Park Review: Millbrook Exchange Park wading pool, sprayground

With one week of hot weather behind us and several months of steamy temperatures ahead of us, pool time will be high on the list for a lot of families.

The wading pool is 10 inches deep at its edges and drops down to 18 inches in the middle. At the sprayground, features dump or spray water on you. There are lifeguards stationed at both the wading pool and sprayground (along with the main pool).

Fences surround both the wading pool and sprayground. I do wish there was easier access between the wading pool and sprayground so kids could easily go back and forth. Right now, you have to exit the wading pool area and walk the length of the pool to get to the entrance to the sprayground. That's unlikely to change. Terri Stroupe, the city's aquatics facilities and programs director, tells me that the gates are like this to meet health department guidelines.

There's a covered area for picnics next to the wading pool. And there's a playground with swings and slides across the parking lot from the pool complex.

Millbrook Exchange Park is at 1905 Spring Forest Rd. in north Raleigh. The wading pool and sprayground are open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Recreational swim times are noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Millbrook is scheduled to close for the season on Sept. 5.

Raleigh pools offer single-admission, 15-swim, monthly and annual passes. A single-admission pass is $2 for city residents and $3 for non-city residents ages 1 to 12. It's $4 for city residents and $7 for for non-city residents ages 13 to 54. City residents ages 55 and over pay $3 for a single-admission pass and $5 if they don't live in Raleigh.

Watch the video to take a closer look at the pools at Millbrook Exchange Park.