The park looks better than ever. The Sea shore water park is amazing. Something for everyone to…read moreenjoy and cool off.

I love that there is a gated/fenced toddler and preschool area with benches that is near the 'big…read morekid' playground! Be sure to bring sunblock because unfortunately the toddler area is in the sun whereas the older kid area has lots of shaded areas. If you get hot, the water park is nearby. There needs to be a couple extra trash cans dispersed throughout the area. There are adult exercise apparatus near one of the parking lots. Enjoy watching as your littles play the musical instruments or as they pick ent size of slide they prefer.

We used to go here quite a bit after school but since their hours have change we occasionally visit…read moreon the weekends. This is a fun free indoor park for the community. You check in and get 1 hour of indoor play. As you leave they will allow more guests to enter. At busier times there can be a long line to get in so I suggest getting there early.

I attend Traders Point for church but I love that you do not have to attend to visit The Park! It…read moreis an amazing resource that the church provides as an indoor play option for the surrounding communities and families! The Park is clean and it feels very safe to allow your kids to be kids! I love that you can visit their website and see if they have met occupancy numbers. The website also allows you to register and know what to expect! I would recommend the Park to anyone with children!

Went for a pickleball class and thoroughly enjoyed it! I…read morewill be going back to this park. Little known well kept park.

This park has a prairie setting and features an amazing trail, some vast green space and a skate…read morepark. It is 38 acres and used to be a farmstead before being purchased by the city in 2003. The original farmstead is still being used for educational programs and is managed by Maplelawn Farmstead, Inc. There is tons of parking here spread across three sections. One near the front and skate park. The other, in the center, near the prairie, and the other near the back pavilions, playground and splash pad. This park has about 3 picnic shelters with picnic tables under it and grills right outside of it. There is a decent full court basketball court there. It is in pretty good shape. The park also features a pretty nice splash pad, however, it was closed for the season during my visit. It has a bunch of colorful spray structures and benches along the fence that parents can sit on and watch their kids splash around. The playground is lined with wood chips and has more of your traditional equipment. The equipment is in excellent shape and includes a small jungle gym, rock climbing walls, monkey bars, a bank of swings with a couple of traditional swings, toddler swings and ADA swings, a small jungle gym with slides, and a set of pebble path pods. The play ground is fenced in to keep the little ones from running off and has benches along the inside perimeter of the fence to sit. The bathroom facility is right between the splash pad and playground area. It is nice as far as bathrooms goes and is connected to a picnic shelter on the side and has an uncovered patio area with picnic tables in front of it. Your will see green space for days here. A large portion of which is lighted. It is well maintained and is multi-purpose. It can be used for most any outdoor activity including a picnic, football, soccer, playing catch, field hockey, or flying a kite. Right behind the green space is a monster hill. I saw people using it to work out while I was there, more power to them. It would make for some awesome sledding after a snow. Near the front of the park is a skate park. It is small but nice. No bike allowed, only boards. They have a small maze like fence that is made to try to prevent people from bringing bike in. Some of the stuff in the park includes a pool, stairs, rails, ramps, and other stuff that I have no idea what they are. The walking trail here is a 1 mile loop and is one of the better trails that I have been on. It is well maintained and can be used for running, jogging or walking the dog. It goes around the park's green space and hill. This is a very nice Zionsville Park. It checks all the boxes of what you would want in a park. I like this park a lot. It is well maintained and has top notch amenities. You could easily spend a day to a half of a day here.

Turkey Foot Nature Park is notable for the spectacular virgin sycamore trees that line Eagle Creek…read more A 335 year old downed tree is featured on display in the park. The display marks the rings on the tree trunk with significant events dating back to 1679! The 23 acre park was built along a section of the Eagle Creek just north of Zionsville that was never developed. Today, the park is hidden between housing developments and a Pete Dye golf course. The town of Zionsville maintains the park. On the south end of the park is a paved parking lot which holds 15 cars. The 1.3 mile of trails are also nicely paved making the hike suitable for a stroller or wheelchair. Small unpaved paths along the trail lead down to Eagle Creek where you can get great views of birds and other wildlife including an occasional bald eagle. Along the sycamore-lined trail, native wild flowers bloom throughout the season. There is a lovely footbridge that crosses Eagle Creek. I find the walk tranquil and refreshing. The park is used for running, biking or walking the dog. There is also entry points for canoe/kayak and fishing is allowed in the Creek. There is no charge to use the park.

Turkey Foot Nature Park is a hidden gem! We discovered it via a tip from a friend who likes to take…read moreher kids creek stomping. This is a great park to do that. There is a shallow creek here that's perfect for wading with young kids, and a short hiking trail, and beautiful nature all around. On the bank of the creek, you'll find little shells all around. When we visited, there wasn't anyone else there, so it was very peaceful and quiet. The parking lot is small, so I imagine that Turkey Foot doesn't get too many visitors at one time anyway. There is a pedestrian bridge that was being repaired when we visited, so we couldn't access it, but we were able to see it from the creek.

