Highland Recreation Complex – Rec Center in Largo with Pool, Slides, Playground and more

Published on 07/11/23: Highland Recreation Complex! Let’s continue exploring great parks, nature preserves and playgrounds within a short drive of our area. With summer heat upon us, how about one with air conditioning and water slides? I present to you Highland Rec Center. [take that, July heat!]

Highland Recreation Complex is located in Largo, 25-30 min from St Pete and only 12 min from Belleair Beach…a possible pairing for additional fun.

Address: 400 Highland Ave, Largo

Highland Rec is Not Your Typical City Run Park and Rec Center

Highland Rec includes a 33 acre park, 40K sqft modern indoor facility with options galore, rocket/space themed outdoor playground, zero-entry pool with slides, and more. Notably, it’s also home to Pinellas County’s tallest municipal slide! I’ll post a couple video stories – it was hopping when Colt and I explored. Birthday parties, families, neighbors, fun music playing…looked like a scene from an 80’s movie. The good ol’ days!

Memberships are available to Highland Rec, which reduces the already small fees for some of the activities below. Annual memberships are $10 for Florida residents and $39 for non-residents. The activities below have small fees associated, though like a say, even less for members.

40K sqft Recreation Center:

• Something for every age
• 3 story indoor playground (PlayWorld – socks required)
  • monthly/annual pass available for those with memberships. Itty Bity playtime for 5 & under is $2 per participant (under 6 months are free), no membership required. Itty Bitty is Mon/Wed/Fri during the summer from 9a-10:30a & will goes back to Mon-Fri when school starts again. Also, during the summer there are often large groups in Playworld on weekdays from 7a-6p for field trip groups. The public is still welcome, though it may be crowded.
• State-of-the-art fitness center
  • Daily youth admission: $1 member/$2 non-member. Daily adult admission: $2 member/$4 non-member. Monthly/Annual options also available
• Classes and events “for nearly every interest & age”
• 1/13 mile walking track – Free with a membership and $5 without a membership
• Party rooms – Prices vary, you can find out full details by visiting PlayLargo.com/Parties
• Licensed Pre-school for 3-5 yr olds
• After-school Care
• Indoor basketball courts – Free with a membership and $5 without a membership, but times vary on when they offer drop-in basketball due to other programming. The basketball times are under the program page on the website in the athletics section.

Aquatic Center:

• $5 with Rec Membership/$8 without Rec Membership. Fee is per person, per session and go on sale each day at facility opening. Children under the age of 1 are free.
• Snack bar
• Water slides for young children
• Water slides for older kids (ie 214ft tall, plus a 3 story speed slide – 48 inch height min)
• Rentals by reservation for special events (bdays)
• Swim sessions
• Swimming lessons
• Water aerobics

Outside the Rec Center you’ll find:

• 33 acre park
• Playgrounds serving children 2-12 (not fully fenced)
• Outdoor restroom
• 1 mile+ of asphalt trails
• Stocked 4 acre lake w/ dock
• Free outdoor gym
• Four tennis courts
• Two lit basketball Courts
• Two picnic shelters
• Ball field

Dogs are allowed on leash.

I should note, as we approached the metal tube playground slides, Colt said “I bet that one is an “egg fryer”. Turns out, the inside surface of the tube wasn’t hot!

Credit for all indoor photos to the city of Largo, including pictures of the rec center. The playground pictures are my own.

I’m a Tampa Bay and Largo Realtor, with over 31K people following my LovingStPete Guide on Social Media! You’ll receive up to $10K at closing when you use my LovingStPete Team to buy or sell a property! My past includes developing a vacation rental advertising business that I ran for more than a decade, then sold to HomeAway/VRBO. I’d love to help you buy or sell a property, simply contact me.