For visitors to the Mississinewa River near Matthews, there is a convenient park and boat launch…read morebetween the local cemetery and the historic covered bridge. There is plenty of shade and a small paved pull off area to park your vehicle along the road. The park has several picnic tables, but does not allow any fires to be built (I assume they don't want to take a chance to burn down the bridge that is over 100 years old!) The park was clean and the tables seemed in good condition. The grass was lush and maintained well. Not much to do here other than relax. Review #2547

Great trails! Definitely one of my favorites. Not too crowded. There's a good variety of trail…read moreoptions. The trails are well kept. It was very cool to see the mounds and read about the history.

What a wonderful state park. Lots of trails and things to explore. Close to town for any thing you…read moremight need. The campground was very clean with nice big private camping sites. Restrooms/showers well taken care of. Will definitely be back next time we are in the area

This small town park has a big history. In 1940, local Elwood resident, Wendell Wilkie, accepted…read morehis party's nomination to run for President against Franklin Roosevelt in the park. Approximately a quarter of a million people attended the celebration. Today, a historical plaque commemorates the event. Callaway Park is a central gathering point for the community of Elwood. The town has celebrated annually the Elwood Glass Festival in the park for over fifty years, bringing in thousands of visitors. The park offers several playgrounds with older and newer equipment. There is a lovely covered brick pavilion with picnic tables and restroom facilities. There are two gazebos which host concerts and other events. There was a church service in progress during my Sunday morning visit. The park is spacious with lots of mature trees providing shade. I loved walking through the park. People were friendly. There's history and plenty to do.

This is an amazing old school park that seems to be a corner stone of the town. It spans about 25…read moreacres and has just about everything you would want in a park. The park was donated by and is named after Henry Callaway and dates back to 1917 There are two entrances/exits to the park and an ample amount of parking. The park features a small amphitheater with seating, a gazebo, a large shelter with restrooms, and two small shelters with picnic tables under them and grills just outside of them. You will find a bunch of picnic tables and benches all over the parks grounds. There is tons of green space to play, an outdoor volleyball court and the park is home to a very extensive play ground. They have a fenced in playground for smaller kids with a merry go round, a small slide, a spinning net climber, rocking animals, and monkey bars. There is so much playground equipment here, all over the park. It has one of the tallest metal slides that I have ever seen at a park, there are a few banks of swings, giant tires to climb on, pebble bridges, a spiral slide, net swings, monkey bars, merry go round, a dome climber, a jungle gym, a log roll, a large play set structure, a rocking raft, an expression swing, see saws and a stand up swing. Like I said, it is a bunch of equipment, that is spaced out over the park. It is not the most modern equipment. But it is well maintained and in decent shape. Most of the equipment is constructed out of sturdy steel or aluminum. There are a couple of baseball fields on the park's outskirt. I am not sure if they are park of the park or not though. They are decent fields that would be good for some little league ball. Across the way from the park you will find the Birch Bayh Community Center. They have a couple of decent basketball courts over there. The tennis courts over there need a little TLC though. I was very impressed with this park, which is saying a lot, because I am more of a modern park guy. They host concerts, sporting events, and second harvest food banks. It would also be a nice place to jog. The park has a nice paved trail that winds though it. I would consider this a destination park and highly recommend checking this place out if you have the opportunity to.

