This park is a nice peaceful spot located along Buck Creek. It was dedicated in 2019 and was made…read moreand is maintained by American Legion Post 321 in Yorktown. It is located across the street from the Legion and behind Morrow's Meadow. There is a nice bridge that takes you from Morrow's Meadow/Pizza King, over the creek and to the park. You are welcomed to the park by a large flat silhouette Iwo Jima sculpture that has an actual American flag and the words "American Legion Memorial Park", cut out in the bottom of it. It is perched on a low cement platform. The park is small but still very nice and is a peaceful place to sit, reflect and pay respect to those that served and are no longer with us. It is a large green space area with a couple of fire pit areas, a couple of picnic tables, and some benches that you can sit on that overlook the creek. You will also see a large American flag hanging from the trees and rocks with metal dedication plaques on them. The park has a bunch of trees that provide tons of shade. I will be honest, the park could use a bit of TLC, but this park is made possible by private donations and volunteers, so for. That reason I give them a little leeway. It is a bit more challenging to keep up with the landscaping an maintenance. As i previously mentioned, it is not the biggest park I would say it is about a bit bigger than a football field, but it is still nice and I found it to be a good spot to sit, enjoy the day and reflect.

This newly created park has a lot of potential and could be a real eye-catching benefit to the near…read moreeast side of downtown Muncie. In addition to the stage/amphitheater on the lawn portion of the the park, there is a large, colorful art piece called "Extess" by PROJECTiONE located on the Northeast corner. However, during my visit, the lawn area had not been maintained causing the lawn grass to be nearly as tall as the decorative plantings in the flowerbeds! Seriously, if the city wants to spend money for a beautiful park, set aside some budget dollars for maintaining what you've built. Parking is limited to street parking on both sides of west bound Main Street on the north end of the park. Review #931

A lot of counties go for historic monumental buildings to house their courts. In Delaware County,…read morea more modern building has beautiful rain garden soften the appearance and a veterans memorial near by. Not only does the plaza utilize the space for remembrance and beauty, but there are stands with information about how the rain garden functions and helps the ecological balance of having so much concrete/stone. The park is beautiful to drive by. Even better if you can take the time to browse around and read the information. Not everything that brings you to the courthouse has to be a bad thing! Review #1049

Hear me out... this is not my normal park post--but do you want a day trip to a 90s kids park?…read moreCheck out Memorial Park in New Castle, IN. it has a small toddler-friendly playground in the sand bring your bike or stroller and explore all the old 90s playground pieces throughout the park well-established park with tons of shade ponds for fishing (and don't forget bread for the ducks ) open grassy fields + beautiful mature trees = room to roam if your 3-year-old "golfs" like mine... there's a golf course This park has the sweetest history too--it was originally dedicated to Henry County men and boys who fought in WWI, and later rededicated to honor veterans of all wars. It's even on the National Register of Historic Places It's about a 45 minute drive from Indy, so pack a lunch, plan to stay awhile, and let your kids get a little dirty living out that 90s childhood

I was expecting a little more from the park considering how large it is and that it is next to a…read moregolf course. I think it was the layout that bothered me. The park is quite hilly and parts of the park seemed difficult to get to from a central road. Without a map of the park layout, I kept driving around trying to figure out if I could get to the playground from the central road. I never did find a way, so I left the park and pulled into a separate parking lot along Memorial Drive to access the playground, the creek, and the Wilbur Wright memorial. The majority of the park is densely wooded and contains numerous small shelters, many with stone fireplaces. On top of the hill, I found a clubhouse (?) with basketball, tennis, and volleyball courts that were in okay condition, but the netting needed tightening. There was also a natural amphitheater with some chairs arranged to face an "anniversary gazebo". The entrance of the park has a pull off lot for those visitors who wish to climb part way up the hill to see the veteran's memorial. There are several ponds on the lower property with fountains and usually, some ducks. Review #1196

This is the best park that there is, it's safe fun, inviting, and always a very welcoming place to…read morecome. You never want to leave once you get here. my grandma and I used to come here almost every day when I was a kid the best park in the whole world. I just love it. Wish I was a kid again.

