Higginbotham Park and the Thompson Trail

So fortunate to have this park only a few blocks away from my house. It is a beautiful grassy park with a lot of trees. Very clean. Large playground area. Large public bathroom by the trail. Waste bins for your pets poop! :) Water fountain for both you and your pet. I come here with my dogs and it’s very pet friendly.

This review is only for the playground not for the trail since we didn’t walk the trail at all. My son is 3 years old and very active so we have been trying new parks in the area. This was our first visit to this park and there are some great features and some negatives (in my opinion).
The positives: there is a lot of things to do for a 3 year old active little boy. There is a playground structure shaped like a train, it’s pretty narrow so there can’t be a ton of kids playing inside of it, luckily there were only 3 other kids at the playground when we came so that wasn’t an issue. There is also a rock climbing area for the older kids (which is where my son played most of the time). There is a small toddler area with two baby swings and a smaller learning structure. Really close to the playground are bathrooms so for those toddlers that are potty training they have somewhere to go when nature calls. The grassy area next to the park has a small hill so my son enjoyed running/​rolling down it.
The negatives: there is no parking close to the park so you have to park your car on the residential street and walk on a sidewalk to the park. I have an infant and the park itself wasn’t great for pushing a stroller around since there are a lot of steps, sand, rocks, etc. There seemed to be a lot of benches/​picnic tables around the park but not close to the structure. There was one bench right next to train play area but that was it.
Overall I would recommend this park for the older kiddos (3 – 5 years old). It is a nicely shaded park and kept very clean (which included the bathrooms being on the nicer end of a park bathroom).

This place is amazing for a day with your kids or for taking photos. There are lots of greats spots with greenery and rustic appeal.

Very large an very clean park. Came here to have a family get together and I was pleased to see that there were many other large parties but the park didn’t seem crowded or loud at all.
The younger children in the group really enjoyed the playground apparatus

Such an awesome park, we love it here and so does our child. So green and clean, it’s our favorite in the area

Nice neighborhood park with a decent amount of trees for shade. The playground is mostly geared for younger kids which is perfect for me and my family right now. Also, the trees are great for those really hot days when you want to throw a blanket out and not roast the kids in the hot sun.

We love this park! Our daughter loves it too! The play area is perfect for little toddlers! We can walk down the trail and look at the horses! I’ve never seen it crowded so that’s a big plus! It’s super clean also!

This was such a nice walk! Super tough once you start going up the mountain literally almost killed me well maybe cuz I went mid day… walked about 5.7 miles and then when we walked back it was nice to be in the shade they had water fountains and everything.
Even dog water fountains… that was cute … on an extremely hot day thos water fountains saved me for real!

This is a hidden gem in the neighborhood You can find this park with mapquest or you can visit it off the Thompson creek trail. It’s pretty empty every time I walk by it. They have bathrooms and drinking fountains. There are play structures for kids. The park has many trees surrounded it. You can find shade all rhe time.

Lots of shade, open space, and places for the kids to play. There’s also a trail behind the park for running/​walking/​etc. Bathrooms are available. The play structures aren’t the traditional kind. One is shaped like a train. There are others scattered throughout the play area, but the kids seem to enjoy these more than monkey bars and slides. The rocks are particularly popular for climbing. My only complaint it that with the rocks it’s possible for some children to get out of line of sight.

I have been coming this park/​trail for the last 2 years and I love it. It’s a great trail to run along… there is the uphill climb to work the legs & the downhill for the cool down.
The park is great for kids… especially the ones with pets. Kids & Pets are the best combo for the park. The trail is also great for the kids because you can see the horses, goats, and other animals in the backyards of the residents. Often times, you can also catch a deer or two or a family roaming along the trail to grab some food & water. If you like nature this is perfect.
BEWARE tho… Keep all personal items in TRUNK. I was an idiot and left it where people can see and got my purse stolen. I don’t blame it on the circumstance. Just be careful.

Everything one could want in a park! Rolling green lawn, trees and an imaginative playground for the kids. Also attached to a paved trail that actually gets used by joggers etc.

Beautiful park! Wonderful play area, very appropriate for small kids even. Will definately making more trips to this park… my daughter had a blast!

They have a great grass area and lots of shade to have a picnic. Good location to take family pictures.
My toddler loves the train playground, sandbox, climbing on the rocks, looking for bugs, and playing chase.
I like it cause the bathrooms are clean and the playground is safe for my toddler.
Perfect for a family picnic. I wouldn’t recommend a party there unless it is a small group. Parking is in the neighborhood.

We came here for the 7^th Cochina Concert, big disappointment! There was no one there! Well, not that many people anyways. I was expecting this huge crowd with big speakers, but it was just a small group of people playing just for the heck of it. No signs, no nothing. So we just kept walking and checked out the park… got our Vit D in for the day.
They have a playground there and maybe a small ranch of horses. The trails… well not really a trail to begin with. It definitely wasn’t scenic, we were seeing houses left and right. I suppose if I were to live in the neighborhood, I would use it to get my morning walks in.
Also, google will tell you the wrong way to get there. Well, it leads you to a court of houses and I suppose they expect you to walk through to the other side to get to the park. We had to drive around to figure that out.
Overall, it was just an okay park. Nothing super special.

Sprawling green knolls, conifers, and frolicking dogs and children adorn this park in the northiest north part of Claremont. But! Not too many children, and not too many dogs. I hate that, messing up my serenity and all.
A winding cement path runs through the park up to the playground area which includes swings and a small sort of town set up including a haberdashery. This isn’t a super new or high tech playground, but it’s charming and it gets the job done. As a middle schooler all the weird words at this new place confounded me – Higginbotham? Haberdashery?
There are also little bathrooms and drinking fountains right next to the trail, however I am pretty sure that the Thompson Trail needs it’s own review space because it runs on for many miles beyond the park. So, somebody fix that?
So the reason I chose this for my 100^th review? Well, this park of the gentry of Claremont is where I’ve had many adolescent loves found and lost. It was right down the street from my house on Silvertree St. and right next door to one of my best friend’s houses.
The Thompson Trail is absolutely beautiful and does run through the park, in fact, it’s where small, fat Janine started to run and ride her brother’s mountain bike and turned into older, not as fat Janine who got made fun of less. The wildlife and foliage on the trail is enough to keep you inspired for miles and the other runners/​bikers on the trail are more than friendly. People pick up after their animals. Birds sit on your shoulders. It’s like Snow White. Seriously.