Union Park Playground

If you haven’t taken your kids to Union Park yet, you’re missing out on one of Des Moines’ cooler spots. The climbing structure here is genuinely unlike anything else in the city — it reads more like an art installation than a typical playground, with bold colors and geometric shapes that double as an actual obstacle course. Little ones and older kids both have their own zones, so a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old can visit at the same time without one of them getting bored or bulldozed. Fair warning: they will leave exhausted, which is honestly the whole point.