White River State Park is one of the most popular parks in the city, and for good reason! The…read morenickname for it is Indy's backyard. With riverfront and canal-front trails, a pedestrian bridge to the zoo, proximity to the city, and the amphitheater, so much goes on down here. Over the years, my favorite special events have been the food truck festival and the solar eclipse festival. The area is kept to be pedestrian friendly, with parking being underground to the park and wide walking and biking lanes. During warmer weather, I often see a hotdog vendor for a nice and easy lunch. There's lots of sculptures around the park too, which helps to keep things scenic. There's also a huge lawn space for running around.

This park is such a gem! As I write this review while listening to "Here Comes The Sun" by The…read moreBeatles, I feel like I'm right back walking through the beautiful pathways and taking in skyline views. From the canal and trails to the open green spaces, there's something here for everyone to enjoy. Plenty of smaller festivals and walks/runs are held at this park, and it truly seems like the perfect spot for them. My favorite festival that happens here is the Taste of Indy, which takes place in the summer and the MS Walk is always a well organized event here. I also really enjoy walking the paths behind the zoo, especially in the spring when the cherry blossom trees are in bloom. Absolutely gorgeous! Ps - As beautiful as it is, be sure to stay alert while on the pathways!

We found this park in the beginning of November when the trees were fall colors. Lots of leaves on…read morethe ground but you could still see and indent where the trail was. It wasn't crowded at all. Quite a bit of trails that also run along the river. There is a huge field in the middle too with picnic tables. Great place to take a walk or have a picnic!

Marott Park is formally known as "Marott Woods Nature Preserve." Established in 1987 following the…read moredonation of land by Indianapolis businessman George Marott (think Marott's Shoes and what is now Marott Apartments) and dedicated to his wife, Marott is an 102-acre nature preserve unassumingly located right at 74th and College Avenue. Admit it. You've often driven by it and wondered. The preserve protects some of Indy's oldest remnant forest and native wildflowers. For years, it was known as Marott Park and had signage to support the name. However, it was Friends of Marott Woods that helped spearhead the name change to more accurately reflect the nature of the preserve and goals for it. It's important to note that because Marott Woods is an actual state nature preserve, it's protected under state law. According to the Friends website, "protecting the habitat takes precedent over our personal whims. Because of this, activities like off-path hiking, biking, fires, and off-leash animals are all illegal under state law." Marott Woods has a relatively small area for parking, picnic tables, and hills that are somewhat cleared yet definitely natural as opposed to paved. I definitely would not consider the trails wheelchair friendly, though there are areas where a wheelchair can access and still appreciate the preserve. Nature Preserves are, of course, far more natural than a public use park and while some effort is made for accessibility the focus is on natural preservation. There are some very cool spots that I can technically get to, but not fully utilize. As others have noted, Marott Woods doesn't look like much from the street, but it becomes amazing and it's pretty awesome to think that it's basically smack dab in the middle of a residential area. I do like that the name has changed. I think it creates more realistic expectations of what this space is and how it should be used. This is definitely one of Indy's northside gems and pretty easy to reach from Broad Ripple and Nora. I'm not quite ready to call it a destination spot, but if you've found yourself curious about it I definitely recommend stopping in and enjoying the remarkable natural setting.

The ArtsPark borders the Indianapolis Art Center in Broad Ripple. The Park and gardens are natural,…read morefor the most part, with meandering paths through natural wooded and open area. The trail is Certified Sustainable by the Indiana Wildlife Federation. We visited on a beautiful Memorial Day morning. I would not have known the garden was here, had I not been looking for the Twisted House sculpture. The park contains 13 sculptures by artists with Indiana ties. In addition, 37 garden features located throughout the park were gift by various benefactors. The art is interesting. There are a mix of concrete walkways and gravel paths. Benches provide seating at various points along the walkways. Free parking is available on the east side of the Arts building and there is no charge to walk through the trails. The park is a hidden gem and worth a visit.

I love the ArtsPark. It's a free, outdoor space that's on the grounds of the Indianapolis Art…read moreCenter. I would often visit when my children were young when we needed a place for them to roam and explore outdoors, so this place holds a special place in my heart. This park is super kid-friendly. The park is contains several art displays, statues and exhibits all throughout the grounds, all set among beautiful landscaping and trees. It's like a gallery without walls. It's also right by the White River, which you can see from a boardwalk that overlooks the river. It's also right by the Monon Trail, so it's easy to get to by bike or by foot. There are a couple of art displays that my kids would play at a lot, and they were the more hands-on pieces. One of them is the "Twisted House," which is a wooden house that's twisted and turny, but kids can go inside. It also makes for a super Instagram-worthy backdrop! "Circle" is another piece in the ArtsPark that my kids gravitated to. It's a Zen-like sculpture composed of a 10-foot ring of black granite with a sand garden on the inside. You can't miss "Crescendo," a bright blue sculpture composed of 6,000 tiles. If you look at the tiles closely, you'll see little uplifting quotes and sayings written on them. I can spend many hours just sitting at ArtsPark among all of the art and nature. It's a beautiful place in the heart of Broad Ripple, and a genuine hidden gem of Indianapolis.