By now, it's no secret that I do quite a few charitable events with a good majority of them…read moreinvolving long-distance wheeling. Over the past 30 years, I've traveled over 6,000 miles in my wheelchair with various events nationwide. Distances have been everything from one mile to 1,000 miles. I'm finally sitting down to review some of the places I've traveled and some of the trails and parks I've experienced. I'm also reviewing some of the non-profits I've worked with. While I'm focusing on more recent events for obvious reasons, it's giving me a great chance to remember these tours. I visited Muncie's Westside Park on the closing day of a recent Tenderness Tour. It was going to be an event on the adjacent White River Greenway, a beautiful trail that runs alongside, you guessed it, White River. This was an awful day. It was cold. It was rainy, actually stormy, and I had a good 15 miles to. My attitude is that violence doesn't stop in the rain, so I can't stop trying to prevent it in the rain. So, I wheel in all weather. Fortunately, this day also included some of the best volunteers I've had included the young woman pictured in my photo - a work peer who works in the Muncie office of my agency (I work in the main office in downtown Indy). Westside Park is located in the floodplain along the southern boundary of Muncie's Westside (I bet you figured that out, didn't you?). It has a little league sized baseball diamond that is also used for softball. It has picnic tables and shelters, basketball courts, a playground, a shuffleboard court, three wire-control airplane circles, and tons of greenspace. The White River is along the southern boundary of the park and that's where you can join up with the White River Greenway. The White River Greenway is a paved trail that is wide enough for a wheelchair, though it's worth noting that it does have a couple of steep inclines on it. I had my challenges in adverse weather. The park has been going through a series of improvements over recent years and seems to be steadily used. The basketball courts have been resurfaced. There's a new parking lot on the westside of the courts. New trees have been planted. Also, the White River Greenway was extended and includes a turn-around. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't get to use the park as much as I'd have liked given the horrible weather I was wheeling in. However, I must say the shelters came in handy and were pretty wheelchair friendly. Also, the greenway gave us a nice surface and it was a cool place to be at when the local media from Ball State University showed up. There's also a public restroom here and drinking fountain, though I didn't use it and can't speak to its wheelchair friendliness. The real selling point to me with this park is the adjacent White River. It's really beautiful and I enjoyed the trail. The trail does get a bit urban at some points, think graffiti at a bridge point, but the vast majority of this area is a wonderful residential park and awesome trail for walkers, wheelers, runners, and bikers. I felt safe here and had no hassles, though I suppose you'd have to be a really committed criminal to come out and hassle a guy in a wheelchair during a rainstorm.

This is a decent nature park. They have an adequate amount of parking available between its lot…read morenear the river inlet, the Pizza King lot, and parking along the park's long drives in the grass. You will find a restroom structure near the park's entrace, just off of the Pizza King parking lot, near the large playground. The first thing I notice about the park is its green space. There is tons of it and it is well maintained. there are a few metal square picnic tables scattered on the green space, as well as some benches that overlook the river. The park features a couple of decent playground areas. The one near the park's entrance is the largest and has a large jungle gym with monkey bars, bridges, slides, a pebble bridge, and a small canopy. There is also a bank of traditional swings, with an ADA swing over there as well. The second playground is by the parking lot and canoe launch. It has a smaller jungle gym with a slide, and a couple of traditional swings. Both playground areas are on a bed of wood chips. The equipment is not the most modern, but is well maintained. The park is home to a very nice, paved fitness trail. It is about a mile and has some very nice equipment stations along the circular route. The park has one very large shelter without any picnic tables under it. There are two smaller shelters at the park and they both have a few picnic tables under them. They are available to be rented. The most prominent feature of this park and probably the most used is its canoe launch. It has a very nice launch that feeds into the White River. In addition to launching some canoes, there are a few shallow spots near the launch that i saw some people splashing around in. It was like ankle deep water. All in all, this is a nice park. I will admit, there is not a lot to this park, but it is still a good option to spend a few hours.

