This park definitely has potential. Whenever I come, no matter the day, it's usually pretty empty,…read morewhich is nice because I can walk my dogs around freely. Most of the area is uneven grass, though it's usually cut, and there aren't many good walking paths within the park itself. I've listened to live music at the amphitheater and really enjoyed that! I've also longboarded here; the main path along the road seems newer and usually clear. I've played tennis on the courts too, but they could use just a little TLC. Really, the whole park could. Still, it's a peaceful spot with room to grow.

Riverside Park has amazing potential but is in need of major love. The sprawling Park sits on prime…read moreriverside real estate and is lush with trees. But the grounds are overgrown and weedy, equipment fading and in disrepair and my encounter with staff was not uplifting. The pool is locked and empty. I inquired about the status at the front desk. The clerk did not look up from her computer but said the pool was being serviced and they had no idea if and when it would be fixed. I didn't see anyone working on the pool. Since they have a summer camp in session, it would be great if the pool was operational. There is a really nice set of tennis courts (12ish). There is green space for football and a baseball diamond. A nice set of workout equipment from the Colts seems in need of a good cleaning. I was excited to find a boat ramp with parking area. This area needs to be cleaned and patrolled. The River access site is beautiful. The park offers free daily lunches to those in need and also provides summer camps. I found these resources valuable to the community. I was really surprised to find the park not pristine and vibrant for 4th of July holiday. The flagpoles were even empty.

My son and I have been going to all the local skateparks since moving Indiana. This park has a…read morelittle bit of everything a skater could want. A great mix between vert and street. My son just recently got a scooter and he really likes carving in the bowl. If you want to bring the whole family the playground is pretty unique as well so it really has something for everybody. We will definitely be coming back.

This park is named after William Willard, founder of the Indiana School for the Deaf, who the state…read morebuilt a school for in 1850. The park is the site of that school. Willard park is an accessible park. It has one of the largest covered pavilions I have seen at a neighborhood park. There is a free private lot, a playground, a walking/running trail, a full basketball court, a half basket court, and an aquatic center. It is not very quiet as it is right by a firehouse and located off of a busy street. The playground is accessible to children with disabilities. There is a long ram that leads up to the top of the jungle gym equipment. It is some older looking equipment that could use some TLC. Kids will still find it entertaining. The pavilion is massive and has picnic tables. The basketball courts are nice for the most part. The full court has a few cracks, tons of trash, some graffiti. It needs a resurfacing. The half court was a bit lower than the standard height (not complaining) and was in better shape than the full court. It also has 2 4-square courts on the end opposite the hoop. The trail is unpaved but pretty wide. Not sure how far it is, but it looked like a quarter to a half mile or so. The park has a lot of space. It spans over 11 acres. It also has lots of trash. I even saw a spot where someone dumped burned charcoal from their grill. There was a city worker there picking up trash when I was there, but they needed a team to tackle that job. The park has a memorial for Sylvia Likens in the back near the fence, a young girl that was tortured and murdered by her caregiver. This is a decent park, even though it is slipping a bit. It has lots of potential and can easily be a five star spot.

Panther Park has a great playground with something for all ages. It's also one of those playgrounds…read morethat is great when you're looking for a mud-free place to play after it rains, because the ground all around the playground is rubberized, which allows for mess-free play. The playground has toddler play equipment and equipment for older kids. The toddler playground area has little sides, and lots of easy places to climb on. The older-kid playground has tunnel slides, a rock wall, fireperson pole, ropes and nets to climb, and a spherical climbing structure that spins. There are also swings, including a tandem swing where a toddler and adult can swing facing each other. The park also has a basketball court, a paved walking/strolling path that's circles the park that's about 0.3 miles, a restroom, a shaded picnic area, and shaded benches situated around the playground. I was most impressed by these shaded benches, because shade is often lacking at playgrounds. But the shade thing has been thought about here.

We discovered this park this weekend and so glad we did! My son made friends of different ages…read more(2-11 yrs) and everyone had hours of fun here. They have a huge field for kids to play soccer as well and have a basketball court on the playground too. We'll be back here for often.

Sweet walk down memory lane to read my old "pre-children" review of this park now that we have a…read more3.5 year old and 9mos.old in the house. This park ended up being quite the refuge during COVID and a daily spot for my son and his nanny. From the covered seating area with outdoor grills to the playscapes for various ages, there's a little something for everyone here. Not to mention the adorable Northside Lights festivities featuring Santa each year for the neighborhood celebration.

