Parks of The Woodlands - Clover Park

Clover Park is a small neighborhood park within the Village of Panther Creek in The Woodlands Township, Texas. There are 4 off-street parking places which give easy access to the path to the park and pond. The pond and the playground are separated by a pleasant little forested walking path.  There are no restrooms at this park. 

Yes, we found clover (Trifolium repens) at Clover Park. Have you ever eaten a clover flower? They are sweet.  Learn more about foraging clover on my friend's Foraging Texas page: https://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/08/clover.html

Clover Pond is a little pond surrounded by a quaint neighborhood. It is stocked with fish and catch-and-release fishing is permitted in the area. The fish attract a wide variety of local water fowl. While we were there, we were greeted by a Great Egret (Ardea alba). Our daughter tried unsuccessfully to catch up with her so she could pet her. As she approached, the Egret showed us its impressive wingspan as it flew over the water. Then it watched us from a distance, perched on a shrub on the other side of the pond.

 We also spotted a cute little orchid (Spiranthes sp) in the marshy soil next to the pond.

Then we managed to get some of this fun velcro-like plant stuck to our shirts. People like to call it Stickywilly here in Texas (Galium aparine).  

After we explored the flora and fauna of Clover Pond, we hopped, skipped, ran, and walked down the path to the playground at Clover Park.

The substrate at the playground is a dense layer of arborist wood chips. Beside the playground is a gazebo that is 16' x 9'. There is also a bicycle rack and two picnic tables. This playground is designed for high adventure. There is a climbing wall, slides, a train whistle, wacky ladders, a fast-spinning merry-go-round, and even a giant disk swing! Here are some photos of us playing at the playground.

 

Our girls adore the fantastic Disk Swing. They say it feels like they are flying on a magic carpet. There are also standard belt swings and another special kind of swing...

Clover Park has Expression Swings! Do you know what an Expression Swing is? It's a bucket swing attached to an adult swing. It is an innovative swing made by GameTime. It allows an adult and a child to swing together facing each other! We had a blast flying together on the Expression Swing.