Good park that's one of the best things about Bloomington. It of course has a zoo, the most notable…read morething about it. Miller Park is also a place for other recreational activities such as shooting hoops and walking. Has a playground to entertain young children. There's also a lake that has a cool bridge that makes for classic scenery. An interesting history about it. It's the largest park in the city to be sure. The park is best known for the zoo. Actually it has an interesting history itself. The zoo has its own business page on Yelp. As for the rest of the park, there's other stuff worth exploring. There's a pretty big lake. Go take a walk across the stone bridge. The park also has a mini golf course and softball fields among other things. Also check out a preserved steam locomotive. There's also a pavilion for those wanting to have a picnic. Has lots of activities throughout the year including festivals and fireworks. It's located east of Morris Avenue and south of Wood Street. They also have entertainment such as outdoor theater.

Great place to walk or relax. Has a splash pool for kids, a pavilion for events, paddle boating on…read morea lake, a stocked lake for fishing, trails to walk around, picnic areas, a gazebo, a baseball field, a monument to war veterans, a monument to firefighters, lots of open fields both in the sun, and shade, and easy access to downtown Bloomington. We went to the zoo, and then we spent two hours just exploring.

This is a fun park and yesterday I walked there with someone else and we put grocery sack bags over…read morethere for people to use

We looked at this park for accessibility for mobility challenged people. Know before you go! Here…read moreis what we found: - There are no handicap accessible parking spots. - There is one wheelchair accessible restroom. - There is only street parking which is about 30 feet away from the attraction. - The terrain is wood chips and cement. - There are two ramps to get into the park but no play ramps. - There are no wheelchair accessible water fountains. - The accessible equipment is the water park and the ramps to get into the attraction. Nice park!!!

Matthiessen State Park is such a gem. The trails take you through gorgeous canyons, lush greenery,…read moreand peaceful streams that make you forget how close you are to the city. The waterfall views are the highlight and absolutely worth the hike in, especially when the sun hits the rocks and everything feels like a hidden escape. The trails are well marked and offer a good mix of easy walks and more adventurous climbs, so there is something for everyone. Even on a busier day you can still find quiet corners to enjoy the sound of the water and the view of the sandstone cliffs. If you enjoy hiking, photography, or just want a beautiful spot to reset in nature, this park is a must visit. Bring good shoes, some water, and be ready to take a ton of photos.

Matthiessen has a lot of really wonderful attributes. I'll get to those in a second…read more But first, we have some real nasty issues. 1. I have visited twice and the actual bathrooms are always locked, forcing everyone to use the disgusting porta-potties. The only running water is a strange foot-washing station near top of the stairs. What the hell is going on here? I get that the park is free, but can we charge everyone $1 so we have functional bathrooms and water refill stations? 2. A lot of the park infrastructure looks rough/dated. There are places where the only way across a body of water is to walk on some manmade cement platforms. Some of them have been toppled by the water (years ago?), making for a fairly treacherous journey if you choose to attempt it. I hate the disgusting metal gate between the upper and lower dells. It totally wrecks the natural beauty. Both times I've visted, there are so many areas of outright mud. Nothing wrong with that, but it seems there's been almost no attempt to improve the infrastructure of bridges and walkways where this is a recurring problem. My most recent visit was in mid-October, when the rain had turned a lot of Matthiessen into a waterlogged mess. You'll see some beautiful scenery and then be forced to navigate a giant mudfield to get to the next thing. Another issue is the generally terrible behavior of your fellow hikers. I saw so many people taking their shoes off and trying to scale slick sandstone canyon walls. I kept waiting for someone to fall off and die. If you go to Matthiessen - and I do think it's worth the trip even with the drawbacks, here are my key tips: 1. Waterproof boots are a must. Tennis shoes will suck. Crocs are insufficient. My kids' tennis shoes were basically murdered by their hike. 2. Bring good trekking poles (at least one per person). You will probably need something sturdy to lean on or probe the depths of water or mud. Each of us had one and I witnessed people without them struggling mightily. 3. Come with your own water and hand sanitizer. Even that will be insufficient to clean off the grime you encounter, but you should never count on those dumb restrooms being operational. 4. Expect that the canyon areas are *much cooler* than the trails above. That's great on a hot day, but could be an issue if you're hiking when it's cooler on the surface. 5. Leave your dumb dogs at home unless you want them drinking some of the foulest water in Illinois. 6. Be prepared to strip off your clothes for a head-to-toe refresh when you get back to the car. They will get gross. 7. If you go on a holiday weekend (I was there on Columbus Day), you may be stuck in the too-far overflow parking lot and have a ton of extra knuckleheads to deal with. 8. There are a lot of stairs. A lot. Take Advil beforehand if your knees are over 35 years old. I don't think it would be too hard to upgrade Matthiessen to become a crown jewel of the state park system. The natural beauty is there. But the human contribution really alls short.

Beautiful natural area, nature center is very kid-centered with friendly help, small gift shop,…read morebenches and picnic tables for resting!

