Big Sky Park – Luke Damon Youth Sports Complex is a HUGE Property on the east side of Bend. It is on Neff road, and easy to find if you don’t mind driving past what feels like the edge of town.
This park has enough fields to support a multitude of sporting activities, including BMX. For the sake of staying on topic, I will send you to the Bend Parks and Rec website for information on this. I will be sticking to the play ground portion of this park for this blog.
Although there is a lot of parking around this park, I felt like there were not a lot of parking spaces close to the actual park area.
This play ground features two regular swings, two infant swings, and to separate play structures for different age groups.
We enjoy when a park has climbing walls attached to their play structures. The structure for younger kids had a climbing wall at a very low incline, which is great for your little climbers. In general we really enjoyed all the activities available at this park.
Next to the play area is a picnic structure (and another on the other side of the park) that could hold 20-30 people. This would make a great birthday picnic area, though I worry about it being busy especially since it is such a commonly used sports field during the varies seasons.
I am also a little concerned about the lack of bathroom facilities near the play area. Not even a porta-potty. It is an awfully long walk for a child just potty training, and too far to leave one child playing while you take the other one. This park could be greatly improved by a bathroom near this play ground.
There are also no individual picnic tables or benches around the play area. I also did not see any individual picnic tables anywhere in the massive park. Although I recognize this property is not for picnicking, it would be nice to have some around the play area.
The play ground is elevated, and the edge is close to the play structures. As a helicopter parent, I was having concerns about my son falling down the “cliff” and tumbling into the road. Most people probably drive pretty slow through the park, but it still concerns me. This would be another perfect reason to have benches, especially between the play structure and this edge.
According to the Park and Rec site, there is also an off-leash dog area, though we did not see it.
We greatly enjoyed the structures and fun in the play ground area. I would not suggest driving out to this park alone, but if you are driving through the area and need a quick stop, then I would totally recommend it.
Ratings:
(A scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is the least desirable and 5 is the most desirable)
Size: 5
Condition: 5
Amenities: 3
Safety: 4
Fun: 5
Overall Score: 4.0
The Big Sky Park/Luke Damon Sports Complex is a sprawling mecca for all sports in Central Oregon. The park seems to have every amenity you could ask for. For a day at the park with family, and no a day watching the games, this park is severely lacking in some areas. I do not recommend this playground if you are working on potty training, as there are not bathroom facilities close by. This is not a park to make the long drive out to find, but if you are in the area then it is worth the pit stop for some fun.
Bend Family Park Tour 