Splash pads in Missoula, Montana

McCormick Park sits along the Clark Fork in downtown Missoula and the splash pad is the casual go-to for families before or after a downtown errand or a Caras Park concert. Ground sprays for toddlers and early grade-schoolers, picnic shelters, real restrooms, free parking. The Clark Fork riverwalk runs right past, so a stroll-the-baby-to-sleep walk is built in. Best on weekday mornings before the lunch crowd arrives. Parent gotcha: Missoula at 3,200 feet sits in a valley that traps wildfire smoke hard — the Lolo, Bitterroot, and Idaho fires of late August regularly push Missoula's AQI to the worst in the state; check Montana DEQ before driving. UV is intense even on hazy days. Pair with a Big Dipper ice cream stop on Higgins after.