Dowdy Park

Great park with lots of parking. If you can't find immediate parking there's a lot at the school. Just drive past the park and turn right and turn into the school lots.On Thursdays there's a nice farmers and craft market. There's a nice produce stand with lots of local product.Many of the stalls are local artists and bakers. I love lots of the beach theme products, all very good quality.

Lovely park in Nags head! We walked here from a rental house. The park does have ample parking spaces. The park is large and surrounded with concrete walkways. It offers basketball, open field, shaded area, bathrooms, playground, wheelchair swing, and more! Overall a great find while staying in Nags head.

Great park for all ages and abilities! Whether you kids want to play in the playground, ride their bikes, throw frisbees, or play basketball- there is something for everyone! Few shaded places so bring a hat ans sunscreen. My little one had a blast. I highly recommend this amazing park!

Cute, spacious, and modern kids park.On a Thursday early afternoon in the summer, the Farmers Market game was going strong. Lots of vendors, but the vendors were more art and decor stuff and less foods I could heartily nibble on while perusing goods.My little ones had a blast with the playground and the adults enjoyed the pockets of shade and chairs/benches that were available.Bathroom was surprisingly shaded and clean.Need something else to do besides the beach? This is your spot!

Bottom Line: A great park and playground with something for all ages and all abilities.I can't drive down the bypass past E. Bonnett St. without remembering the pungent smell of the bumper cars, the thrill of the Ferris wheel and the mesmerizing lights of the Dowdy Amusement Park. Once a special destination for my family the amusement park is long but the five acres of land have been thoughtfully reincarnated as Dowdy Park.The public park has amenities like a playground, bathrooms, paved walking path, a basketball court and multi-use courts for tennis, pickle ball and such. The park is also home to one of the three Little Red Mailboxes, an amphitheater and a few pull-up bars.The playground has some great features. One set of equipment is targeted for tots ages 2 to 5 while the adjacent play area is intended for kids 6 and older. Both play areas have rubber mats beneath them with some mulch in surrounding areas. I particularly liked the rocking ship that is reminiscent of a modern day seaside see-saw. The playground also has an adaptive swing onto which you can roll on and lock in a wheel chair. My sister who is familiar with adaptive swings says it's the Rolls Royce of adaptive swings. There is also a hopscotch board near the playground as well as grills and tables.I'd been curious about this park since it opened several years ago but what finally lured me to the park was the summertime Thursday morning Farmers' Market. The market is open from 9am to 1pm and features fresh produce and locally made crafts. My family and I left with cherries, bell peppers, peaches, a bar of soap, Cheerwine barbecue sauce, a beautiful stoneware bowl, someChristmas ornaments and a fine art print by Taylor Williams. I also eyed up earrings, baked goods, snow cones and other locally made goodies.To attend the Farmers Market we parked in the neighboring Nags Head Elementary School/Board of Ed parking lot and walked to the adjacent park. Kudos to Nags Head and all of those who worked hard to make this great park a reality!

Love the name! We had to stop because it's my last name! Cute open wooden park, centrally located with parking, sits near the beach, and perfect for kids of any ages to play at and adults to walk and watch! Tons of playground activity, climbing options, swings and more. Stop and check it out!

We passed this park as we were driving in from out of town. My sons asked us to stop, but after 9 hours, we just wanted to be at our lodging. So when the boys couldn't take anymore fishing, we circled back to find it.This is a gorgeous new park with accessible play options for those of most ages: a smaller set for the younger walkers, a larger set for 5-12, a few standard swings, an accessible swing, and a family swing (large enough for several children), and features that anyone can climb/play on. It is environmentally focused, blending with the surroundings and featuring things you're accustomed to finding at the beach like dunes and sea oats. The features either have rubber or bark underneath. There's a big lawn area for shows/concerts. There are a good number of parking spots (plenty for your average day, probably not enough for shows/concerts). They've got trash and recycling bins throughout. The only downside would be that there are only portable restrooms, no permanent, but that's pretty minor.

Very thoughtful and well designed playground with fun for all ages and abilities! Such a treasure for visitors and locals.

This is by far the one of the coolest and cleanest community parks I've ever been to! It's got great playgrounds, clean bathrooms, plenty of space for our dog to run around, and basketball and pickleball courts! It was a great stop to let the babies play and stretch our legs!

This park is so awesome! So much variety from the turf hills to the xylophone music toy and the rock wall, my kids love it. Highly recommend for cloudy days or when the surf is rough and the kids need to burn energy outside. 10/10!