Columbus knows how to do parks. The location of this park in downtown Columbus has historical…read moresignificance. Two rivers, East Fork White and Flatrock Rivers merge creating a flood plain. During the 1800's, water was diverted to create power for milling, called a "Mill Race". A number of mills operated here. There were tanneries, brick makers and woolen manufacturing to name a few. Various mills operated for decades but faced challenges of periodic flooding. The mills closed over time and only a few foundations remain. The site has been transformed into a beautiful park, complete with sculptures, trails, a historic covered bridge and more. We visited the park yesterday and spent several hours exploring the site. A notable observation Tower is prominent near the river. I climbed the 130 steps to the top to see panoramic views of the river and town of Columbus. Graffiti vandals have left "art" on the tower. There is an elevator, but it was non operational during my visit. Maybe it as just me, but it was a little creepy at the top. A modern colorful playground is located on the north side of the park. Climbing structures, slides, interactive toys and a wide variety of swings fill the area. The equipment is clean and pristine. Benches and picnic tables surround the playground for parents. I saw several pavilions around the park for picnics or meetings. The grounds of the park are tree covered and beautiful. There is a project underway to restore native plants. The New Brownsville Covered Bridge crosses a small duck pond and is a lovely backdrop for photos. The tress bridge is opened to auto traffic. I saw several sculptures including an artistic vine covered tunnel. The sculptures did look like they have endured annual flooding. Fisherman were fishing in small boats in the river. There is a small boat launch in the park. An amphitheater structure is also on the grounds. The setting is an ideal spot for summer concerts. A single basketball court is located on the west side of the park. I did see a set of modern restrooms in the park. Pathways are concrete making travel easy for strollers and wheelchairs. Parking is available at various locations throughout the park. There is no charge to visit the park. Warning: the mosquito population was pretty treacherous during my visit. I would recommend long sleeves, pants and spray. They will carry you away.

We LOVE Mill Race park. Just had my girls' birthday party there yesterday. We love the playground,…read morebut what really draws us in is the beach area where you can swim in the river! Just bring life jackets as there is a current. But if you stay close to the shore, it's no problem! This park is absolutely beautiful, clean and there's something for everyone to do

Great park for all ages. A /.5 year old, 6 yr old and 9 year old were all having fun!! So we're the…read moreadults! There is a basketball court, covered picnic area and a really great playground. The playground has music toys, spinning toys, swings, plenty of slides, and lots of other things to explore. Very neat we will be back!

As a nanny of twins that are 1 also having a 4 year old and 6 year old. I go to a lots of parks…read more This place is one of my new favorites! Lost of stuff to do they have fake grass the babies can play on! I wanted to play on some of the stuff it looked like lots of fun!!!!!

Everyone's seen the signs for it on the freeway but decided to take a deeper look. It's a cool…read morelittle spot to get out of the car and stretch your legs. Who knew it was (the first!) site of vertebrate paleontology in the US? Interestingly, there is also a short hike through a wooded area (5-10 min) that takes you to a mini-zoo-like viewing area for a herd of Bison kept there. They were pretty lethargic on this hot summer day but cute nonetheless. It's at least worth one short visit here -- a worthy investment of ~35 mins from downtown Cincinnati, anyway.

Love it had a blast and really enjoy the scenery. Very cool place to camp at and take familyread more

While I was in the Versailles State Park area, I spent a little bit of time at Busching Covered…read moreBridge. If you're a Hoosier, and I'm a lifelong one, you simply don't drive by covered bridges. You stop. You look. You drive through. You ooh. You aah. You reminisce. It's actually in the Hoosier resident requirements. Seriously, the Busching Bridge is an example of the early 19th century Howe Truss design. This was really the early years of including metal in bridges, though this bridge is more of a modified Howe Truss. It's essentially at the entrance of Versailles State Park, though I incorrectly stated in my state park review that it's "within the grounds." Technically, it's right outside them. It is likely named after the Ernst Busching family, a popular family in the area at that time. It was built in 1885 by Thomas Hardman. Hardman was a builder who gained notoriety by rebuilding some of the bridges that had been destroyed by Morgan's Raiders during the Civil War. Hardman built 4 of the 7 covered bridges in Ripley County (only 2 remain - this one and one in Holton). The bridge contract stated the cost would be $20.80 per linear foot and was to be completed by October 20, 1885. The bridge is 15.5 feet wide, 16.5 feet high and 176 feet long, which means it should have cost approximately $3,500 to build, but for some reason Hardman was paid just $2,200 for this project. The Busching Covered Bridge was completely restored in 2005 and continues to carry traffic to this day!