This is a cute little park to visit if you happen to find yourself in Atlanta, Indiana. It's right…read morenext to where the Nickel Plate Express boards, which is a train that hosts themed rides that start in downtown Atlanta and go to different locations. I wouldn't go out of my way to take my kids to Dolles Park, but we played here after riding the train, and it was a fun way to spend 15 minutes. There are slides, a two teeter-totters, merry-go-rounds, toddler rides and basketball courts. The restrooms are clean, too.

Dolles Park is proportional to the size of Atlanta...both are small and cute. I grew up within 8…read moremiles of Atlanta and went to school in Arcadia. The people here are genuine and friendly and a nice little town to visit. Dolles Park runs from the Atlanta Water Tower to Main Street. The amenities are few with a Shelter House to rent, playground, basketball court, a gazbo, and the park has new, extremely clean restrooms. The playground has toddler toys, slide, swings, merry-go-round, and a teether-totter. It's a small area but nonetheless fun for the little ones. One observation was the playground needs a fresh layer of mulch to cut down on the current mud situation. The Nickle Plate Express runs along the park and boards here. The kids, and adults, faces light up while watching the train arrive and depart. The Nickle Plate Express patrons use the facilities at Dolles Park since the train doesn't have restrooms. Perfect little park to occupy the little ones while waiting for a train ride or just visit to burn off some engery. Probably not a destination park unless you live in the area or boarding the train.

This park is just screaming for help. It is in desperate need of being saved. It has a lot of what…read moreyou want in a park, but most of it is outdated, worn and falling a part. There is a bunch of street parking across the street from the park and there is also parking available in the park's family center parking lot. It is 21 acres and has not been updated since it was constructed in 1931. It was originally called Northwestern Park. The park was the home field of the Indianapolis ABCs, the city's Negro National League team, back in the 1920's. The park was named after Charles T.H. Watkins, a remarkable community leader and a pastor at the historic A.M.E. Bethel Church. The park has 2 horse shoe pits, or at least areas formally known as horseshoe pits. The pits are overrun by grass, leaves and weeds and they do not have the post you throw the horseshoes on. The playground has some outdated equipment that includes traditional swings, a net climbing pyramid, a regular net climb and a jungles gym with slides. The equipment is pretty old/worn, as I mentioned. The playground area is lined with wood chips. There are two tennis courts at the park, but one of the court's net is missing. The court was packed with leaves and in desperate need of repair. You must really need to satisfy your tennis fix if you play on this court. There are also two basketball courts. They both have some decent rims, and backboards, but the court themselves are in desperate need of repair. You will find a picnic shelter here with picnic tables under it and a few picnic tables under a tree. The green space and fields are horrible. They are asking for ankles to be broken. it is very uneven and hard. It has so many divots. There is a field with football uprights on each end a two fields with backstops. As I mentioned though, I would make sure I was up on my health insurance if I played there. Lastly, there is a hopscotch area near the family center. It looked pretty good as far as hopscotch goes. It look relatively new. The city really needs to invest some money in this park and give it some much needed updates. It definitely has potential, but I would avoid this park if possible as it is now.

The park fills the corner of MLK and Fall Creek and features a community center about a block north…read moreon MLK. This seems to be the only area for parking since there are no other lots and no street parking on either of the busy streets. Besides the community center, there are basketball courts and a football field to the west of the courts. There is a playground and shelter and a great number of mature trees. There are two horse shoe courts that fit in among the trees on the southeast corner of the park. There also appears to be some raised beds for plantings on the north side of the parking lot. The park looks to be in pretty good shape. People were using the community center during my visit, but I didn't stop in. Overall, it is a nice park and greenspace. Review #685

Known as a pocket park with a purpose, this is a small park nestled away in the Hawthorne…read moreneighborhood. It is literally behind 2 houses. It dates back to 2013, and was created after receiving a Project Green Space Grant from KIB.You can find parking in front of one of the houses, but keep in mind that parking is only allows on one side of the street. It is a small art park, that use to be an abandoned lot that was full of illegally dumped trash and furniture and drug paraphernalia. The first thing that yo notice when you see the park is it's bright yellow 1964 Pontiac Bonneville sitting vertical. You will also find bench seating and a picnic table around the car and a fire pit with some stump seating around it as well. The fence is painted with a rainbow version of the city's skyline. In addition to serving as a place to display public art, the park serves as a place that local residents can garden. There are also some fruit trees there. You will also find this home to many species of local native vegetation. Events are hosted at the park throughout the year such as Art in the Park. So, outside of one of these special events, you probably will not spend a lot of time at this park. It is however, a nice place to see and has a wonderful backstory about a neighborhood coming together and doing something positive in their community. And plus you get to see some cool public art (for free) and it provides for some awesome photos.

