, and water fountains available.
Kansas City (Missouri) Shaded Parks
1. Bennett Park - 1100 N. Clayview Dr., Liberty, MO 64068
A standard playground with a swing set that gets great shade from the mature trees. It also has a skate park that is not shaded.
Restrooms, shelter house, and paved parking are available.
2. Dagg Park - 2000 Iron St. Kansas City, MO 64116
This park has a great playground and sprayground for kids. It has a few large trees that provide shade for a picnic, depending on the time of day. The main sprayground is not very shady.
Restrooms, shelter house, and paved parking are available.
3. EH Young Riverfront Park - 1001 NW Argosy Pkwy, Riverside, MO
A beautiful park with big trees and multiple play sets. This is a great all-ages park! We especially love coming here in the fall to see the leaves change colors. The toddler play area is very shady and the big kid playset is mildly shaded.
Restrooms available but not next to the playground, shelter houses, and parking available.
4. English Landing Park - 8701 McAfee St, Parkville, MO
A great park along the river with a playground nestled beneath all the tall trees. We love going on walks here and my kids love the bridge. You can stop by Rochester Coffee nearby for treats and drinks before or after your visit.
Restrooms, paved parking, and shelter houses available.
5. Happy Rock Park (East) - 7565 NE Antioch Rd, Gladstone, MO
A small playground at Happy Rock Park is completely shaded most of the day. My kids like the music machine and net climber here. There is a long walking trail here as well as ball fields.
Restroom right next to the playground and paved parking.
6. Harris Park - 601 SW Jefferson St, Lee's Summit, MO
Depending on the time of day, this is a great shady park in Lee’s Summit! It has tall, mature trees and two playgrounds.
Restrooms, paved parking, and shelter house available.
7. Macken Park - 1002 Clark Ferguson Dr, North Kansas City, MO
This is a great park to take a walk around the loop, especially if you have a stroller. The playground has older equipment, but my kids love the little cars to play on. It is semi-shaded most of the day.
Restrooms, shelter houses, and parking available.
8. Renner Brenner Park - 2901 NW Vivion Rd, Riverside, MO
Such a shady park in the cute town of Riverside! Renner Brenner is nestled within the trees with a simple, yet fun playground. It’s across the street from the Riverside Aquatic Center if you decide to visit the splash pad too!
Restroom, shelter house, and parking available.
9. T.B. Hanna Station Park - 214 S Washington St, Raymore, MO
This is a seriously cute train-themed splash pad and playground in Raymore! It has great shade at the splash pad and is semi-shaded at the playground. The splash pad doesn’t have any seating nearby, so maybe consider bringing a foldable chair or blanket to sit on.
Restrooms, shelter house, and parking available
10. Waterfall Park - 501 S Bass Pro Dr, Independence, MO
Tucked away in a grove of trees, Waterfall Park in Independence is a great spot to stop for a shaded break outside! It’s right by Bass Pro and the Stoney Creek Inn, so if you’re visiting either of those this is a great park to go to. Ride your bikes along the trail and emerge in a cute, shaded park! Don’t miss the waterfall!
Restroom and shelter house available. Parking is not next to the playground.
While this isn’t ALL of the shaded parks in the metro, it can help get you started on some summer adventures. These parks with shade in the Kansas City area are a great spot to spend a hot, sunny day! If you’re looking for fenced-in parks or Kansas City splash parks, check out these other blogs.
7/12/25 - Gabrielle Isom