For sentimental reasons alone, I'm inclined to offer this Old Northside park a five-star rating…read moredespite minor reservations around accessibility. Shawn Grove Park is managed by the Old Northside Foundation. Located at 1401 N. Alabama, the park was created to memorialize 24-year-old Shawn Grove, a Riley Hospital nurse who was shot to death outside a nearby Jack's Pizza while resisting a purse grab. I'm not sure you could better honor a nurse than to create a park such as the Shawn Grove Park. It's got two playgrounds - one is considered a toddler playground and is fenced in and the other is for older kids. This is definitely a small park - I'd say it's slightly larger than a pocket park, however, it's definitely not a destination park. It's a true neighborhood park that's ideal for gathering and ideal for small children. It's well-maintained. Parking around here is fairly easy (a bit tougher for wheelchair users since it's primarily street parking and the street is a bit narrow). The surface in the toddler area is fun and seems to be designed with toddler safety in mind. It's sort of comprised of mosaic rubber bits. There's swings and slides older kids. There's a covered area with picnic tables, bike racks, and fun rides. I don't get to the Old Northside a whole lot, but as someone who's been a lifelong activist in violence prevention this is a place I stop whenever I do. I'm grateful that even after all these years it continues to be well-maintained. In terms of my minor accessibility concerns - these would be the difficulty of street parking, the slightly uneven surface, and the lack of adaptive features. However, curb cuts are solid here, the features are simple enough that they'll work with a lot of kids (with supervision), and there's too much to love about this park to give it anything less than five stars.

What a great idea for Fishers residents. This Community Garden is rented for $35 per yr…read more 4/15-10/31. Plant what you want. You're responsible for planting, weeding, watering and tearing down everything at the end of the season. It is located in the back of Cyntheanne Park. The park, one of 25+ parks, has permanent bathrooms, eight pickle ball courts, and a small playground. There are also several fishing ponds with plenty of parking.

Cyntheanne Park It's a smaller playground setup, but…read moreperfect for a quick outing before nap time. There are two play areas (2-5 and 5-12), plus lots of climbing for bigger kids. It's also known for pickleball courts and has great paths for walking or biking!

The Denver Park has a fair number of amenities. There is a shelter with a grill, a basketball…read morecourt, a nice playground with several pieces, and lots of green space. There are some shade trees around the edges, but not much shade in the play areas. However, the condition of the park needs some attention and hopefully, once spring has arrived, the parks department will be able to give it a thorough cleaning and bring the park back up to a destination for the neighborhood. Review #655

Indianapolis World Sports Park was formerly known as Post Road Community Center. It's located on…read moreIndy's Southeastside and is easily most known for its game fields - cricket, soccer, basketball, Gaelic, and football. The park does also have a walking trail loop and an activity center with restrooms. There is also, of course, a playground. The park was expanded and renovated in 2012. It has 46 acres with wonderful greenspace and mature trees. The multi-use sports fields can be rented. The park has a banquet hall with meeting/event space - easily one of the best features of an eastside park. It can accommodate larger gatherings. The park received a $2.15 million grant from Lilly Endowment to add a new concession pavilion to be done by the end of 2024. The indoor facility includes a ballroom, dining room, fireplace room, and community room. The athletic fields can be configured into two cricket fields, four Gaelic fields, six soccer fields, or a variety of other options. It took me a while to realize this park was the old Post Road Community Center, though I don't really do the southeastside a whole lot. Prior to its renovation, this has existed since 1991 and is still one of the area's newer parks. This park is also pretty heavily utilized and I'm super fond of some of the activities here including free yoga, clogging lessons (Okay, I'm footless. I'm obviously not clogging - but I do love that they have it.), line dancing lessons, and art classes among other activities.

Hohlt Park is sort of the unofficial park of the Rocky Ripple area of Indianapolis. Bordered by…read moreWhite River and the Canal just north of Butler, Hohlt Park is located 8 blocks west of 52nd and Meridian. Sadly, I'll admit I didn't even really know about it until friends played a concert here. With space donated by the Hohlt Family, this is a pretty simple neighborhood park with playground equipment, a dome climber, a merry-go-round, and a field that often plays host to small concerts/musical events. Additionally, of course, Hohlt Park hosts the Rocky Ripple Festival. Additional facilities include sports fields, a shelter with picnic tables, and lots of greenery. This is by no means a high-end park and it's certainly not one I'd go out of the way to experience, however, if you're in the area it's a great place to stop, rest, play, or enjoy a picnic. Overall, I'd probably lean more toward a 3.5 here, however, I do think this park serves the Rocky Ripple area well and it's reasonably well maintained - so, I'm going with the 4-star. As a matter of note, this park does not fall under Indy Parks. When I was here, I encountered a handful of people who were friendly and the park was clean and felt safe to me.

This is a medium sized neighborhood park, spanning about 6 acres. It has a small amount of parking…read moreavailable in a grassy area and one odd thing that I noticed is that there are not any trash receptacles in the park. The park has been known to hold community special events such as the Rocky Ripple Festival. The park has a nice pavilion with picnic tables under it and there is also a decent sand volleyball court with bleachers next to it. You will find a lot of green space here that is suitable for field sports such as football and soccer, or having a picnic, playing catch, or flying a kite. The park's playground is on a bed of wood chips and has your traditional equipment such as a merry go round, toddler and traditional swings, a 4-way see-saw, and a medium sized jungle gym with slides (straight and spiral), climbing nets and monkey bars. The park just recently replace it old dome climber with a new crab trap play structure. It is very nice. I found the park's picnic tables very neat. It looks like the legs were made from small tree trucks. They are pretty cool if you ask me. The park seemed pretty well maintained, especially considering there was not a trash can to be found and the amount of grass that has to be maintained. This is a nice park, but I will be the first to admit that is not a destination park and finds most of its usage from people from the adjacent neighborhood that live within walking or biking distance. It is a very nice park if you live in the area or just visiting the area and looking for a playground or place to hang out.