West Enfield Neighborhood Park
Small Neighborhood Park and Pool
The Johnson Creek trail’s northern junction is marked by West Enfield Park. It’s a small neighborhood park with beautiful shade trees and plenty of playground equipment. The pool is a pleasant place to spend an afternoon in the summer.
West Enfield Park is one that we have driven past at least a hundred times heading south on Mopac, and the kids inevitably scream that they want to play as we whizz past it on the highway. We know it is there, and yet we have never stopped there. After our recent weekend breakfast at Jo’s Coffeehouse, we decided that since we had patronized most of the Austin parks near downtown, we might as well take the kids to West Enfield to cross it off the list.
We pulled off Mopac on Lake Austin accidentally, drove around Exposition, somehow connected to Windsor, trying to get back south on Mopac to get to this park. As it turns out, to go south on Mopac from Windsor, you have to take Winsted Lane, and the park is at the corner of Winsted and Enfield. Not finding any designated parking, we looped around the backside of the connecting neighborhood, and still we didn’t find any parking. Hmm.
We saw a couple of cars parked along Winsted, close to the tennis courts, so back around we went. We parked our car as close to the curb as possible, and paranoid for the kids’ safety as cars sped past (remembering that this street is the feeder onto southbound Mopac), we unloaded the children on the passenger side only. A suburban neighborhood park, this is not.
Pool at West Enfield
Pool admission is free. The pool is large and straightforward, making it ideal for non-competitive lap swimming. There is a wooden deck area to the side, but there isn’t much lawn around it. It is generally not crowded. There are steps, but there is no zero-entry or very shallow area for the youngest swimmers. For pool hours, please visit this page.
Playscape
The kids immediately ran past the pool, the tennis courts, and headed straight for the playgrounds. The park was relatively empty when we arrived, but within five minutes this park was crowded! Families arrived on foot with jogging strollers from the paved path connecting the park to the neighborhood.
West Enfield Park’s playscape is on the small side. It is best suited for preschool-aged children. Next to the playscape are swings and a small sand pit. We were fortunate this morning to be able to play with someone else’s toys that had been left by the sand pit. Bring some sand toys, in other words! There are picnic tables near the playscape that are located beneath trees that provide shade.
The kids were climbing all over the which is toddler safe but almost too small to accommodate the number of people there. Every parent it seemed had to remind a child that the time on the swings is limited because other kids were waiting. Our kids played for about 15 minutes before hubby and I decided that the park was just too crowded for our kids to truly enjoy it.
For those who live nearby, it is a good older park with plenty of shade and well-maintained playground equipment. Unless you happen to live in the area or are visiting friends who live within walking distance, skip West Enfield Park. Drive further south, and go to Little Stacy, Zilker, east to Shipe Park, or north to Tarrytown Park Any of those offer the same playground fun but with a little more elbow room for the kids to play, not to mention a safer parking situation.
This small neighborhood park and pool is a pleasant way to spend time in a charming Austin neighborhood. Park hours : 5 am – 10 pm.
West Enfield Park
2008 Enfield Road
Austin, TX 78703