Whitestown knows how to build parks. This is another great little park that serves the community…read more I'm guessing that the park is about 5 acres of mostly green space with a charming upscale small playground in the center. The green space has a cement walking trail that goes around perimeter to walk dogs or push strollers or wheel chairs. There were numerous birds out during our morning visit with our granddaughter. Nice benches line the walkway. There are dog stations for pet owners to clean up after their dogs. The green space can probably be used for soccer or football practice. The playground is really nice with a climbing and play structures that are ideal for 3-7 year olds. There is a really nice little "zip" line for the kids as well. The swing sets have infant seats and special needs seats that are covered by a shaded awning. There is a soft astroturf under the structures to cushion the kid's falls. There are three covered benches to watch the kids on the playground, but they could use a few more for us grandparents. Parking is a little unusual with a single one-way parallel parking lot on the east side of the park. There is bike parking as well. There are no restroom facilities (as the other parks have in Whitestown). My granddaughter had a blast and played for over an hour. Bring some water snacks and sunscreen for the kids.

There's a dog park under construction on the west side. There's a restroom coming tooread more

Starkey Park is one of the oldest parks in Zionsville. The park is mostly natural forest that is…read morebordered by Eagle Creek on the southeast and housing developments on the west. The park is managed by the Zionsville Parks & Recreation center. There are seven short trails running through hills and dense forest within the park. The trails are less than one mile long each. The trails are ideal for nature lovers, birdwatching, hiking and dog walking. The forest offers cover for many interesting species of birds. In some parts, the trails are rugged and not easily navigated. Many native wild flowers bloom within the park. Unfortunately, the trails are not suitable for strollers or wheels chairs (except for a few short segments) because they are dirt paths. But the Rail Trail that runs adjacent to the park is totally accessible and overlooks the park on the eastern side. There is a parking area on the northwest corner or other parking areas along the rail trail.

Stopped here in early March before things have started to bloom, but I liked it! It wasn't too…read morecrowded, the trees were interesting. Liked the path near the creek. As the weather gets nicer outside will definitely be back. It's really close to a residential area and high voltage power lines at first. So when we parked, I did not have high hopes.. but after you hike down the 5 story staircase and walk a bit, it feels like you are the middle of nowhere.

Panther Park has a great playground with something for all ages. It's also one of those playgrounds…read morethat is great when you're looking for a mud-free place to play after it rains, because the ground all around the playground is rubberized, which allows for mess-free play. The playground has toddler play equipment and equipment for older kids. The toddler playground area has little sides, and lots of easy places to climb on. The older-kid playground has tunnel slides, a rock wall, fireperson pole, ropes and nets to climb, and a spherical climbing structure that spins. There are also swings, including a tandem swing where a toddler and adult can swing facing each other. The park also has a basketball court, a paved walking/strolling path that's circles the park that's about 0.3 miles, a restroom, a shaded picnic area, and shaded benches situated around the playground. I was most impressed by these shaded benches, because shade is often lacking at playgrounds. But the shade thing has been thought about here.

We discovered this park this weekend and so glad we did! My son made friends of different ages…read more(2-11 yrs) and everyone had hours of fun here. They have a huge field for kids to play soccer as well and have a basketball court on the playground too. We'll be back here for often.

The Zionsville Nature Center just opened last week at their new location in the Hussey Mayfield…read moreLibrary. I took my granddaughter over to visit for Earth Day, today. The new center is on the first floor of the library near the children's section. Rachel was on duty and is super knowledgable about nature and eager to visit with the kids (and adults). She told us that the new location is temporary until they move into a new dedicated facility in a few years. The center has displays of animals that are native to Indiana. There about a dozen live reptiles in the center including turtles and snakes. There are several hands on exhibits for the kids to explore. I enjoyed seeing the native birds up close. My granddaughter asked many questions that Rachel was happy to answer. The center offers monthly programs for all ages to help get kids interested in nature. You can find out and sign up for the programs through their website. We frequently sign up for the nature kits that are available over Spring Break and the holidays for a small fee. The kits come with video instructions narrated by Rachel. We just finished a kit to make a hummingbird feeder. Zionsville is fortunate to have the Nature Center.

