Tehaleh’s New Ruff ’N’ Tumble Park Is a Weekend Game-Changer

Psst … you don’t have to live in Tehaleh, the mega planned community in Bonney Lake, to enjoy its incredible parks. My three kids, ages 4, 9 and 11, and I recently headed out to check out Ruff ’N’ Tumble Park, the newest addition to Tehaleh’s impressive lineup of 18 parks. And yet again, we were blown away. We’d previously visited Hawks Landing, another standout playground that’s well worth the trip for families in South Puget Sound and even beyond.

A Tehaleh park pit stop and first impressions

If you’ve never been to Tehaleh, don’t attempt it without a map. While the planned community is a vision for some families, with trails throughout and some of the most unique playgrounds I have seen, it is absolutely massive and every street looks more or less the same. It is very easy to get turned around.

We set out to find the new Ruff ’N’ Tumble Park playground, got lost and fortunately stumbled upon a completely different spot: Infinity Park. It was like no playset I have seen before, a circular structure somewhat resembling an infinity sign that the kids could climb on, under and through, set on top of a hill with an expansive view. Of course, once we saw it, we had to check it out. I eventually had to drag all three kids away to the park we were actually supposed to be visiting.

Once I got my bearings, Ruff ’N’ Tumble Park was less than a five-minute drive from Infinity Park and was a whole different kind of wow. As we drove up, I believe my daughter’s exact words were “Holy ninja warrior!” 

Testing our skills on the Ruff ’N’ Tumble Park obstacle course

Ruff ’N’ Tumble is a huge obstacle course filled with all the feats of strength you would see in the show “America Ninja Warrior.” Each obstacle has a sign that explains how to use it and which muscles it targets, similar to the workout stations you see at some parks.

My first reaction when exploring the park was, “Is this for adults?” I honestly thought my kids would tire of it after discovering they couldn’t do many of the challenges, most of which are rated for ages 13 and older. What surprised me was that the challenges only motivated my kids. They left saying, “Can we come here every week?” eager for the chance to keep working toward conquering the course. You’ve got to love a park that inspires fitness and a little goal-setting!

My big kids spent most of the time trying to tackle the most challenging obstacles. Meanwhile, my 4-year-old stuck to some of the smaller elements, including the balance beams and the High Step, a low web of nets that requires you to jump each foot through. But mostly, he ran around in the sprinkler.

Don’t miss the unique playset for younger kids

Just as my 4-year-old started to get bored with the obstacle course, I was thrilled to see that the new park also includes a traditional playground for younger kids. I took him to the playset while the older kids continued working hard on the course.

The playground was perfect for his size and had some fun elements we don’t often see. There was a mini rope climber with a bridge, hoops to climb through, sharks to ride and a slide shooting down from a fantastical faux tree.

The older kids enjoyed this part of the park too, once I convinced them to take a break from the obstacle course and check it out. But before long, they were headed back to keep working on the course.

The challenges we loved most

The big hit on the obstacle course for my older kids was the Wheel Bridge. They had to jump onto a swinging wheel, then propel themselves up to the next wheel and keep going. It was really tough to make it to the next wheel though, even for my 11-year-old, but they kept trying and trying and trying.

My daughter’s favorite was the climbing ropes. There are two and they are classic climbing ropes like the ones you would find in P.E. She loved scurrying up to the top and sliding back down. Forewarning: Trying them as an adult will immediately humble you — it’s not as easy as it was in P.E. class 30 years ago!

As I mentioned, the obstacle course is certainly a challenge even for adults, so of course I couldn’t let the kids have all the fun. The element I had to try (and maybe one of the only ones I could actually do) was the Extreme Quintuple Steps, where you leap across five angled steps. Making it to the other side made me feel like I just won the “American Ninja Warrior” trophy and gave me so much more respect for the athletes that compete in that show.

The obstacles are arranged in a circular course and I can imagine that once you have conquered them all, you could challenge yourself to see how quickly you can make it through. Also on the course, there’s an angled cargo net that you climb up and over, reminiscent of an army boot camp. On the Spiderwalk, you wedge yourself between two angled walls and use your hands and feet to walk upward. There are also several sets of extreme monkey bars, and plenty of other ways to test your strength, balance and coordination.

Good to know before you go

Most of the obstacles require a pretty strong grip, so my older kids were complaining of sore hands not long after arriving. One 8- or 9-year-old girl at the park was wearing gloves that looked like they were made specifically for this type of course. We thought that could have extended our time there — or maybe they just need to suffer through it and build up their calluses. 

The new park also includes two fully fenced dog parks, one for small dogs and one for large dogs, if you want to bring your fur babies along for a romp, too.

Unfortunately, there are no restrooms at any of the parks we’ve visited in Tehaleh, which cut our visit a little short. My 4-year-old couldn’t hold it any longer, so we headed to the nearby Wendy’s for Frosties and a bathroom break.

As we were leaving Tehaleh, my kids were already begging to come back the following week to tackle the course again. We compromised on a monthly visit so they could keep working toward their fitness goals. And who knows? Maybe I’ll even get in on the action and work toward conquering a few more obstacles myself.