This is a small park in the heart of the Williamsville Village. It is tucked behind the Williamsville municipal buildings complex. There is easy public parking behind the municipal buildings, so long as there is nothing going on in the village. If there is an event of some sort happening, or it is just a busy Friday or Saturday night in general, parking in the lot may be limited or unavailable.
Island Park is indeed a small island in the middle of Ellicott Creek. It is accessible from a walking bridge over the creek. The park has public restrooms, a playground, some picnic tables scattered around the greenspace, and a couple pavilions. I've never rented a pavilion here, but they are definitely reserved often for parties. One of the pavilions is quite large and more enclosed. It looks like it could accommodate a pretty large gathering, even during inclement weather.
The park is surrounded by Ellicott Creek. On the front side of the park, the creek is in a deep concrete basin. You'll definitely want to watch any little ones walking along this area, as it is a steep fall with no barrier. Around the rest of the island, the grass and plants are fairly overgrown along the creek edge. So as far as I know there isn't easy access to actually walking in the shallow creek, nor much room for fishing here. Although I have seen some people fishing here from time to time.
During our recent visit, we were going to spread out a blanket and relax by the creek. But the grass in general was quite tall. Paired with the high weeds and overgrowth on the creek, it was pretty buggy. So we didn't stay long.
Island Park is a little park that caters mostly to pavilion rentals, or if you have small children who would enjoy the playground. It's small, definitely no walking trails or much nature exploration here in general. This is not our first pick for an impromptu picnic either. But it is a quaint addition to the Williamsville Village area that is nice to have, for sure. read more