Cruickshank Reserve Playground Review

A lovely shady park with plenty to do for children of all ages.

Review update by Claire Davill

Nestled in a lovely leafy intersection in Maylands is Cruickshank Reserve. It’s on the corner of Clifton and Phillis Street, just across from the Maylands Hotel. The Cruickshank Reserve playground has always been a favourite of ours due to the range of playground equipment. There’s enough to keep kids of all ages happily playing. We recently re-visited this playground in 2025, and while the paint has worn, the playground is still a solid mix of equipment for both little kids and bigger kids.

We have sometimes found this playground busy as it’s popular for birthday parties and picnics, but mid-week you’ll often find it empty. It is such a tranquil setting with pleasant views, lots of grass and trees and some park benches scattered about the place.

It’s not the biggest playground but there is a good variety of play equipment with challenges for all ages.  There is a main play structure which has heaps of different activities within it:

• a double slide
• a floating bridge
• a little climbing wall
• monkey bars
• a corkscrew shaped fireman’s pole
• a suspended merry-go-round which you hang on to as it spins around
• a spinning bucket seat
• a four-way seesaw; and
• a rope climbing structure

There are also some great activities for littler kids and toddlers including:

• ramps
• a pretend shop window
• activity boards
• colourful plastic balls which you spin around with your hands
• two swings including a toddler swing
• suspended ‘tightropes’ which are not far off the ground

There’s a lovely sculpture in the centre of the park to check out, and picnic tables and barbeques under the shade of the trees. A fully accessible toilet is nearby, next to the tennis courts. 

Things to Consider

• The playground is fully fenced with child lock gates on two sides, but the rest of the park is unfenced
• The whole playground is surrounded by rubber soft fall, and this and the ramps means there are a few fully accessible areas of the playground
• Most of the play equipment is metal and may get hot on sunny days
• On our latest visit (August 2025) one of the shade sails was missing, so half of the playground was in partial sunshine. The trees provide some shade in this area.

Our favourite nearby coffee spots/cafes:

• The Maylands Hotel is right across the road, and there are several cafes nearby at the Avenues Shopping Centre on Payneham Road.

Location

Corner Clifton & Phillis Street, Maylands | Google map

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For more information and all enquiries please visit the NPSP Council website.

What:   Cruickshank Reserve

When:    Anytime

Where:   Corner Clifton & Phillis Street, Maylands

Who:   All ages

At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.

As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently. Review date: 2017

Image Source: All photos by Play & Go

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