Catskills Playground with Lobster Rolls Nextdoor? OKAY!
Rip Van Winkle Park in Tannersville is a godsend for active kids in the Catskills, and its proximity to Tanners Boathouse is a miracle for their parents. With swings, slides, climbing walls, some weather-proof musical instruments, a shaded sitting area with picnic tables, 2 pickleball courts, a volleyball court, a basketball court, and even a skate park, this playground has it all, plus, it’s surrounded by trees and there’s a lobster shack just steps away.
We’re more of a music family than a physical activity family, so we all made a bee-line to the xylophones, which sounded the pleasant tones of wind chimes no matter how wildly we banged on them.
If your kid is a climber, this place is heaven. While we hung out, late on a Friday morning, a group of people showed up with pickleball equipment and a few guys with a basketball shot some hoops, but it definitely wasn’t crowded. The skate park (which you can see in the background of the photo below) has a few ramps and a half pipe.
It’s a great place to work up an appetite for mac and cheese and chicken fingers at Tanners Boathouse, located just past the playground — you don’t even have to cross a street. If you’ve got bigger kids, you can send them back to the playground when they’re done eating and you wanna stay for another round.
And if you’ve got energy to spare, the restaurant also rents out kayaks and canoes to take out on Rip Van Winkle Lake.
Rip Van Winkle Park is next to Tanners Boathouse, which is located at 27 Lake Rd, Tannersville, NY.