This place is amazing. It's a hidden gem in Zionsville. If your kids like nature, and animals, and…read morehandling animal skulls and skins, then you will love the Zion Nature Center. This is a small, cottage-like nature center, but there are lots of little exhibits set up throughout. One room is all about pollinators, so you can see a honeybee hive through glass, and touch wasp nests and peer at (dead) monarch butterflies up close. Another room has a pair of microscopes set up to view pollen and spores. That same room has animal skins (shed snake skin, coyote hide, etc.) that you can pick up and touch. There's a basket full of animal feet (so hardcore) there too, like deer feet and a giant poultry claw. It's kind of gross and cool at the same time. The best room, according to my kids, is what they dubbed the "play room," because it has a bunch of toys, games, puzzles, stuffed animals, puppets and kids books. If you have young kids, you can probably stay in that room for at least an hour or more. There are wooden blocks to play with, and also a giant chalkboard wall that you can draw on. Zion Nature Center also offers educational classes and summer camp, too. Check their website -- they have an updated list of what they offer on their site. Adjacent to the nature center is a small playground with slides, a climbing wall and other fun stuff. There is also a hiking / walking trail (Zion Nature Sanctuary) several steps away, where you can go creek stomping and traversing through nature. One thing to note is that Zion Nature Center sits on the grounds of an elementary school, and the hours of operation reflect that. The nature center is only open on weekend and select holidays when school is out. Call or visit their webs try to make sure they are open before you visit.

Easy path with residential, rural views. Go as far as you can/want & turn around to head back to…read moreyour vehicle. We did over 10 miles.

The Big 4 Trail is a developing Indiana trail that currently extends 15.4 miles with a plan for it…read moreto eventually extend right around 50 miles. The current route includes three disconnected segments in Boone and Clinton counties. I was born in Lebanon and still find that I incorporate Boone County into a lot of my wheeling events. As I get older, I'm finding that I use a lot of trails rather than wheeling on streets. This is a rail-trail named after the "Big 4 Railroad" that existed in the area in the mid-19th century. President Lincoln traveled the route on the way to his inauguration. The Lebanon to Colfax section of the trail was previously known as the Farm Heritage Trail before becoming part of Big 4. Similarly, there's a section north of Thorntown that was known as the Keewasakee Trail. The section from Lebanon to Colfax is mostly rural and passes through Indiana hardwoods and over the scenic Sugar Creek on an iron bridge on the north section. There's a mural celebrating the Big 4 Trail and its railroad history can be seen under the I-65 overpass near the Lebanon trailhead. In 2020, the section north of Thorntown was extended to Colfax. There's also a parallel 4-mile equestrian trail that starts at Serum Plant Road. There's plans for more equestrian trails to be developed. This section is paved. The trail segment heading south towards Lebanon from Sarum Plant Road is currently not paved, with the City of Lebanon planning to begin renovation of the trail in 2023. There are also short sections in Whitestown and Zionsville. The Big 4 is a combo of urban and rural, though I always laugh a bit when I hear the "urban" part since we're talking Boone County urban as opposed to, say, Indy. So, it's more smaller city urban. I like this trail, though there are spots it's definitely more difficult for wheelchair users. Doing the entire trail is difficult since it's disconnected - I can do it, but I'm a pretty experienced trail user. I think most would find it difficult. Trail condition also varies from paved to crush stone to sections that aren't particularly well kept and can get debris. Thorntown to Colfax is really the best section and also has some great sights to see including a Carnegie library and the historic Rosenberger building. As I live on Indy's east side, this isn't my preferred trail. However, when I'm heading toward Boone County or when I need to train on a more difficult path I'll head to Big 4. In terms of hills, it's actually a fairly smooth trail. It's the terrain that can be difficult here. Overall, this is a solid 4-star trail and will likely only get better as development grows over the next few years.

It is an awesome lil trail for a quick nature reset. Even though it isn't more than a mile long it…read moreis Beautiful!

Located right near the Hendricks and Boone Count Line on US 136, I was pleasantly surprised at the…read moreaccessibility of this nature park. The trails are limited to hikers and are paved with blacktop. The park offers a perimeter hike or a diagonal path along the sides of the creek that flows towards the Big Walnut Creek to the east. For visitors who like to know what they are looking at, the park has numerous stands with information as well as location indicators on the park maps. There are also labels for types of trees that blend well with the surrounding scenery. I also noticed some small stands with words of positivity like Kindness, Faith, Peace. I don't know the story behind those but they are low to the ground so as to not interfere with those hikers who simply want to see nature. My only knock on the park is that due to erosion along the creek, there were a lot of trees falling over into the creek. The branches were clogging the flow of water, trapping debris and leaves so that some areas of the creek were stagnating. A bit of maintenance to clean up the clogs and maybe some assistance on reducing the erosion would preserve some of the trees fighting to hang on. The park is just over 20 years old and could use a good cleaning to restore its condition. There is a lone shelter outside the wooded part of the park near the parking lot which looked to be in pretty good shape. Review #730