6201 Mango Tree Drive
Columbia, MD
Fountains are on 10 am – 10 pm daily, weather permitting
This was our first ever splashed experience and we had SO much fun! The splash fountains are located in Color Burst park, which is at the center of the new Merriweather District. This area features luxury apartments, retail and restaurant space (mostly empty for now), a large turf area (that converts to an ice rink in the winter!) and is walking distance to Merriweather Post Pavilion (one day we will go to concerts again!) Merriweather District is still VERY much under construction but the park is fully completed and is such a great space to bring kids! Have to give a shoutout to Austin Graff (on Instagram as @austinkgraff) because I didn’t even know this area existed before he posted photos from one of his daily runs through here. I’ve learned so much from his account about different neighborhoods in DC and surrounding areas!
The splash pad/fountain here is small but perfect for little ones. The fountains were gentle enough, and they were spaced out so you could sit and splash without getting sprayed (this was great for the baby – she LOVED it!) To my surprise, there were umbrellas and lounge chairs next to the fountains. Not like I was actually able to sit 🤪, but the shade was nice when we needed to take a break.
Just around the corner from the fountains is The Charmery ice cream shop! Unfortunately we didn’t get to try it today because they don’t open until 2 during the week and we had to get back for naps. But definitely would be a nice treat if you are there in the afternoon or on a weekend when they open earlier!
Getting here is a little complicated because this area is SO new that the address doesn’t even come up in my GPS. I was able to pull it up in Waze but not iPhone maps. My best advice is to put ‘The Charmery’ (Columbia location) into your gps and drive there. There are several parking options – we parked in the Symphony Woods garage and followed signs on the sidewalk for Colorburst Park. We later found a closer parking lot on the other side of the apartments, but it was kind of nice to have our car in the shade on such a hot day.
As an added bonus – this area is also walking distance to the new Bailey Park that I shared about in a previous post (located next to Whole Foods in Columbia on Lake Kittamaqundi). We arrived at the fountains at 9 only to find that they weren’t turned on until 10 am. So we decided to walk over to Bailey Park to kill some time (I just put Whole Foods in my iPhone and selected the walking option and followed from there). Columbia is super walkable so even though we walked along semi-busy roads we felt totally safe and would definitely do this again – I had my double stroller and the baby in the carrier FYI – I wouldn’t attempt letting my kids walk there, lol! It took us about 15 minutes each way.
🚽: I saw one porta-potty (I have to imagine that they will be addicting real bathrooms here eventually!)
👩👧👦Solo w/ kids?👩👧👦: Yes
🛒 Stroller friendly?🛒: yes
🦠Covid🦠: about 5 families there from 10:30-12 on a weekday
🅿️Parking🅿️: several garages (currently free) and free parking lots – check signs before parking
🧺 Picnic tables: no, but great turf area for picnics
⏰Timing⏰: 1-2 hours
🐶 Dog friendly: no
Maryland Kid Adventures 