Park is very clean. Plenty of room for birthday parties or other events. The trail is well kept…read moreand has restroom. Plenty of children's recreation equipment. Highly recommended.

This park, although located nearest to Cumberland, is across the Hancock County line and has a…read moreGreenfield address. Located along Buck Creek on the far east side, the park is sponsored by the Lions Club. What makes this park hard to review is that it appears to be undergoing a transformation. I didn't see any master plan kiosk that would share the vision, so I could only go by my own observation where some of the equipment looks much newer than the pieces in the back. There also appears to be new bridges that span the creek and there is straw spread along the paved walkways that looks like they are trying to grow grass. But at this point, there wasn't much green poking through. There are a couple shelters and two playgrounds, a volleyball court, a basketball court, and pathways that run by the creek. Like many of the parks I visited today, the recent rains had created a high water problem and much of the park was a bit squishy if you got off the paved paths. So, for the pieces that look new, I am encouraged. But some of the older pieces, including the shelters, could use some attention and use of the park is definitely subject to water levels of the creek. Review #779

DuBarry Park is a 27-acre park that was acquired by Indy in 1967. It is located behind Tindley…read moreSummit Academy and has a playground, basketball and tennis courts, a football field, a pond, greenspace, and a fairly freshly updated playground. DuBarry's ponds are stocked with fish by Indiana DNR. There is a bathroom facility, though it's not always available. The park is located in a residential area and is utilized fairly well. When I worked for a youth mentoring agency, we would often meet some of our youths in this park. There's a decent shelter with picnic tables and a nicely done, short walking trail that I consider wheelchair friendly. DuBarry now has 3 pickleball courts, though there are no nets or backstops (there are posts for a net - which means if you have the net you could easily use it here). In 2024, a funding for a new splash pad was noted. DuBarry has seen sporadic issues with violence - most noteworthy a double killing of two teenagers in 2022 - Isaiah Jackson and Da'vonta White (ages 15, 14). While I think that's worth mentioning, I've never felt unsafe in the area and I have multiple friends who regularly visit and use the trail at this park without any concerns.

This park is a hidden gym. tucked away in a little neighborhood. There is a decent private parking…read morelot there. It was opened in 1967 and is a deceptive 27 acres. They have a small picnic shelter with some picnic tables under it. There is also a small bathroom facility that was locked when I was there. You will find 2 very nice full basketball courts. The rims are lower than regulation, which I am cool with and the court is nice and smooth. The park also has a huge field with uprights on both ends, so you can host football games, soccer games, play catch, work out, fly a kit or do other field activities. There are also a few other pockets of green space around the park to do activities as well. There is decent paved walkways around the park hat can be used for jogging or walking. The park also features a small lake. That was very popular with neighborhood fishermen. The park is somewhat well maintained but there is pockets of areas that are trashed. The parking lot had a lot of burned candles and disposed food containers. There is also an excessive amount of goose poop all over the park and especially under the covered shelter and on the paved walkway. There are 4 decent small tennis courts there and they would be very nice if they had nets. There are benches behind the courts and on the basketball court's baseline. The highlight of the park has to be its playground. It has two colorful large jungle gyms with slides and rock climbing walls. There is also a unity teeter tunnel see-saw, a bank of traditional swings, some little kid cars, a ski like thing, a mulitspinner carousel, a forest giraffe and stand & spin. The play area is lined with wood chips and the equipment is in good repair. This park has recently been in the news and has had its safety called into question. The candles in the parking lot, are from what I am assuming was the vigil held there. But that was 2 months ago. Anyway, I felt pretty safe while I was there, but I was not there long. This is a nice park. I think the issue that it had in March is an outlier. Outside of people fishing, I was the only one at the park. I had it all to myself. If you can get past the security issues, it is a nice park and definitely worth a visit.

Amazing swings. I thought my kids wouldn't like it but they really loved it! They are building…read morearound it and it's kinda hard to get to. Great experience though!

Love the idea and love the execution. I had no concept of musical swings, but basically each swing…read morehas a sound/tone they emit as you swing. Swing faster to get a faster rhythm, slow down and the sounds slow down. I could imagine this being either horrible or fascinatingly beautiful when all of them are in full swing. Either way, this adds a bit of interested to swinging and I love it.