Using my Google Maps app., Tony and I was easily guided to the location of the covered bridge…read more OMG, when you go down the hill and around the curve....there was the GORGEOUS Busching Covered Bridge. Red and gleaming in the sunlight. Located on Rt 20, South Perry Street in Versailles, IN. It is a one lane covered bridge that spans across Laughery Creek and constructed in 1885 by Thomas Hardman. It's FREE to cross and enjoyed. Located near the Versailles State Park entrance. Beautiful old bridge!!!!

The playground at Liberty Park reminds me of the playground equipment that I grew up with in the…read more1980s / early 1990s. Just, like, groups of metal bars that require you to use your imagination, because otherwise they're just bleak and cold and hard objects standing in the middle of a field. This park has metal monkey bars and metal slides, a metal geometric dome and a metal merry-go-round -- all of the metal things. I imagine that this playground might be a little hot to the touch in the summer, but when we visited in late winter, it was perfectly pleasant. But only 3/4 of the playground is old-school playground equipment. The other 1/4 is updated plastic. However, for some reason, my children spent very little time in the updated playground area, and opted for the metal area. Very interesting. This park has lots going for it. It has an enormous sheltered picnic area that seems like it would be good for group events. It has a colorful basketball court with four hoops. There's also a baseball field, disc golf / frisbee golf (frolf) course, a gaga ball court, a walking path, a man-made lake, and a little fairy house by the playground parking lot. Liberty feels like a big park but is also a quaint part of the community. We had a good time visiting.

Liberty Park is a good sized park in Batesville with plenty for the whole family to enjoy! The…read moreplayground is pretty large in size and has quality looking equipment for the kiddos. I noticed they even had swings for kids with disabilities! Definitely worth a stop if you have kiddos. There's a baseball field and soccer field in the park, as well as some frisbee golf areas. They do have picnic shelters, two that I saw and both were large. There's also a nice gazebo! There are paths where you could walk in loops, which is what I did with my friend, and there are benches sporadically as well for those who like a place to sit and watch the world go by. The bathrooms over by the baseball field were fairly clean for a park bathroom, too. Still had some spider webs, but it's a park bathroom so... ;) Overall, this park was great and an unexpected surprise!

Had a great time with the grand kiddos. Only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because of the mess in…read morethe latrines.

I like hiking. A lot. And I like hiking at new and different places…read more Charlestown State Park is....okay. They have some really nice trails, spread out and across a large area. There is plenty of parking. And I believe that camping is an option. You have to pay to get in, which is fine. But I am highly annoyed that out of state cars have to pay more. Once when I went though, it was in the off season and there was no one working at the entrance gate. We were hoping to pay with a card, and it appeared to be an honor system for paying the $9 on days when the park is open, but no one is working. I was enticed by the promise of Rose Island ruins (a former amusement park/resort. Not actually an island). But as interesting as it sounds, it was disappointing. It has been all cleaned up and sign-ified and it is more meh than I had hoped. I would probably come back more often if it was more like $5 to get in. But with Louisville's copious parks, state and otherwise, and Bernheim about the same distance drive, I'm inclined to stay on my side of the river.

When the Selmier family owned the property, Frank Selmier began planting pine, black locust, black…read morewalnut, sycamore, and tulip trees on the land. From 1921 to 1934, he worked on the property and most of the property was placed on Indiana's Classified Forest Program between 1927-1931. After Frank's death, his wife donated the property to the State. This 355 acre property is located just a short distance from US 50 to the northeast side of North Vernon. The park is only accessible form CR 350 N and has the Forest Office/Property Manager's station on the east end of the park. However, if you don't wish to stop by and pick up a brochure, you can take the self-guided trail which starts (and has its own small parking lot) on the west end of the park. That's what I decided to take. The self-guided trail is fairly easy to navigate with wide gravel based roads making up most of the trail. Elevation changes are easy with the exception of one area where steps have been built into the hillside. The trail is roughly 1 mile in length and there are benches for resting or stopping to enjoy the sights and sounds of the park. There are small creeks/runoffs along the way with one spot where a small pond tends to grow after rain fall as it waits to filter through a pipe under the trail to lower ground. For those who like longer hikes, there are additional trails in the park, but none of them are very long. Be advised that hunting is allowed in the park during the season, but hunters should check in at the Forest Office to make sure of any additional restrictions. The brochures list the major items of concern for hunting as well as having maps of the trails. Nothing spectacular to catch your attention as far as terrain, but the forest looks to be in great health and the wide paths make the park more accessible (though not completely) than most. Review #2632

This is a nice little park in Batesville. The trails are short and easy to hike. They had a paved…read moreloop as well as some gravel trails through the woods. Two of the trails were closed, maybe due to the rain? There is a map right next to the parking lot, plenty of benches to enjoy the view or rest.

