With the new exercise equipment and color coded walking paths, exercise is now more user friendly…read more Of course, I miss the danger of falling from the top of the slide or banging the sides of the witch's hat on the pole, but I love this park.

This park reminds me of a kid's room: There is a little bit of everything of interest all thrown…read moretogether into one location. Like a lot of parks, they have shade trees, a large playground, basketball and tennis courts, and decent parking around the park. There is also a swimming pool and a community center on the north end. There are several paved walking loops around the park contained within the one way road that loops around the park. But here are some things you might be surprised by: A Girl Scout Cabin that is an authentic log cabin. A tank sitting near the entrance A miniature golf park by the highway (fee required) A Bandstand that can double as a shelter and from the back, looks like a castle turret An extended slide that sits on top of a hill with tunnels that run through it. The slide starts on the hill and finishes on the bottom for a long ride! An elevated sand box inside a stone castle, i.e. a sand castle! The park is filled with fun things to see and do. It seemed to be generally in good condition. It may not have been planned from scratch, but it makes the best of the odd assortment of pieces collected there. Review #2986

What a wonderful place to get out of the city and just slow down! My honey took me here 4/26/26…read moresince we've had some nice weather lately. Pleasantly surprised they have many picnic tables, the cover bridge to see and of course the Falls. Just be careful when walking to the lower fall as you are pretty close to the ledge of the falls. Plenty to enjoy here. Next time we shall have a nice picnic and enjoy the scenery. You can swim too.Parking is easy but i'm sure it gets crowded in the summer time!

Cataract Falls is a geological wonder worth visiting and only an hour west of Indianapolis. These…read moremagnificent Falls were created over millions of years as ice and water carved into the ancient limestone resulting in Mill Creek and two sets of falls. The Upper Falls drops 20 feet and can be viewed near the entrance to the park at several overlooks. We visited this week on a bright summer day. The waters were loud and rapid after recent rains. This is one of Indiana's most beautiful sites. There is a large parking lot near the Upper Falls along with picnic tables, grill, pavilion and small playground. We brought a picnic lunch so we could enjoy the Falls. There are pit bathrooms near the playground in a second parking lot. The Lower Falls are a short drive through the park. A nearby lot provides plenty of parking. The short path to view the falls is not paved, but an easy walk. These falls drop 18 feet with incredible views of the layered limestone exposed west of the falls. I was envious of a lone kayaker below the falls. There are marked trails through dense woods descending near the creek. You'll want to wear good hiking shoes and bug spray if you are up for the adventure. The property was donated by Agnes Stuckey in memory of her mother, Agnes Steiner. The Park is maintained by the Indiana DNR. There was no admission during our midweek visit.

While visiting Terre Haute, the first park I visited was Deming Park, and I knew I would return…read more The park has multiple amenities, including a full disc golf course, a swimming pool (during season), horse shoes, tennis, the Clark-Landsbaum Holly Arboretum, several art installations, a mini train "the Spirit of Terre Haute", and, oh yeah, a very cool playground. There are 177 acres at this park and that allows visitors to find quiet places as well as the hustle/bustle of the playground area. Shelters are available throughout the park and with many paved roads winding through the park, access to the shelters is easy. The playground was busy with families playing on the multiple pieces of equipment. I liked that there was plenty of shade close to the playground and that the picnic tables have roofs on them. During the season, a mini-train ride is available for a small fee. Just look for the colorful mural by Becky Hochhalter painted on the train shelter to know where to board. (Tickets are available at the nearby Torner Center during the season). There is also a nice garden near the playground entrance called "Jackie's Garden". It features a bronze sculpture of a seated little girl who is watching butterflies. The arboretum is a plant garden dedicated to preserving the varieties of holly. The entire hillside is covered with mature plants and each has been identified with markers to assist visitors. Nearby, a 14' tall stainless steel sculpture called "On the Wings of Flight" by Simonis (2015) can be found too! The park is a great place to spend some time if you are wanting to get outdoors and play. Review #892

Huge playground for the kids. One area is for the bigger kids and another area for 2-5 year olds…read more Tons of shade for the parents to watch the kids at play. There is a train that goes around a small track for $1.25 each passenger close to the playground. Haven't checked out the restrooms for cleanliness but they have them here and a water fountain in case you forgot to pack drinks. Lots of covered picnic benches great for a family picnic. There Is a community pool open in the summer close to the playground too. It's $2.75 for kids and $3 for adults. They have a diving board and water splash area for the younger ones. I wasn't able to see if the pool has a baby pool as it's not open until noon.

