Spend a few fun hours on the shore of the Orange Reservoir at South Mountain.

Trek the walking path, marvel and play at the Children’s Regatta Playground, picnic, or rent a swan paddle boat. Crossing the street from the free parking lot is The Waterfront’s main entrance. Bathrooms are located here; heading straight will take you to the paddle boats and walking path. Just to the left is the Clipper Pavilion picnic area (which can be rented for parties) and further past that is the playground. The paddle boats are only open seasonally on the weekends from 10 am-6 pm. Tickets are only available for purchase on-site. It’s a bit of a workout for the paddlers so 30 minutes should be plenty of time!

A big draw to The Waterfront is the fairly new Children’s Regatta Playground. It lives up to its name with play equipment to look like boats “floating” on a rubberized safety surface. One is a larger three mast boat for kids 5-12 and one is smaller for kids 2-5. Both offer climbing areas and slides. The playground is huge and has a whole separate section for swings. There’s a lot for any kid to explore and many structures you don’t see at other playgrounds like spider web ropes between climbing rocks and small plastic evergreen trees to traipse through. We also love the mushroom-shaped table/chairs to sit for a snack or water break. The area has some shade but most of it gets pretty sunny so sunblock and a sun hat are good to have on hand.

The 1.7-mile reservoir walking path is a nice stroller or dog walk. It’s a pretty view around the reservoir and part of the walk passes the Turtle Back Zoo train ride where lots of exuberant kids will wave hello as the train passes. The playground and walking path are accessible all year round.