They have free outdoor exercise equipment and a dog water fountain near the restroomsread more

This park seems like a relatively new park in appearance. It is split in half by 2nd street with…read morethe northern half having the majority of amenities. There you will find a nice playground, some paved paths, and a splash park. On the south end there is greenspace and some shade structures. What is lacking here is parking for visitors other than the folks who live nearby (the buildings look like condos.) Parking in the nearby lots require permits. There is very limited street parking on 2nd though I didn't see anyone utilizing that small stretch of curb. Although there is water on site for the splash park, I didn't see any restrooms either. So, the park seems to be intended for those nearby residents/tenants, but not so welcoming for others. Note: I also didn't see any plaque about Mr Thornburg which I looked for since it was a "memorial" park. Review #929

It has been nine years since my original review of Indiana's longest rail-trail, the Cardinal…read moreGreenway. Despite the popularity of Central Indiana's Monon Trail, the Cardinal Greenway is a much longer trail at 62 miles of paved trail and another 15 miles of road that many bicyclists use (from Gaston to Jonesboro). I just finished the Cardinal Greenway yet again for one of my Tenderness Tour events, an annual long-distance wheelchair event that I use for fundraising and outreach. As is nearly always the case for me, I started at the Sweetser Switch Trail in Sweetser, Indiana, a smaller trail that leads right into the Cardinal Greenway. My review is based largely upon my experiences as a wheelchair user on the trail, though some of my insights will universally apply. As someone who enjoys long distances, the Cardinal Greenway is ideally suited for a 2-3 trek. It's a mostly wheelchair friendly trail, though some with upper body weakness may struggle on some of the inclines. I will also note that while the Cardinal Greenway tends to have a decent number of trailheads with portable toilets, some of these are surrounded by gravel and may be more difficult to navigate for wheelchair users. \Additionally, multiple parking areas had clearly marked accessible parking yet were either only gravel or had a surface that was so uneven you'd be a fool to try it in a wheelchair. So, a little advance planning is probably a good idea for wheelchair users. Fortunately, the Cardinal has a good team behind it and it's fairly easy to get accurate info. I'd originally given the Cardinal Greenway a 4-star review precisely because of some of my accessibility concerns. I'm increasing to a 5-star this time around because, quite honestly, accessibility has improved over the years and I've simply fallen in love with this trail. It's a fun mixture of city and rural sections. If starting in Sweetser, the lovely Sweetser Cafe is directly off the trailhead and a great place to stop for breakfast/brunch or a drink (before 2pm). In the rural areas, you can go for miles without seeing more than a few people. The Marion section, which goes directly through the more urban parts of Marion, still seems to be under-utilized but is honestly a lot of fun. It looks a little rough, however, I've never had a single issue wheeling through Marion. As you move out of Marion, you start to experience the country area and, of course, once you hit Gas City you either decide to try the bike trail (not advised for walkers...minimal shoulder and occasionally busy traffic) or pick up in Gaston. I loved the Gaston to Muncie stretch and it takes you through downtown Muncie. The trail's main office is at Wysor Street in Muncie, an area I was told isn't the greatest but looks deceptively calm. Again, I had no problems at all but staying aware is important. I will note that the Wysor Street Depot is a beautiful historic landmark that serves as the Cardinal office - yet, it appeared they've reduced their hours. After Muncie, you have a fairly significant period of a modest incline. It was an exhausting stretch for me that ended in Losantville. This is a particularly long stretch and those who want to do an overnight will probably leave the trail in Losantville and stay in Winchester. Losantville to Richmond is, with a couple of exceptions, a pretty nice downhill. Among the three major cities on the trail, I was most impressed with Richmond's care for the trail with the exception of the ending D Street Trailhead that is located in a hard to find and rather run down area a few blocks from City Hall. The trailhead itself is nice and I found several nice people upon my arrival, but the area itself just seems an odd place to end such a wonderful trail. I've always loved this trail and the people I meet along it. The Cardinal Greenway is in the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame (as is the Monon) and continues to get even better every time I ride it. The restroom situation, in particular, has really improved and over 20 trailheads now have a restroom option. If you're looking for a modestly challenging and scenic trail, the Cardinal Greenway is a tremendous option and easily within a couple hours of Indy even at its most distant point in Marion or Richmond.

My husband and I recently biked the cardinal greenway and had such a nice time. We parked at the…read morestop in gas city and it had a nice lot and bathrooms. We rode north 10 miles and back. The trail is Good despite a decent amount of bumps which can be rough in a road bike. The bridges and scenery were great though. Fun ride!