This playground is a big, wooden structure nestled in the woods of north Jersey. 

A week after we were here, the New York Times dropped a trend piece article about how wonderful rural life in Ringwood is. Sure, Jan. 

I grew up in Ringwood, and our municipal playground was originally one of those classics from the 1980s that were filled with big splinters and the surface was just wood chips and rocks. Apparently that old playground was long ago knocked down, and this one replaced it. 

The new playground is still made of wood, but there were a lot less splinters than I remember. The addition of plastic slides made the place a lot more usable. 

The main thing our toddler enjoyed was the bouncing stairs attached by chains. The stairs move slightly when standing on them, and this seemed like a fun challenge. 

One of the problems with suburbs like Ringwood though is this isn't in anyway integrated into a neighborhood. Nobody is walking here or wandering by on their way to someplace else. You definitely need to drive to get over here, and even then you are back in the woods where nobody can see you. 

Also, Ringwood is filled with black bears. I guess it is kind of lucky that this playground has a fence all the way around it, although I doubt the fence is enough to keep them out. 

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