This park has a lot of potential. It is not a very well visited park. I saw a few people come there…read morewhile I was there, but they did not stay long. It has a modest, but adequate parking lot for visitors to park. You will find a couple of very nice full basketball courts in the front of the park. The court is well paved and the rims can be raised and lowered. Even I could dunk on them. just behind the basketball courts, are two tennis courts. They are in pretty good shape too. The park is home to two shelters. They are in fair condition, but have a very limited amount of picnic tables under them. There are also grills just outside of the shelters. The park features a decent playground area that is on a bed of wood chips. The area has benches on its perimeter for caregivers to sit and watch their littles. The playgrounds equipment includes a bank of traditional/infant swings with a nest saucer swing, a small and medium jungle gym with slides, bridges, tunnels, and a sliding pole. a large pebble bridge setup with a climbing wall and Jacobs ladder, and a spinning net climber. The equipment is in pretty good shape. Other park amenities include a nice paved trail and a decent path of green space that is suitable for activities such a picnic, playing catch, flying a kite, a football or soccer game. The park is poorly maintained, or I caught it on a bad day. There was trash all over the place, trash cans were knocked over. On a positive note, the grass was cut. This is a nice park to visit, if you are in the area. They do not have any restrooms, but they have just about eveything else that I look for in a park. I would not label it a destination park, but still worthy of being a place that you spend some time.

First time visiting this with my 3 and 4 year olds. Super clean park. One broken slide but it's…read moreclosed off. It's in a quiet area and has a huge area to play or run in also. The basketball court seems good and kids were playing on it. My kids loves how different it is from other parks and how much things there were to climb and jump off of. Definitely a nice park and so close to where we live. The giant merry go round was also a huge hit.

This is a nice nature park with a vast amount of green space. It is located well off of the main…read moreroad which gives it a bit of calmness. It spans 82 acres and dates back to 1970. The park has a shelter with picnic tables under it and a few tables and a grill just outside of it. A large portion of the park is a dog park area. They have 2 large fenced in areas with benches and dog ramps and jump bars. It is a nice dog park and requires a permit where dog owners can purchase a day or annual pass. There is a decent sized parking lot to park in and just off of the parking lot is the entrance to the park's nature trail. It is a very nice trail that is well defined and wide. You are never too deep in the woods being that it borders a neighborhood. The green space is vast and well maintained. You can do just about any field activity here including flying a kite, playing soccer, playing football, throwing a frisbee, having a picnic, batting practice or playing catch. There is a huge hill in the midst of all the green space that would be awesome for hanging out, working out and sledding after a snow. Some people use the green space, instead of paying to use the dog park to walk their dogs. I think that is acceptable by the park, as long as you clean up after it and keep it on a leash. The park's playground is ok. It has a bank of traditional swings, a bank of toddler swings, a geo dome, a see-saw, a spiral slide, and a large accesible jungle gym with a bunch of slides, monkey rings, pull up bars, and track ride. The area is on a bed of saw dust and the equipment is in fair condition and you can see signs of weather and wear. I know that money does not grow on trees, but it would be nice to upgrade this area. I will caution you that the park can get muddy after some precipitation, so dress your feet accordingly. This is a nice nature park that has a dog park, hiking trails, green space, a playground, and picnic area. There is no restroom facility, but they do have a porta-potty available by the parking lot near the dog park area. Definitely worth a visit if you are looking for a park and are in the area. I enjoyed my time there.

Paul Ruster Park is an 82-acre park that sort of rides the South and East corridors of Indy. It's a…read morelittle gem, though not particularly a wheelchair friendly one given it maintains a lot of its natural setting rather than having a lot of actual "features." The park was acquired in 1970 and is part of Indy Parks. It has beautiful, winding trails, a small fishing pond, and a playground that has some nice equipment but I sure wouldn't consider it to be top-notch in that area. I sort of stumbled by Paul Ruster Park. I was on a therapeutic drive after work and happened to make a turn and instantly saw the park sign. As I knew this was not a park I'd ever visited before, I had to stop and check it out. As I was driving in on a winding road, I saw one guy pulling out his fishing equipment. I love that. Paul Ruster Park does feature a bark park. You can buy a pass for it at the Post Road park. There's also a 1.5 mile trail in the park that I tried out - it's relatively gentle with some inclines and has some lakeside features. Dogs can go on the trail, though they must be leashed. The trail is pretty good for wheelchairs and is certainly paved. Paul Ruster has a really good sledding hill, though that's obviously not wheelchair friendly. It might be interesting, though! There is a path that leads to the playground equipment, though I certainly would not call the playground area an accessible area. I'm always curious about how parks get their names. So, I did some research since Paul Ruster doesn't really ring a bell. Ruster was a 1964 graduate of Warren Central High School who died on December 10, 1978 of Hodgkin's Disease. He was a longtime Eastside presence and had a brother who had been a Warren Central baseball star and would become a P.E. teacher. Paul Ruster himself went to Ball State and returned to Warren Township where he taught for 10 years before his death. He was a beloved child advocate and the park was named after him in 1979. Another fun fact about the park - it's reportedly haunted by the ghost of John Kitley, a 12-year-old harmonica playing boy who was killed along train tracks in 1864. The park is close to the Washington Square area and yet is nicely set apart from both the retail and residential areas that are within minutes.

