1500 Cherokee Drive. Raleigh, NC
Roanoke Park is the cutest little neighborhood park nestled on a quiet street in the Five Points area near downtown Raleigh! It’s completed shaded by trees and wonderfully maintained by a joint partnership with the city and surrounding neighborhood. They have stocked it with all of the ride on toys your tot could dream of, plus a nice little playground perfect for the two and under crowd!
Playground
The playground itself is mulch surface, but it’s low to the ground and has lots of bench seating for the parents. The sandbox and “parking lot” full of toys is right there beside the playground, so your tot will be running back and forth between the two the entire time you’re there. The “parking lot” has a nice rubber surface to make it easier to ride toys on, but it’s right next to the sandbox so there’s no way you can prevent getting sandy!
My 3 year old loved the playground and pretended he was a dog in the doghouse. He spent almost all of his time zooming around on the ride-on toys, and quickly found out that he could ride down a small incline on the sidewalk down to the basketball court.
mulch surface playground 
parking lot with ride on toys 
play house 
sandbox
Basketball Court
The basketball court is a great addition because your older kids can play a game while the younger kids enjoy the playground. It’s also an extension of the “parking lot” and gives kids a little more room to zoom around on their trikes. For the enjoyment of all, please remember to return your toys back to the playground before you leave!
Boardwalk to the Picnic Shelter
Roanoke Park is shaped like a hallway. The playground, basketball court, and ride on toys parking lot is all located right beside each other. You can also take a short walk down the boardwalk to arrive at the grassy fiend and picnic shelter. There was a class going on while we were there, but this would be a great place to kick around a soccer ball and enjoy a quick snack.
boardwalk from the playground 
small picnic shelter 
grassy field
Overall Impressions
My only complaint about Roanoke Park is that it is not fenced or gated and has a road on both sides. There wasn’t much traffic while we were there in the morning, but if you have a runner this still might be a problem! There’s not much keeping your little one from running in the road.
One huge perk of this park is that it is entirely shaded! We were there in the middle of July and it stayed cool through noon. We left to walk around the neighborhood and immediately got hot, but somehow the playground stayed a nice temperature! It’s definitely a great place to visit in the summer!
Roanoke Park is walking distance to Wild at Art Kids and Anisette Bakery. You can walk over and take an art class and grab a sweet treat to extend the fun!