One of my favorite smells in the spring is that of dirt. I know that others may choose flowers or fresh-cut grass, but I love the earthy aroma of dirt.

I’m a gardener, and when I get serious about my greenhouse later this month, I’ll surround myself with the smell and get it wedged deep under my fingernails.

While my hobby fully embraces my love of dirt and digging into it, spring tends to bring about harmful unauthorized habits in parks. We see more bike jumps, fort structures and even river and creek blockages. When these pop up in places they shouldn’t be, they disrupt the natural areas, conflict with Leave No Trace principles and create a safety hazard.

The good news is that Bend Park and Recreation District has some natural play areas that are perfect for getting creative — and maybe a little dirty, too.

Natural play areas

Natural play areas are park features made of natural elements or are inspired by nature, which are meant to provide a different sensory experience than modern plastic and metal play structures. They are designed to inspire creative free play.

In natural areas, kids are encouraged to walk or hop across stumps and logs, race up a cluster of boulders or play tag with friends in a log forest. Using built-in hand water pumps, children can mix sand and water to build sand castles — getting their hands dirty and exploring in the process.

The following parks are home to natural play areas. (All parks in Bend.)

Discovery Park, 1315 NW Discovery Drive

Canal Row Park, 1630 NE Butler Market Road

First Street Rapids Park, 1980 NW First St.

Hillside Park, 2050 NW 12th St.

Rockridge Park, 20885 Egypt Drive

Stone Creek Park, 61531 SE Stone Creek Lane

Wildside play areas

Wildside play areas are specially designated natural play areas within parks for free-form play. Wildside spaces are outside of pristine habitat or developed areas where it’s OK to be creative.

This is where children are encouraged to dig, stack logs and even build their own forts and other structures with logs, tires and other materials. I encourage you to check out Al Moody Park and Compass Park. Each has very active Wildside play areas.

Both spaces enable children to connect to the natural world, encourage physical activity and set the stage for independent exploration. Spending time outside has numerous proven health benefits including reducing stress, improving sleep, boosting the immune system and more for all ages, so even teens and adults are encouraged to explore the Wildside.

In recent years, Bend Park and Recreation District has been working to provide more natural areas for kids to play, explore and learn as the community grows and residential areas increasingly offer less immediate access to natural spaces.

One of my favorites is Rockridge Park, located in northeast Bend, directly south of Lava Ridge Elementary and Sky View Middle schools. Rockridge Park was designed with a minimal footprint to maintain more than 60% of the original terrain as natural space, which makes you feel like you’re miles outside of town. The natural play area is a central experience to the park. This play area features a Juniper “log forest” where children can navigate smoothed and repurposed trees, which were harvested from local parks. Children can also create their own natural adventures on log steppers, boulder scrambles and a climbing tree.

Now is a great time to explore a new nature play area while also helping us to protect it — and please take a moment to smell the dirt.

Al Moody Park, 2225 NE Daggett Lane

Compass Park, 2500 NW Crossing Drive

Pine Nursery Park, 3750 NE Purcell Blvd.