Maddy's Guide to Playgrounds in Burlington (not today) - Montgomery Park

 

Basics:

Date of visit: April 25th, 2025

Where can I find it? Behind the Dryden Hotel

Bathrooms? nope

Parking? Plenty

When open? Daylight hours. 

Review:

This past spring, I found myself traveling through the looking glass. That is to say, I sat in a car for six hours and desperately needed to get out to a place one might go to burn off some energy. Based on proximity, the optimal location was Montgomery Park in Dryden, NY. 

Through the looking glass indeed!

While parks in Massachusetts appear to prefer either functional abstractionism, or cartoonish animalism, parks in New York state have adopted an approach more akin to Lewis Carrol's Wonderland. With broken lines and non-parallel angles that would give an engineer a headache, children are encouraged to explore, and manifest adventures that thankfully do not include any Jabberwocks. 

The park is sized for individuals both small and smaller, with a section dedicated the tiniest of adventurers. 

I was too big for this section. It made me pine for the days long past when was younger, smaller.

With a standard complement of swings and slides that had sufficient drainage to not retain large puddles at the bottom after a storm, one can while away the hours with a lot of standard playground activities. 

The swings were fine, but too quiet. Not enough squeaking for my tastes.

But there's adventure to be discovered to those who are willing to put in the time to seek it out. One thing to note is that Dryden fully renovated the park in 2016 with the goal of making it a nexus of activities that are to serve as a gateway of visitors coming into Tompkins County. As such, artistic accents abound, including at least one very impressive mural to be found on the climbing wall. 

One can feel like a kaiju, clambering all over the sleepy villa. 

The highlight of the park is the rope bridge that separates the two main structures. Despite being sized for small people, the bridge is just spacious enough to bring a thrill to both a playground player, and the panicked mother watching from the ground!

Word of advice: Do not look down!

Prior to his turn becoming a heel in the world of wrestling, John Cena was a well-known supporter of playground renovations

While off the beaten path for the average Burlingtoner, playground enthusiasts would be well advised to swing by and give Montgomery park a try if they find themselves in the area. With a pavilion for picnics, and a basketball court for older kids, there is an opportunity for anyone to find the fun. My father tried to get us to go to the Dryden Hotel for lunch, but I reminded him that efforts to recapture his misspent youth would not be wasted on me. We went to McDonald's instead, like any self-respecting playgrounder should!

I give Montgomery Park 4 white rabbits:

Madelyn Hope Lewis is the senior playground tester of Lewis Developments, and a connoisseur of playtime activities. When she's not exploring Massachusetts fun time architecture, she can be found scouting out where is exactly "the line" with her parents.