I decided to take a break from driving and stopped by Brum Woods in Batesville. There is a lot to…read morelove about this place: Whether its the contact with nature you get walking through this former farmland turned woods, or you like the beautifully maintained trails, or appreciate the total accessibility of Trail #1 with its wide paved path with practically no elevation change, this park is great! There is a small parking lot for guests on the east side of the park. From there you can check out the information board at the trailhead that lets you know how long each of the loops are. (They even tell the distance for the connection loops!) The park is divided by a road, so Trail #1 (Lena's Loop) is fully paved and wide enough for a vehicle to drive on, but of course, those are prohibited. The loop is 0.6 miles long and goes through the maturing forest and then opens up to a small prairie area on the west end by the division road. Along the way, you can read the story of Lena Brum who lived on the land and was quite a character who insisted the land not be developed when she left it to the city. Across the division road are three more trails (not sure why there isn't a Trail #3). Those trails are a bit longer, but are unpaved. For the sake of preservation, no hikers or bikers are allowed on these trails when they are wet, so you have to watch the sign at that trailhead to see if the trails are open or closed. Sadly for me, they were closed on my visit, so I can't give you much information about their condition / attributes. It would be nice if they let you know at the first trailhead that the other trails were closed before hiking over to the second. Since it was early spring, the trees weren't in their full foliage, so the views weren't as beautiful as I would have hoped, but the next time I am in the area, I will hope it is dry and that I can make a return visit to this park. Review #2454

Large tall play area. My kids loved it and we went early enough we were the only people around. We…read moredid not make it to the creek due to it being too far away to walk with a 2 year old and 5 year old considering it would be uphill walk on the way back.

I almost didn't want to write this review ... because this truly is a hidden gem and I don't want…read moreit to get too crowded! But, I think I've kept this awesome Burlington trail a secret for long enough. Let me start by saying that there is a park area with a playground and covered shelter and grill that looks nice and clean! On our most recent visit, there was a big cookout going on, and all of the parking spaces in the small lot were full. Don't be concerned if that's the case when you arrive ... there's plenty of street parking available in the surrounding neighborhood. And - even if the play area is full of people, we've never seen another person on the actual trail beneath the park. This trail is not for hiking amateurs. You can except a VERY steep climb back uphill at the end of your visit. There is a side path that's a little less steep - but it's very rocky with lots of switchbacks. I definitely recommend this trail for more experienced hikers. If you are a beginner and still want to check it out, just be sure you know what you're getting into. It's definitely worth the climb! My husband and I often bring our dogs for a quick spin around this trail, on both weekday and weekend mornings. When you get down to the actual river, there's plenty of wildlife to check out. Most recently, we enjoyed the blooming Honeysuckle plants, but steered clear of a few snakes in the water. Be sure to watch where you step. Check out Gunpowder Creek the next time you're looking for a unique nature hike with a bit of a challenge. You won't be disappointed.

The soccer fields are well maintained and certainly an asset to the Shelbyville community. Parking…read moreis both plentiful and convenient. My greatest compliment is for the staff that uses a golf cart to transport elderly grandparents to the fields in play. This is an accommodation that isn't required but so very much appreciated.

This park is a pretty good park, especially if one of its specialties is something you want to do…read more It is deceptively large, covering 186 acres. The park is dedicated to Shelby County's veterans that died in war. I have been here for their annual Trunk O Treat. The park has tons of free parking and They have a couple of restroom structures, one by the baseball field, one by the soccer field, and one by the splash pad. The park has a dedicated soccer area and is home to the Blue River Soccer Association. There is about 6 to 8 fields over there. And As I mentioned, A restroom facility. There are 4 very nice and well maintained baseball fields in this park with an announcers/media booth and restroom facility. Each field is uniquely named after a different person. The park also has a large shelter that is available to rent. There is a small grill outside of the shelter and a bunch of picnic tables under it. You will find some green areas to picnic, rest, fly a kite, play catch or other activities. The park could use a bit better playground. It has a bank of old style swings, a see-saw, a pyramid rope net climber, and a large jungle gym with a small rock climbing wall and a bunch of slides. The ground in the area is covered with mulch. There is a nice looking dog park at the front of the park and by the soccer fields. I can not speak to it though because I did not pay it a visit. That is the same story for the splash pad. I saw it, and it looked decent, but it was shut down for the season when I was there. The parks trails are awesome. They are nicely paved and even have porta pottys along the route. It seems to be popular among the dog walking enthusiast. There are a few things that you may miss at the parking if you don't know what you are looking for like it's 20 acres of quail and butterfly habitat on its south side and it NCAA cross country course. All in all a decent park, but you will only find it useful if there is something specific that you want to like play soccer, run/walk the trail, or play baseball. The playground could use some more equipment.