Mills Park - Cary, NC

Ropes, and hills, and slides, oh my! Welcome to another new addition to Town of Cary parks: Mills Playground, right next to Mills Park Elementary and Middle Schools. (I’ve listed the middle school as the geotag here since the playground doesn’t have one yet. If you enter Mills Park Drive from Green Level Church Road, you’ll see signs for the park.) I clarified with the town as of 4/5 that the playground is open during school hours.

This playground has a number of surface types: mulch, astroturf, grass, and the poured-in squishy ground. Could you bring a stroller here? Sure. Would it be ideal? Definitely not.

On the whole, with most of the structures here being ropes-based, we’d say this is a playground geared toward older kids. Peter had a blast, but Ruth struggled. There were things she could do, like the swinging disc, a tunnel, a small structure that turned, and some low slides, but she never really got comfortable. I’ll also just be honest - Peter likes the challenge of the ropes but they give me a heart attack watching him. 😰

Also, let’s just let out a collective sigh that this is another playground with zero shade. We visited on that warm day a few weeks ago where it got into the upper 70s, and it was already miserable. The slides were unslide-able because they were too hot. Go now to experience this new playground before things really start to heat up. This will be a winter playground for us.

Other logistics:

• Not many benches, but there are some round concrete structures in the middle of the playground you could sit on. They do look a bit unfinished in the middle, though, so just be careful of that. (See photo 4.)

• Good amount of parking.

• Bathroom not far from playground. (Looked to still be under construction as of when we went, but close to completion. There was also a port-o-potty.)

Lastly, there is a neat food waste collection site in the parking lot. Compostable bags are available for you to take with you to bring your food scraps back in, and there are full lists of what is accepted at the site. We even saw someone drop theirs off while there!

Have you been to this new Mills Playground? Let us know in the comments!

(Note: We're currently working on updating our website with our reviews. This review was originally posted on Instagram on March 25, 2024, and Facebook on May 21, 2024.)