This park is 88 acres and has many features. The first thing that you will notice as you enter the…read morepark is the Southern Hancock County Veterans Memorial, a memorial dedicated to the Veteran heroes that called Hancock County home. It is a well done and fitting tribute to those men and women. There is no problem parking at this park. It has a decent sized private parking lot. The park also has a basic dog park that is basically two large fenced in areas with some seating. To the best of my knowledge, the use of the dog park does not require a membership, which if true, is nice. The park is home to a decent paved trail. My only issue with it is that it is a down and back trail and not a circular one. It runs along the side of the park and is about 2 miles, round trip. There are a few benches along the trail for people to use and take a load off. The trail also has some fitness equipment along its path to use that has bee there for over 12 years. You will find a picnic shelter at this park, with picnic tables under it and a grill just outside of it. The shelter and picnic tables are a bit aged and could use a little TLC. It is available to be reserved through the county, if you are looking. The park's playground area is on a bed of old wood chips and has some older equipment that consists of a pebble bridge, a spiral slide, rocker bees, a rock climbing wall, a jungle gym with a spiral slide, canopies and bridges, a bank of traditional/toddler swings, a pyramid net climber, and a see-saw. They have benches along the area's perimeter for caregivers to sit and watch their little ones, while their little ones play. The playground equipment is serviceable, but you can tell that it has been since 2010. A 9-hole disc golf course was also installed at the park in 2010 as part of a Boy Scout project. There is no shortage of field or green space at this park. The park has a multi-use field with a bunch of soccer nets spread out on it. There is also a backstop on the field as well, that could be suitable for sports such as baseball, softball, or kick ball. The open field could be used for just about any field activity including football, soccer, field hockey, flying a kite, playing catch, or having a picnic. The park does not have a rest room facility. You will see a porta-potty by the dog park, just off of the parking lot though. Feel free to use that. Anyway, the park is relatively well maintained, but there was a little trash and junk around the shelter though. On a positive note, the grass was well groomed. Does it need a few updates and new equipment? Yes, but it works for now. It is a decent park to pass some time and hang out at, if you are in the area. I probalbly would not call it a destination park though.

One of the first things you notice at the entrance of the park is that there is a new installation…read moreof the Southern Hancock County Veterans Memorial going in. The memorial has flags and some nice monuments and a bunch of loosely laid bricks with veteran names on them. I hope that these bricks will be installed properly when the memorial is completed. The rest of the park has a dog park, a playground, something that looks like it might be a frisbee golf game (I honestly haven't seen anything like it), and space for sporting events. And poor drainage. So much so that even after two days since the rains cleared out, much of this former field had standing water. The playground was surrounded by water, so I can't see this being an ideal condition for most visitors. I guess if you want to use this park, you hope for a drought and then there is a lot you can do. I will give it a bonus star out of respect for the memorial, but the rest of the park needs some drainage and attention. Review #780

Jake Greene Parke is located just north of 16th and Franklin Road. The park is one of Indy's better…read moreequipped residential parks - certainly not a destination park, however, it's a more inclusive and family friendly park with some ADA features worth noting. Greene Park has a comfort station with a mural of Dr. Maya Angelou on it. There's also a memorial here dedicated to Indiana AIDS advocate Ryan White, whose story continues to resonate. Greene Park has relatively new playground equipment including ADA and toddler swings, an ADA jungle gym, a percussion set, monkey bars, tunnels, and lots of places for the kids to play including a splash pad. There's also four tennis courts. The park has quite a bit of green space (seems appropriate, eh?) with picnic tables that offer some distance from the park's features to allow for family time or quiet time. There are also some short, easy walking paths within and around the park. Jake Greene Park is relatively small at 10.1 acres and was founded in 1971. Like Yelper Tank G., I wrestled with whether to offer this park a 3 or 4-star rating and leaned heavily toward 3-stars. However, I'm also somebody who appreciates parks with ADA features and despite this park needing some love I do feel like those ADA features have been well cared for here. So, I'm going to go with a 4-star review while noting this really isn't a destination park and could definitely use some additional upgrades.

This is a decent park. It is a mid-sized park and has a lot to offer. There is an adequate parking…read morelot here. They also have a nice splash pad with colorful/fun sprayers and benches along it perimeter for caregivers to sit and watch their littles. The park has a restroom shed with a decent mural on it, but I am not sure if it is open. There is also a huge port-a-potty on the opposite in that is used as a smoke shack for some reason. The park's playground is simple, but nice. It is on a bed of wood chips and its equipment includes a bank of ADA/toddler/traditional swings, a percussion set, a quad pod spinner, a merry-go-round, and a large jungle gym with a bunch of slides, monkey bars, and tunnels. The jungle gym is ADA accessible with a ramp that leads to the top.The equipment is in good repair. The park has a large patch of clear green space that could be used for picnics, football games, soccer games, flying a kite, or playing catch. Off to the side of the green space is where you will find a nice tree shaded area with some picnic tables and benches to sit. It look like there is a meeting area over there with benches around a big rock too. There are paved paths that run through the shaded area and around the permiter of the park. The last amenity that the park has is a very nice set of 4 tennis courts that are side by side and fenced in together. The park could use a bit of maintenance and was riddled with trash all over, but it is still good. I was on the fence between a 3 and 4 star review with this one, and thought that it was closer to a 4 than a 3. This is definitely a park to check out, especially in the Summer when the splash pad is up and running.

