A Union Park Family Day: The Park, the River, the Trail
Blanchard Park in the morning — fields, playgrounds and the YMCA at the gate — the greenway by bike in the afternoon: a family day built entirely from Union Park's own ground.
1 minute read
Some hubs in this magazine have to borrow their family day from the neighbours. Union Park does not: Jay Blanchard Park and the Little Econ Greenway give the community a complete day on its own ground, and here it is.
Morning: Blanchard Park
Start at 2451 North Dean Road. The 84 acres hold the full family register — playgrounds for the small, fields and courts for the bigger, pavilions for the picnic, and the river for everyone. The YMCA Family Center at the park’s entrance adds the indoor option when the afternoon rain arrives, as it does. Arrive by car from Dean or Rouse Road, or do what the neighbourhood does and arrive by trail.
Afternoon: the greenway by bike
The Little Econ Greenway runs through the park — 7.4 paved miles along the river, west toward Forsyth Road or east toward Alafaya. For a family ride it is close to perfect: flat, shaded in stretches, off-road the whole way, with the river for scenery and trailheads for bail-out points. Dinner is the Colonial corridor on the way home. A river, a great park and a trail: Union Park’s family day is the argument for the community itself, and it costs nothing but the day.
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