During my recent cross-state Tenderness Tour event, I had the pleasure of traveling by wheelchair…read morethe full-length of three Indiana trails - the Nickel Plate, the Cardinal Greenway, and this trail - the White River Greenway in Muncie. It should be noted that there are multiple trails that go by White River Greenway, not surprising considering the White River is a long river in Indiana and an ideal location for a walking/bicycling/wheelchair friendly trail. This trail, which connects to the Cardinal Greenway and is run by the Cardinal Greenways organization, is a just shy of 5.6 mile trail that is a beautiful weaving together of urban trail meets natural pathway. The White River Greenway in Muncie has a couple obvious places where you can easily park and tie into it - the Historic Depot area that serves as the Cardinal Greenways headquarters and Westside Park. The trail itself meanders its way through multiple Muncie area parks including Westside, McCulloch, and Tuhey. The trail is asphalt throughout, though it's worth noting that it does have some hilly areas, especially around Westside Park, and there are sections of the trail where you will actually need to cross streets. One of the true delights of the trail is that it crosses the campus of Minnetrista Center. an educational, arts, historical facility with a children's garden, nature preserve, and a focus on East Central Indiana life. It was once a Ball family estate (think the Ball jars). They are pretty famous in this area and have a wide variety of places named after them. I mean, seriously. Ball State University anyone? It's not uncommon to see wildlife on the trail, though it's typically in the form of birds, such as herons, and geese were prevalent on the Westside Park section of the trail. When you arrive near the parks, you can also access a variety of recreational equipment, shelters, picnic areas, etc. The folks at Cardinal Greenways take great pride in making their trails ADA compliant and, indeed, the White River Greenway is no exception including a wetlands area. However, you should know there's no actual restroom facilities on the trail - there is a public restroom in the Cardinal Greenways office that is just off the trail. The day that I wheeled the White River Greenway it was a rainy mess as Indiana got hit by the post-hurricane rains. The inclines near Westside Park are just steep enough that someone with a weak upper body or any other type of mobility issue may not want to travel the trail without a partner. While you are never actually right next to the water, thus, the risk of actually falling in is minimal, you should know that there's no real barriers other than grass between the trail and the river. It's quite beautiful, but it is a river. Additionally, while I had no issues with the geese it's well known that geese can be a bit attitudinal at times and appropriate precautions should be taken - mostly, it seemed, if you leave them alone they'll leave you alone. This wasn't quite a 5-star trail to me, but it is easily a 4-star trail. The trail itself is ADA compliant, though it's occasionally steep inclines may keep some from doing the trail independently. For a trail that's actually within the city, you can't get much more beautiful. As is true for most trails, motorized vehicles are off limits but this trail is walker, bicycle, stroller, and for the most part wheelchair friendly.

Although the Veterans Memorial is simple, it stands on the east end of the park bearing the names…read moreof those from the area that served. Near the memorial, a small tank stands sentry. The rest of the park is beautifully designed with a large shelter in the middle surrounded by colorful shrubs and flowers. The park is a tremendous asset for downtown Gas City providing a dual purpose park in the middle of downtown. Review #2569

This beautiful corner park has a great location overlooking the White River on the north side of…read moredowntown Muncie. The perimeter of the park is lined with shrubbery and grasses with a few maturing trees for a limited amount of shade. There are sectioned wooded back drops that have become covered with green vines that add to the circular shape of the park. In the center is an art installation called "Nightsong" by Joe Beeler (1998) which features a lone Native American seated and playing a flute/recorder type instrument. The character is seated on a block with images carved into each of the four sides of the block. Beyond the statue, the sloping lawn is open until reaching the paved path that encircles the park. Review #936

Pronounced as KO-TAY-WEE which means "fire" and possibly "prairie" in the Miami-Peoria language…read more Located in Hamilton county. The park is unique. This place offers the following: Aerial Adventure trails, Archery Range & Pro shop, Bike trails, Canoe launch, Equestrian center & trail, Fishing, Green space, Hiking trails, Natural History center, Nature trail, Prairie, Sport and target archery. The park encompasses 800 acres with 8 miles of multi use trails and 3 miles of white river. The restored Native American village was pretty neat to see how they lived. I had many pix and unable to post as my pix didn't transfer to new phone. =(

Another great park in Hamilton County!…read more Strawtown Koteewi Park is one of the more unique parks that I've visited in Indiana, as it has multiple Native American structures outside to explore. This is a really neat park to visit with kids, because they can go in and out of the huts, climb in and out of the archeology excavation site, and just have a good time learning about how people used to live on the land before we came along. There is also a very cool visitor's center with artifacts and treasures from a time long past, like a life-sized dugout canoe, animal skeletons, pottery shards, tools and weapons, and lots more. I took a foraging class here this summer, and it was really great learning about the edible plants that are on the park property. Best of all, it was free! But the class was so good that I would have paid for it. Different classes happen all year long, and many of them are free or very little cost. This park is actually very large, and there are different sections where you can hike, go zip lining and horseback riding. The zip lining and horseback riding areas are seasonal, so they're not open all year long.

Just south of the colorful Cornerstone Park on Madison is Fireman's Park (one of two parks…read morededicated to firefighters in Muncie). The park has lots of shade and some benches for visitors to rest on and enjoy the quiet setting. There are a few firefighter themed pieces located on the block: One being a large bronze plated stone and another being a table covered with firefighter symbols. The park has paved paths weaving through the block, but does not have designated parking available for visitors. Review #932