Chutes and Ladders Playground in Houghton is Fun For All Ages
Michigan’s most epic playground is located along the waterfront in Houghton, Michigan and it will provide hours of fun for kids of all ages. Chutes and Ladders Playground at Ray Kestner Waterfront Park features a large structure full of stairs, slides, and interactive equipment, all built on a sandy hill just a few hundred feet from the Portage Canal. We had a chance to visit this unique park in June of 2020, and were very impressed.
If you’ve ever traveled with children, you know it can be difficult to keep them entertained on long road trips. Our family always made a habit of stopping at rest areas and playground so we could run around and get out some energy, but never found something as amazing as Chutes and Ladders.
There are long slides, short slides, tube slides, circular slides, tall platforms to climb to the top of, swings, and even a smaller playground area for younger children. The view from the top platform is really something to take in.
Chutes and Ladders Playground’s location at Kestner park also puts it near the City of Houghton RV Park (25 sites), Portage Paddle Sport (kayak and stand-up paddleboard rentals), a public swimming beach, and the City of Houghton Public Pier. It’s only a few blocks away from downtown, where you can take a Historic Houghton Walking Tour and learn how the city grew and adapted when copper mining took off in the area.
We made our visit early in the morning when there were no other visitors, which gave me a chance to test out some of the slides. Kids aren’t the only ones who will have fun here – the taller slides are able to fit an adult, and they move pretty fast!
Ray Kestner Waterfront Park and the Chutes and Ladders Playground is located on W. Lakeshore Dr., just off of M-26. Other family-friendly attractions in the area include Quincy Mine Tours, the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum, and Hungarian Falls.
