Deer Creek Park - The Rocket Ship Park

Deer Creek Park Experience Summary

My kids and I had a great weekend going to some of the destination parks around Saint Louis, which include Deer Creek and Tilles Park in Ladue.

My wife was working both days of the weekend, so we scheduled Deer Creek Park into one of the "quadrants" - the time before or after a nap on Saturday and Sunday are each a quadrant.

I had read it should really be called the "Rocket Ship Park," and that internet sleuthing turned out to be 100% correct. The park's jungle gym is completely themed around space, with the main attraction being the rocket ship jungle gym.

The rocket ship is a three-story behemoth of kid-inducing craziness. With over ten different ways, by my count, to access the crow's nest, there's plenty to do for kids up to ten. At the top is a steeper-than-expected slide that will have your kids doing loops for an hour.

The park overall was super clean, with ample parking and convenient bathrooms. We arrived early on Sunday morning, and there were already a half dozen families there that grew to a dozen by the time we left at 11 a.m. However, it never felt crowded or crazy.

In addition to the fantastic playground, there was also:

• Two pavilions with picnic tables

• A volleyball field

• Several baseball fields

• A big open field where I imagine they have intramural sports

We spent a solid 1.5 hours there and only left because my sons were getting hungry for lunch, and I ran out of snacks. However, both of my sons rated Tilles Park ahead of Deer Creek Park, which surprised me. I think there were, on the net, more things for them to do at Tilles, even though the theme at Deer Creek was better.

Deer Creek Park Playground Breakdown

Rocket Ship Playground

An awesome twenty-foot slide highlights the playground's namesake Rocket Ship. The ride is considerably steeper than it looks from the outside, with a good turn in the middle and a pretty decent drop. I'd say the slide is maybe the top three steepest playground slides I've done.

My three-year-old son was scared of going down it the first three times, so I went down with him to get him used to it. He declared himself ready the fourth time, climbed up, and went for it.

He loved it after that and probably did it 40 times.

My older seven-year-old guy immediately ran up the path of least resistance and flew down the slide. He had fun climbing up all the different ways to get to the top. There are at least ten different ways to climb up to the top of the crow's nest.

However, my younger guy was limited to three or four ways to get up and needed a spot for some of them.

Other Apparati

The rest of the playground is themed around space. In addition to the rocket ship, the park has a kind of lunar rover car you can "drive" and jump around on, and they have a little teeter-tootle space shuttle.

Also, on the space theme, there are also two cutouts for taking pictures of yourself or kids as astronauts or aliens.

Non-spaced theme apparatuses include:

• Standard swings

• Two fancy excavators

• A four-person see-saw

• Big sand box

Deer Creek Park Amenities And Miscellaneous

Deer Creek Park had a really big pavilion right next to the playground for parties and then a smaller pavilion attached to the bathrooms on the other side.

The bathrooms were clean and well-kept.

Half a dozen fields were there, including a volleyball court, a couple of baseball fields, a soccer field, and then just a giant open space.

Parking At Company

Parking was super simple. There are two parking lots. One lot is directly adjacent to the playground where the map told us to go. And then there is where I took an entrance intended for the sports fields.

There was tons of parking on Saturday between 9 and 10 a.m.

Deer Creek Park Receipt