Cashman Park
Rating
Price
Free
Duration
Plan on 1.5 to 3 hours, which is longer than a typical neighborhood park because there is more to rotate through. The two playgrounds alone hold mixed-age families for well over an hour since younger and older kids are not competing for the same equipment. Add a picnic at one of the ramadas and a game on the basketball or volleyball courts and you are comfortably at three hours. With teens playing under the lights, evening visits can run later than you planned.
Best Ages
Genuinely 2 through 14, which is unusual for a neighborhood park and is the single best reason to pick this one. Cashman has two separate playgrounds: a smaller structure built for the 2 to 5 crowd and a larger one aimed at 5 to 12 year olds, both set on wood chips and both shaded. If you have a preschooler and a fourth grader, that split is the difference between a relaxed morning and an hour of refereeing. Infants do fine here because the paths and ramadas make a stroller stop easy. Teens actually have something to do, which most Phoenix neighborhood parks cannot claim: two lighted basketball courts and two lighted sand volleyball courts mean a pickup game is realistic, and the lighting means it can happen after the sun goes down.
About
Cashman Park is the neighborhood park that solves the mixed-ages problem. Most Phoenix parks give you one play structure and hope for the best. Cashman has two: a larger playground built with 5 to 12 year olds in mind and a separate smaller one designed for the 2 to 5 crowd, both on wood chip surfacing and both shaded.
If you have a preschooler and an older sibling, that split is worth driving for, because it means an actual hour of sitting down instead of an hour of shuttling between structures.
The rest of the park backs it up. Listed amenities include a fitness course, one large ramada with four tables, two small ramadas with two tables and a grill each, two lighted basketball courts, two lighted sand volleyball courts, a multipurpose field, restrooms and a drinking fountain. The lighted courts are the underrated feature.
Phoenix summers mean the only comfortable hours are early morning and after sundown, and city park hours run to 10 p. m. , so this is one of the few places where an evening game with teenagers is genuinely practical in July.
The shade over the play structures matters more than it sounds. Uncovered playground equipment in this city becomes unusable by late morning for months at a time, and shade extends the window meaningfully. It does not eliminate it, though. From May through September, still plan a morning visit, and check the metal and plastic surfaces with your hand before turning a toddler loose.
Things not to expect: there is no splash pad here. The water features on the amenity list stop at a drinking fountain. Every summer some family arrives with swimsuits and towels, and it is a preventable disappointment. There is also no food, no concessions and no vending, so pack a cooler.
What this adds up to is one of the better free mornings in north Phoenix. Everything costs nothing, including parking. A picnic at a ramada, a couple of hours split across two playgrounds, a game on the courts, and you have spent no money at all.
Desert Ridge Marketplace sits a couple of miles south if you want to add lunch. If you are eyeing the large ramada for a birthday party, call Phoenix Parks at (602) 262-6696 about reservation rules and fees rather than betting on it being open when you arrive.
Age Suitability
Parent Logistics
Stroller-Friendly
Yes
Nursing / Changing
Unknown
Kid Meals
N/A
Setting
Outdoor
Rainy Day
Not ideal
Plan Your Visit
Best Time to Visit
Mornings from May through September, without exception, and anytime from November through March. Phoenix park equipment gets dangerously hot in summer afternoons, and the shade over the play structures helps but does not fix that. City park hours run 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., so an early start is easy. The other standout window is evening: because the basketball and volleyball courts are lighted, this park stays useful after dark in a way most do not, which is a real advantage in June when the only comfortable hours are before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m. Weekday mornings are quietest at the playgrounds; after school and weekend afternoons are when the courts fill.
Wait Times
No admission and no lines. The realistic contention is for the two lighted basketball courts and two sand volleyball courts on weekday evenings and weekends, when local pickup games claim them and you may be waiting for winners. The ramadas are the other thing worth timing: there is one large ramada with four tables and two small ramadas with two tables and a grill each, so on a Saturday morning with birthday parties in progress those go early. Arrive before 9 a.m. if you need shade for a group.
Nearby Food
Nothing is sold at the park, so pack in whatever you need. The location in the Desert Ridge area is the advantage: Desert Ridge Marketplace, roughly a couple of miles south near Tatum Boulevard and the Loop 101, is a large open-air center with a wide range of family restaurants, fast casual options, coffee and a grocery run if you want to stock a picnic on the way in. Between that and the shopping along Tatum, you are never more than a few minutes from food, which makes it easy to keep the park free and eat afterward.
Why Kids Love It
There are two playgrounds, and kids figure that out in about four seconds. Little ones get their own structure without being run over by ten year olds, and the bigger kids get equipment that is actually challenging instead of a toddler set they have outgrown. The shade over the play areas is the part parents notice, but for kids the draw is that they can play hard for an hour without anyone telling them to be careful of the little ones.
Pro Tips from Parents
- This is the park to choose when your kids are different ages. The separate 2 to 5 playground and the larger 5 to 12 playground mean nobody spends the morning waiting for a turn on the wrong equipment.
- Use the lights. The two basketball courts and two sand volleyball courts are lighted, and city park hours run to 10 p.m., which makes this one of the few workable options during a Phoenix summer when evening is the only comfortable time.
- Bring your own ball. Courts are provided, equipment is not, and there is nowhere at the park to buy or borrow one.
- Claim a ramada early on weekends. There is one large ramada with four tables and two small ramadas with two tables and a grill each, and birthday parties take them on Saturday mornings.
- Do not plan on water play. Cashman's amenities list drinking fountains but no splash pad, so tell the kids before you arrive if they are expecting to get wet.
What to Bring
- Water bottles for everyone, refilled before you leave home
- A basketball or volleyball, since the courts are free but empty
- Sunscreen and hats even though the playgrounds are shaded
- A picnic and charcoal if you want to use one of the grills at the small ramadas
- A blanket as backup if the ramadas are already claimed
- Wipes and a towel for wood chips in shoes and socks
- A changing pad, since changing table availability at the restrooms is not published
Cost Info
Free Admission
Estimated Cost (Family of 4)
$0.
Cashman Park is a City of Phoenix park with free entry and free parking, and every amenity, the two playgrounds, the fitness course, the ramadas and grills, the basketball and sand volleyball courts, the multipurpose field, restrooms and drinking fountains, is free to use.
Bring your own food and the whole outing costs nothing.
If you finish with a meal at Desert Ridge Marketplace a couple of miles south, budget roughly $50 to $80 for a family of four depending on where you land.
Ramada reservations for parties are handled by Phoenix Parks; call (602) 262-6696 for current rules and any fee.
Tips to Save
- This is already a free outing, so protect that.
- Pack a cooler and use the ramadas and grills rather than driving to Desert Ridge Marketplace afterward, which is where a $0 morning quietly turns into a $70 one.
- Bring your own basketball and volleyball, since the courts are there but the equipment is not.
- Fill water bottles at home rather than relying on the drinking fountain, especially in warm months.
- If you are planning a birthday party, call Phoenix Parks at (602) 262-6696 first: knowing whether the large ramada with four tables can be reserved, and at what cost, is cheaper than showing up on the day and finding it taken.