This is a wonderful gem of nature. The preserve has about six miles worth of trails that snake…read morethrough the trees and plains, over creeks and ponds. There are benches to sit on surrounding the small lake, a little pier for fishing. I've only visited in mid-May so far but there were plenty of beautiful wildflowers on the grounds. They've got a big old gravel parking lot with plenty of parking. When I visited last May I sat on one of the benches along side the huge pond for at least two hours, listening to all the different birds, watching for turtles, snakes (yeah, they've got water snakes), and frogs/toads. The little bench was partially shaded and the fresh air and gentle breeze lulled me into such peace. I can't wait to stop by again when I'm in town!!

The Labyrinth Meditation Path is part of the Scott Hamilton Memorial Park on the campus of DePauw…read moreUniversity. Set in a beautiful setting of mature trees with several benches around, the meditation path has three stages for walking about the labyrinth. The first stage is the path inward and is called "Purgation" (Releasing). This stage is for the act of shedding thoughts and distractions. The second stage is the center and is for "Illumination" (Receiving). This is considered the ideal space to meditate. The final stage is the path outward and is for "Union" (Returning). This is where you should embrace the healing forces at work in the world. And for those who are nearby, but choose not to walk the labyrinth, the park is beautiful and is a great place to be surrounded by nature just a short walk from the campus. Review #666

Haiku review Unique…read moreplace to walk Not many places to sit Walk and meditate Ps this place use to have many stations to do different exercises years ago but they removed all of them to build an ugly parking lot.

Our tour guide was fantastic! He was knowledgeable, fun, and ensured we had time to look around…read morebefore moving on in the tour. As a privately owned cave, you can really get up close to cave features while still being respectful of the fragile ecosystem.

This was our 2nd family visit to Squire Boone Caverns. The cave formations are beautiful and well…read morelit. The tour is a good length for short legs. Both tour guides were very knowledgeable, friendly, answered questions, and kept the moving at a good pace.

Here on Plainfield there are a series of very nice parks. I spent a few minutes in the afternoon…read morerelaxing at the friendship gardens. Technically, I took my son here to work on photos for his photography class. There are many interesting features to take picture of such as the waterfall and gazebo. You can walk in the park and it is connected to other parks and trails. Also good for bile riding too.

This is a very tranquil park. It is one way in and one way out, with a designated entrance and…read moreexit. There are a lot of parking available between three separate areas. The park has a very nice and soothing waterfall near the entrance. The park also has a small area with some picnic tables and there is a lot of shaded areas here. I was surprised to see a bathroom facility here, but it is under renovation at the time of this review. The park is a large garden composed of many smaller gardens such as the Memorial Veterans Garden, and the Enabling Garden. The center piece of the park is a triple gazebo that is very picturesque and can be rented. Even though it is not park of the park, I found another picturesque spot right off of it, a historic iron truss bridge. It spans the White Lick Creek and runs into the White Lick Creek Trail. The park is home to a veterans memorial and a statue that depicts a man holding a child, with two older children playing with a dog at his feet.The sculpture titled "a Celebration of Family values", is meant to signify The Dura builders family dedication to the town of Plainfield. You will also find many dedications and memorials in this park by some of the trees and in areas like the small fountain near the exit and the sundial sculpture across from the gazebos. The park has nice paths that run through it and are connected to a larger network of trails such as the aforementioned White Lick Creek Trail. This is a nice refection park that has a calming peace about it and is very soothing, even though it is located right off of a main thoroughfare. It does not have a shortage of benches. It feeds into some nice trails and offers some nice backdrops for pictures.

Nice place for a walk and some bird watching. Some trails are paved and some are mowed grass and…read moresome are crushed gravel. You can stick with level trails but they have less shade or you can head in to the woods and get shade but more elevation shade. I was there on a Friday afternoon and I didn't see another person at all.