This used to be an abandoned lot, and now it's a beautiful space for the community. You gotta love…read morethe great things that can happen when residents come together to make their neighborhood better. Purpose Park is a pocket park in the Hawthorne neighborhood. It's on a quiet, residential street, and you would probably drive right by it, except for the fact that there's a yellow 1964 Pontiac Bonneville planted right in the the ground at the entrance of the park. It's a photo op for sure, but also practical: The bottom of the car has been smoothed and is used as a projection screen for neighborhood movie nights. It's a small little park, but it serves the local residents by being a place to plant vegetables (there is a raised bed community garden here). There are also fruit trees and grape vines that surround the park. There's a casita that's used for community performances. There are wooden stumps that circle a fire pit that the neighbors use for summertime campfires. According to Purpose Park's Facebook page, this pocket park is a meeting area for community events, such as Easter egg hunts and other gatherings. I love pocket parks so much, and this little one is a great addition to Indianapolis' amazing community spaces.

This is such a lovely space with so many things to offer. I've visited the park before to board…read morethe Nickelplate Express. You will also find an aquatics center, picnic areas, playgrounds, a merry-go-round, Tom Thumb mini golf, a disc golf course and tons of wide-open green space. It is adjacent to a golf course, as well. On this day, we were going to visit the pool area but found that the majority of pool chairs had already been claimed, so we opted for a picnic instead. We stopped by the nearby KFC and grabbed some chicken and sides. I keep folding chairs and blankets in the trunk of my car for just this sort of occasion, so we laid out a couple of blankets and enjoyed some fresh air, vitamin D directly from the sun, and literally touched grass. It was nostalgic, calming and peaceful. There were several other groups of people present. There were parents with young children on the playground. There was a group hosting a baby shower underneath one of the picnic shelters. There were several young ladies and women enjoying the swings. There was a group of teenagers/young adults listening to music and tossing a ball around. We also observed several young men enjoying the skate park (I forgot to mention the skate park earlier) and riding e-bikes and bicycles around the park as well. There were several barbecues/cookouts taking place as well. There is, indeed, something for everyone to do and enjoy here. I was happy to see such a mix of people of all ages, ethnicities, and sexes present to enjoy this beautiful space.

The park that truly has it ALL? Check out Forest Park…read more It has my FAVORITE playground for kids who are just starting to walk It's the perfect place to let toddlers safely explore and gain independence while playing. Bonus: kids get the added excitement of seeing real-life trains nearby They have the perfect 9-hole golf course to teach your littles--no water hazards, super beginner-friendly, and it's actually Hamilton County's oldest golf course I CANNOT wait for the pool to open!My favorite time to go is Tuesday and Thursday mornings for Tiny Tots They have such a great fenced-in toddler area and splash pad, plus a diving well and long course pool. They even do movie nights in the pool ‍ But seriously... you NEED to try the mini golf here It's ONLY $3 per person and feels like stepping back in time in the best way. The holes are fun, unique, and old-school with moving features you just don't see anymore The second playground at this park is the newer one--and it's such a win for all ages The third playground at this park is such a fun old-school option for older kids There really is nothing else quite like this around here. Pack snacks, bring the kids, and plan to stay awhile

Highland Park has some of the best views in the city. Whether I come here to have a picnic, hang…read morewith friends, or watch the 4th of July fireworks - I always have a good time. My only complaint is that there is no public bathroom at the park. It's always clean though. Free of garbage and well taken care of

This totally might be conjecture, but I'm wondering if Highland Park was so named because it's…read moreliterally a park that sits on high land. Get it? Highland. I don't know -- but that sounds like a good guess, doesn't it? Anyway, because the park is a bit elevated, you can get a great view of the downtown Indianapolis cityscape. It's really cool. The park itself is small and is more of a neighborhood park. It has a small playground with a small play structure. It has slides, some bars to climb, and some swings. The play structure is definitely more appropriate for kids ages 5 and under. I think older kids would get bored with it quickly. I would not go out of my way to visit this park just to play at the playground, but I would visit to sit at one of the picnic benches to eat and enjoy the view. Parking is along the street -- there isn't a designated parking lot. There also weren't any restrooms or water fountains that I saw.