DESIGN OF PARK AND RECREATION AREAS 199 



it may sometimes be successfully constructed. Artificial swimming pools 

 have been built in many large parks, but it is usually desirable to screen 

 them with plantings and special care must be given to the design of the 

 bathhouse. 



10. Winter sports. In sections having cold winters, all water areas in 

 large parks, long slopes of sufficient declivity for coasting, steep slopes for 

 ski jumping and tobogganing present natural opportunities for winter 

 sports. If water areas are large enough they provide opportunities for ice 

 boating and horse racing. Toboggan slides made in sections, so that they 

 can be taken down during the spring, summer and fall seasons, are often 

 erected in large parks. Winter sports have always been considered a proper 

 use of large parks, but are a feature deserving a much wider development 

 in regions favorable to these sports. 



11. Shooting range. Shooting ranges found in large parks are of two 

 types: for trap shooting, and for rifle and revolver practice. These facilities 

 are not numerous in large parks throughout the country, chiefly because of 

 the difficulty of making them safe. 



Children's Playgrounds in Large Parks. 



Aside from the play facilities mentioned as being valuable in connec- 

 tion with picnic grounds, it is sometimes desirable to devote one or more 

 areas in a large park to a regularly equipped playground that will be under 

 supervision. This is especially true if there are built-up districts in the 

 vicinity of the park where no other playgrounds are provided. Irrespective 

 of the needs of adjacent built-up sections, the children's playground may 

 become a necessity merely to take care of the children who come to the 

 park from considerable distances either by themselves or with their parents. 

 By the judicious planting of screens of trees and shrubbery protected by a 

 concealed fence, such areas may be made to fit into the general character 

 of the park. 



Tourists' Camps in Large Parks. 



Within recent years tourists' camps have been established in many 

 large city parks throughout the United States. Aside from the disturbing 

 effect the establishment of such a facility has upon the general landscape 

 design and appearance of the park, the withdrawal of several acres of a 

 large park for the continuous use of people from outside the city is hardly 

 justifiable in principle, desirable as it may be to provide accommodations 

 for tourists visiting the city. The public tourist camp is a large problem 

 in itself, and so far as the site is concerned, it is more desirable to secure a 

 special area for this purpose. 