As one of Indy's more recently renovated parks, Grassy Creek Park continues my effort to review…read moreIndy's Eastside where I've lived for about the past 12 years or so. Grassy Creek Park is known as a regional park. Located at 30th & German Church Road, Grassy Creek includes three different parcels including two which were existing parks and one 47.9 acre parcel that was gifted to Indy Parks by CAFE (Community Alliance for the Far Eastside). The park has had multiple renovations in recent years including a water spray park funded by United Water, a restroom/comfort station funded by Lilly Endowment, and a new state-of-the-art playground funded by the City of Indianapolis. The park includes 24.8 acres of natural surroundings. Because the park has had recent renovations, it's largely improved in terms of wheelchair accessibility. Overall the park is 175 acres - the north is mostly wetlands and lowlands and is largely wooded. The eastern end is relatively flat. The park is unique in that it has a space where there was abandoned railway trail, though the rails have been removed. It's a great place for a natural trail. The park itself does have a nice, relatively flat paved trail ideal for walking/wheeling. The natural habitat of the area has been known to hold muskrats, fish, turtle, frogs, beavers, and a variety of birds. In terms of recreation, Grassy Creek offers sports fields, tennis courts, shelter, the playground, and picnic areas. This park has definitely become a bit of a jewel on the far-eastside of Indy. It's an important addition as so many people tend to think of crime when they think of the far-eastside. Yet, there's so many wonderful people, businesses, and organizations working to improve life on this side of town. While I don't get to this park often, anytime I'm in the area I stop and enjoy the scenery and area for a while.

Park area is awesome but how do not haveany restrooms for people to use. That's ridiculousread more

This review is for the 4th of July Festival hosted by the park. It's a small Carnival, but not a…read moresmall fireworks show. There are plenty of booths and food trucks to keep busy and I got lost in the fairs oddities and cheap treasures galore. The park gets packed early; people come for the carnival and stay for the bells and whistles... or tailgate til showtime. But there is a lot of room as it's a fairly large park and the surrounding area, too, lends itself in neighborhood streets, to parking and walking. This park has a lot to offer on not-event days too, fields for softball and soccer, play areas, trails, a skate park, and facilities. It also has enough foliage and growth to feel like a park.

We had a great time here. I took my 4 and 2 year old. There were lots of lifeguards on duty paying…read morevery close attention and took their jobs seriously. The kids area looked to be updated with a toddler slide, and the big slide was fast and fun!!! I will definitely be back. They are open even in the winter and it was a good day to go today because it was slightly raining out. 4 stars because they have a good court with nothing in it.

Eh -- Indy Island is OK. I'll start with the positives:…read more 1. There were always at least half a dozen lifeguards circling the perimeter of the pool and water area. They were constantly walking back and forth, checking things out, so I always felt like my kids were safe. 2. This indoor aquatic center is open year-round, so kids have a place to splash, wade and swim even when it's freezing outside. The day I visited, the water temperature was nice and warm, and the ambient air temp was just as inviting. 3. It's really inexpensive. Prices range from $4 to $6 dollars depending on age and the day you visit. Kids 2 and younger are free. 4. This is a small indoor water park, but it's big enough to have fun for hours. Now for the negatives: 1. This indoor water park is really old and in need of an update, and it shows. The playground structures in the water area are visibly rusted and look dirty. 2. The lock to the bathroom / changing room I was in DID NOT LOCK. It goes without saying that their changing rooms should have working locks. I had to stand by the door to block it, hoping that no one would try to come in! It also didn't have a trash can, for some reason. 3. The hallway to the changing room was super dark and didn't have any lights. Pretty much the last place you want to be changing in is a dark and creepy room. Fix the lightbulbs! This is another simple thing that could be fixed if they kept up the place. 4. They don't allow outside food or drinks inside the aquatic center. You can buy food and drinks at their snack bar, but when I was there (on a weekend), it was closed. Not sure what they expect visitors to do with a closed snack bar during operating hours. I like that Indy offers places like Indy Island so kids can enjoy swimming and playing in the water indoors. But this place is in need of some TLC in order to compete with some of the other indoor aquatic centers.