Abner Langley is a hidden gem of a park. The 51 acre park has just about everything, including…read moremature shade trees. The kids loved the splash pad which was built in 2019. I loved the comfy lounge chairs under big umbrellas. We were the only family in the park so, the kids had the splash pad to themselves. There are pickleball courts, a basketball court, baseball field and lots of open space to play. There are several climbing structures and some vintage playground equipment as well. The equipment is surrounded by mulch which was a little muddy from recent rains. The single pavilion is equipped with a grill and picnic tables. A restroom facility is near one of the two parking lots. There is plenty of parking, including accessible spots. Most of the park is accessible including the splash pads. The grounds are well maintained. I saw lots of wildlife during our visit. Are you wondering who was Abner Langley? He is claimed to be the first resident of Lebanon, Indiana. This is a great little park in a natural setting.

extremely nice shelter for family gatherings, close to clean restrooms, great for kids with splash…read morepark and playground equipment.

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.

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.

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.

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.