Visits to the Oakhurst Mansion and Gardens are part of the Minnetrista complex of activities in…read moreMuncie. The Oakhurst Mansion was built in 1894 by George and Frances Ball in the Arts and Crafts style. The Balls were avid readers and created the Blue Book of Canning, that teaches food preservation. This remarkably maintained house is open for self guided tours. The interior contains all original woodwork, trim details and some furniture. Family history is abundant throughout the home. My granddaughter enjoyed the interactive activities throughout the house, especially canning in the kitchen and creating a family tree. Immaculate gardens surround the house. The garden is filled with oak trees and other dense hardwoods. Paths meander through the garden. There was one clerk present during our visit that checked us in and invited us to explore the house and grounds. She was friendly. Admission was included in the $15 tickets that we purchased at the Bob Ross Experience (but can also be purchased on line). There is ample parking in the lot northwest of Oakhurst. Accessible ramps are located at the east entrance of the home. They are opened Wednesday - Sunday.

The campus of Minnetrista is beautiful! My sister and I often drive here and park to start and end…read moreour run from the campus. There are nice paved paths that easily connect to the Cardinal Greenway or just a short jog to the White River. The paths through Oakhurst Gardens are not really long enough to do your full run, but they are a nice little detour from typical sidewalks! I would highly recommend the garden paths for an easy stroll on a nice day. This is a safe and free area to enjoy a nice walk. Even in February the gardens are well kept and the ornamental sidewalk designs provide enjoyable scenery. I am looking forward to going back as spring awakens the blooms in the garden. Another plus about parking/visiting this area for a walk or run is that the Minnetrista museum building is unlocked during business hours and you can sneak in to use the restroom!

This is a great little park. The playground equipment is all brand new. It isn't a big park, but it…read moreis great to have something this nice so close to our house.

I would give this park a 3.5 stars if I could…read more.. The park is a little nicer than most of the neighborhood parks I have visited. There is a playground, a basketball court, a couple tennis courts, and seating for picnics and benches for watching the kids play. There is also a soccer field in the back. But after street parking on the east side of the park, I was able to see some signs of wear and tear on the playground equipment. One slide looked like it was rusting/peeling and that can be trouble if not taken care of. I don't think it was bad enough to keep kids off the equipment, but shows that the pieces have been there awhile and could use some attention. Another negative is that there isn't a shelter for the eating area. So, if it rains, your plans are all wet! The good news is that the mature shade trees did offer protection from the high heat on the day of my visit. I saw an elderly couple sitting there and they didn't seem concerned about the temp. Not bad, but not a great "must go" kind of park for the area. Review #1058

This park may be headed towards being a 5! There appears to be obvious signs of improvement as the…read moreplayground area has new equipment located near the community center (an older playground is still standing to the north end of the park near the baseball field.) A number of wooden shade structures have been erected around the playground looking as if they are new. They don't actually offer much shade, but look like they could add tarps or something to offer a little bit more. Maybe some vine plantings will be added. There was an area that looked as if heavy equipment were clearing the space for further construction. I didn't see any indication what would be going in, but it shows that the park is getting attention. It was well maintained and seemed to be clean. I didn't see any restrooms other than what may be inside the center. I parked along the street, but there was a lot at the center as well. Review #927

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

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

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.

Although the park shows some signs of aging, there is a lot to do here. There are multiple…read moreshelters, plenty of mature trees, a nice playground with a mix of old and new style equipment, and convenient access to trails. There are also basketball and baseball facilities, but both show signs of wear. The baseball field had piles of dirt on it like some construction was taking place there. I like that there is plenty of parking (mostly shaded) and restrooms on site. Generally, the park was kept clean. Review #925

Heekin Park has a wide variety of things for visitors. It is best known for the Walk of Fame of…read morepeople in Muncie who have made a difference all the way back to the underground railroad. There is also a Viet Nam Veterans memorial on the western side of the park. The amenities include five cabins, two playgrounds (and more swings elsewhere), basketball courts, baseball, a dog park, and lots of shade trees, picnic tables, and a shelter. The park seems to be in pretty good shape and has several entrances for access. Review #1043

Mansfield Park might have been a wonderful park "back in the day". You can see there is a pier and…read morean observation deck by the pond. There is a baseball park, former tennis courts, a couple shelters, a nice parking lot, and a playground. Everything looks pretty colorful. But when you look closer, you see the tennis court posts for holding the nets have been removed. The fence surrounding the courts is also leaning. The painted wood on the pathway and benches is peeling. The metal spiral staircase in the observation tower is rusting. I also question that the playground is sunken so close to a pond. I didn't see anything for drainage, so I imagine there is a high probability that the area holds water after heavy rains. Maybe? Anyway, the park could be restored with a bit of money and some manhours to bring it back to the condition it once was. Until then, it seems like the amenities are neglected. Review #1045