Review Visit: September 29th, 2013…read more I remember coming here a few times as a kid on field trips. It was awesome as kid. They taught us about animals, bugs, nature and everything else outdoorsy. Then we got to hike a smaller trail as a group. Maybe this is what caused me to be such an avid outdoors person. Coming back here after about 2 decades was a huge nostalgic trip. Nothing had changed from what I remember as a kid. I'm sure things have been changed and updated since the early 90's, but it still retained that feel and look I remember as kid. The main building has set hours, but I do believe you can hike there before they open, as long as you follow the rule of 'no hiking before sunrise and after sunset'. Don't quote me on that. Inside the building is a small gift shop. There are quite a few learning activity areas to enrich yourself on local foliage and fauna. They hold a lot of events here, so you are surely able to drop in once a week and encounter some fun activity going on. There are plenty of trails to hike. If you want a quick hike, they have short trails. If you desire something challenging, you can hike some tough trails. Just be careful, I know a few people who have wandered off the path and ended up in a business area of Peoria Heights. The last time I was there, they had a 100-mile hike challenge. It was $10-15 to sign up and you record your hiking distances in a book there. Once you reach 100 miles, you get an award of some sort. I think it was a t-shirt and a certificate. Ive been wanting to sign up for it since I learned about it. But life gets busy. :/ Parking is plentiful but be warned; its a popular place, so there is usually a good amount of cars there at all time. But you shouldn't have a problem most of the time finding a parking spot. If you are native to the area and haven't been here, do yourself a favor and check it out. If yo are from out of town, also do yourself a favor and stop by for a quick hike. You won't regret it.

Great park for kids of all ages! Splash pad in the summer is a great time as well!! The restrooms…read morewere very clean and I have no complaints!!

Great park for young kids. Gets busy during summer afternoons. There's a decently large playground…read morewith a padded ground, multiple tall slides, monkey bars. Next to the playground is a large splash pad with several shaded benches. Not much shade to be found elsewhere in the park. Small concession stand open when we went (June). Bathrooms at the entrance to the playground/splash pad. Several picnic tables on the other side of the parking lot that are partly shaded by trees.

Review Visit: April 1st, 2015…read more s from my apartment. Because even as an adult, who doesn't love to swing. Since I went to so many parks, I don't remember much about this one. I do remember that it was a very basic park. It had a few benches, two swings and a slide. Looking online, it seems there is a small loop hiking trail and a bridge. The nice thing about this park though was its remoteness. It was far enough from the bulk of civilization that you feel at peace and the land was wide and open, so you could feel a nice gentle spring breeze.

As far as parks go, this isn't really overly exciting, but it's a good park nonetheless…read more You might happen onto this park and see a sign that signifies hiking, and you might think "Oh wow, there are trails here!" Well, the trail is really just a loop trail, and it's a really short loop at that, but it does lead to a creek. We visited this park for many years between 2002-2012, and in the later years the park suffered from some vandalism including graffiti. There's playground equipment and a picnic shelter, and you can reserve said shelter through the Washington Park District for private events. Where the playground equipment sits there is a decently sized grassy area where you, your kids or your dogs can run and work off some energy. Not a bad deal for a free visit.

I love Laura Bradley Park! It holds lots of fond memories for me. There's a playground in the top…read moreand bottom section of the park! Gotta love the dog park if you have doggos. Lots of little attractions to see like the Chinese bridge. Plenty of roadways in the parks for walking and bike riding. Great place to visit year round!

Beautiful park near Bradley University. Plenty of walking areas, not really many trails, more of an…read moreopen set up. This park has a lot to offer, including a Frisbee golf course, two fenced in dog parks, sand volleyball, picnic areas and tennis courts. Plenty of free parking in multiple lots throughout the park. The dog parks include a smaller, more secluded dog park on the top and a large dog park on the bottom, separated into small and large breed fenced areas. The dog parks are often packed with wagging tails on the weekends. No fee and doggie bags are provided by the people. Each season brings something gorgeous to view in nature's little hideaway.

Review Visit: October 11th, 2014…read more Rollingbrook Park is just many one of many parks in the Bloomington-Normal area. My dad and I came here during a day of exploring and was greeted with a nice park. It has your typical playground and spacious grounds. But this one has a pretty nice tennis court. So if you get the urge to play, there is a place to play in Blo-No area. I really don't remember much about this park aside from the cool tennis courts. Definitely one to check out if you are park exploring!

Large playground with many disabled friendly pieces of equipment. There are trees very close so…read morethere's shade over some part all the time. There are also nine pickleball courts and three tennis courts

Beautiful area for a dog park Illinois River is right across the street. There is two enlarged…read morefenced in areas. Everyone picks up after their dogs so it is very clean. I travel across the United States and would rate this park a ten.

This fenced in dog park sits right on the Illinois River. It has both small and large doggie fenced…read morein areas, one picnic table in each area, poop bags are provided, and someone macgyvered a water station for our furry buddies. Not many people frequent this dog park so it is a great place to train your dog, but if you are looking for your pawbud to socialize this is not the place to go. We've been here multiple times and probably only ran into one other owner. This park doesn't get much shade at certain parts of the day as there are no actual trees inside the fenced area, but a few large oaks surround it. Great place to watch the sun set over the river while Mr. Sniff-a-lot enjoys the aroma of the park.

We live 35 minutes from here and had not heard about it before…read more I needed somewhere to do a short two day excursion with my boys and we took a chance given the reviews we read. They were wrong. This place is clean and the views are amazing. We stayed on loop P right off the lake and it was phenomenal. Not buggy at all, the shower houses were clean, and everyone was very respectful. There is a camp store with rentals and food. Ice is cheap and they will fill up water jugs for you. LeRoy is 6 minutes away and they have an IGA there. The Legion in LeRoy has a camper buffet breakfast on Sunday at a discount rate. All for $20 a night - We plan to stay again soon!

Camp host was so very rude. Wanted to make sure I knew he was the Boss. I come here 3 to 4 times a…read moreyear. WILL NOT BE BACK. Terrible place. All water sources are not potable. Only one place to fill water. DONT STAY HERE!