This secluded park has several types of hiking available. For those who like wooded hikes with…read moresteep terrain changes, Trail #2 is a half mile loop that will get your heart pounding. For someone who likes a level hike along a prairie, the park has a longer loop around the perimeter of the 83 acre park. For visitors with mobility challenges, a paved loop near the north end parking lot goes around the northern prairie while skirting along the north end of the woods. The park is located off SR 67, south of Martinsville, just passed the street sign for Hyndsdale on North Duckworth Road. Duckworth makes several zigzags west and north before you see the east parking lot (the north parking lot is farther north and then west on Gray Road.) At the east end parking lot, you can head straight west up the gravel path into the woods. At the crest of the hill, you will be able to head left, straight, or right. The right side path is for Trail 1 and leads north on a short loop back to the parking lot. The left side path and the straight path are the two ends of Trail 2 which wanders through the hilly forest until reaching the south/west edge of the forest. The stretch between these two exits is a gravel path along the prairie that connects the two. Unfortunately, there are no trail markers and only some of the kiosks at the north end parking lot have maps showing where the trails lead. Apparently, there is supposed to be a tree identification program along the trails, but I could not find any markers along the trail to tell which trees matched up to the photo I took of the map with the key. The north end parking area has access to a shelter (with a grill and tables) and a mini "playground". There are a couple additional picnic tables to the west of the lot that are shaded and overlook the creek. Port-o-lets are found at the north parking lot as well. While hiking, I also noticed lots of bird houses for different varieties of fowl in both the prairie and wooded areas. Near the north lot, there is also a utility pole with numerous bat houses mounted near the top. The houses are for the endangered Indiana Bat. Fortunately, the bats are nocturnal, so no need to be concerned about an encounter. Overall, I liked the variety of the hiking trails, but wish that the park system would make sure both parking lots had trail information and that the trails and trees were indicated more clearly. Review #869

Being someone who grew up here this park was a staple of my childhood. Its changed some but overall…read morenot much. They have pickleball courts, basketball courts, a city pool with splash pad, multiple shelters you can rent for get togethers, trails to hike, disc golf course, playground for the kids, and the greatest sledding hill in Indiana come winter time. For the 4th of July, they always shoot off fireworks off the top of the hill for the whole town to see. Arguably one of the best city parks in all of Indiana given the hilly terrain and all the activities.

This public park for Martinsville is comparable to Pioneer Park in Moorseville. There are four…read moretennis courts and two full size basketball courts or they can be used as four half courts. They have a full size pool with a water slide, a splash pad and a good size facilities building to accommodate their water park. Both parks are very similar in that respect. This park might have better shelters depending on your point of view but definitely a couple more with a total of nine. Most are fully enclosed and most have fireplaces. Most have some sort of playground equipment at each shelter location. These shelters can be more accomdodating in inclement weather or during colder weather. But enclosed ones have ways to open them up for summer weather such as one or more garage doors. Parking is plentiful at most shelters and all have access to a paved road. There are trails for hiking, a large fishing pond and a dedicated playground with a huge spaceship structure at its core. A dog park is available. My only complaint is there is no sign that I saw directing you to the restrooms. The obvious boy & girl restrooms at the rear dog park were locked.

This is a nice nature park. It has a couple of ample sized parking areas, three to be exact. There…read moreis a nice calm 3 acre lake in the park with picnic tables and picnic shelters with tables under them and grills just outside of them. Fishing is allowed in the lake, but with limits. You will definitely need a fishing license to fish here. With every nature park, there is some green space to play filed activities such as soccer, football, catch, kite flying or other activities. This park is no exception. There is a decent amount of green space by the playground area. Some of the shelters are in desperate need of repair though. A couple has sections of the roof collapsing in. There is a small playground at this park with older traditional equipment laid on a wood chip bed. Some of the playground equipment includes a some traditional and toddler swings, A tall spiral slide, a decent sized jungle gym with slides, a see-saw, and a large truck tire. It has benches and picnic tables on the perimeter of the area where parents can sit and watch their littles. There are a couple of small accessible piers on the lake that you can walk out on. They do not go too deep into the lake. I would say about 10 to 15 feet from shore. You will find a nature center and Native American Museum here at the park, along with some awesome wooded trails. It you are not feeling adventurous and are intimidated by the wood trail, you can just walk around the lake. I saw a bunch of people doing that while I was there. Additionally, there is a nice bike/running trail that goes past the front of the park. All in all, there are approximately 3 miles of trails which will take you past restored wetlands, through pine woods, old growth and second growth forest as well as a 25 acre State Nature Preserve. With visits to the Nature Center, native American Museum, Lake, playground and trails, you could easily spend a half a day or more here. I wish that the playground area was a little bit more robust, but it will do. This park has a peaceful vibe and is very relaxing. It is a destination park and hopefully you will get to visit it in the near future.

We are retired. Nice place to bring your lunch, watch the Canadian geese, and dads trying to teach…read moretheir kids to fish!!