This is a great park for beginning hikers or those short on time. The park, while beautiful is much…read moresmaller than State parks, with trails that are harder to get lost on. There is small playground, a "Sensory Garden" area that has a pond with running water & frogs (for sound), highly scented flowers (for smell) and even some safe to taste herbs (for taste). There is a covered picnic area that can be rented out for parties. It can also be used freely when no parties are booked. One could make a day of this place but it's not a requirement to see everything.

such a beautiful park, i love the trails available very pretty views and everyone that travels is…read morenice. good for walking and biking.

Tucked in off a street in Bristol, IN, is a place for serenity and a short walk through beautiful…read moregardens. The stone path leads to one of the 26 area heritage trail quilt gardens. Along the pathway, you will be shaded. These gardens include a huge ornamental lifelike mushroom with short sidekicks. Another photo worthy decoration is a wood carved cardinal next to a blue life sized Dutch windmill. The little park contains flowing water, a koi pond, scented roses, and multiple flora, as it winds up and down stairs on a stone pathway. Many artistic metal structures adorn the pathway. Definitely a place to visit!!!! I wish I lived closer.

For those who are fairly new in my world, you likely don't know about my long history as an…read moreactivist in the area of violence prevention with a strong emphasis on child abuse and sexual violence prevention. Since 1989, I've traveled over 6,000 miles in my wheelchair and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for a wide variety of organizations. I spend a lot of my wheeling time in Indiana - my home state and lifelong home. Among my favorite places to go in Indiana is Elkhart County, a Northeastern Indiana jewel filled with magnificent trails, a strong Amish community, a number of historic peace churches, and a vibe that just really clicks with me. My favorite trail in Indiana is the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail that winds its way through four Elkhart County communities and runs a bit over a marathon in terms of length. You get to visit a variety of cool small towns and will likely see some Amish folks on their bicycles. Quite honestly, it's awesome. If you stop in Middlebury, and I always do as I have multiple friends there, you can take a break along the trail here at the Krider World's Fair Gardens. For once, this is not small town braggadocio. Krider World's Fair Garden started out its life as a 1934 World's Fair exhibit and has been meticulously maintained ever since. I won't say it's "the" pride of Middlebury, but it's certainly one of the things of which the community is most proud. This is a botanical garden that weaves together gentle walking paths, a quilt garden exhibit, iconic structures, and facilities that include waterfalls, picnic tables, viewing benches, a gazebo, and a swing arbor. The park itself is really only about 2.4 acres. It's not a huge place, but it's a beautiful place. It can be rented for special events, weddings, and photography needs. If you're on the Pumpkinvine, then you'll run into this area as a perfect place to stop and rest and enjoy a beautiful part of Middlebury. The biggest city in Elkhart County is, in fact, Elkhart itself. But, a visit to Elkhart County isn't complete without visiting places like Goshen, Middlebury, and Shipshewana. Yes, I'll admit that it can get a bit touristy but it's a friendly community and a place I absolutely love to visit. This part of the state has about 2 dozen quilt gardens. A "quilt garden" means that they lay the quilts out in a pattern that changes each season. You can also see "Garden With a Cause" here, a garden devoted to charities and local organizations improving the lives of the people of Middlebury. They have a replica of the "Sunrise Bench," a bench that was included in the World's Fair Exhibit and there's a Statue of Hebe and a Water Wheel House among other attractions. If you're in Elkhart County, a stop at Krider World's Fair Garden just really needs to happen. I have some photos, but I'm still trying to find them from past tours. When I do, I'll post my own photos but you can definitely capture the garden's vibe in the available photos here.

This is the classic Japanese-style garden. It was a gift from Mishawaka's sister city, Shiojiri,…read moreand unlike anything else in the city. Upon entering the park, one will notice how this garden sends off quite a different "vibe" than western-style gardens do. Typical of Japanese design, it was thought out quite a bit, and there is a reason behind every little detail within. Every changing month seems to bring its own charm to the park. An excellent park to go to for feeling closer to both God and nature. This has got to be the loveliest acre of land in Mishawaka.

This park celebrates the sister city status of Mishawaka and Shiojiri, a city in Nagano, Japan…read more Niwa is Japanese for garden and this park takes on many of the characteristics of a Japanese Garden. Some of those characteristics include: Water - renewal and calm Stone - longevity and forces of nature Yukimi-gata Lantern (a snow lantern) Bridges The park has all these but the water/pond which would ideally contain fish /koi. Of course, the weather here would necessitate wintering of the fish elsewhere, so it is probably a cost management issue. The park is well kept and is filled with plants, small trees, and gardens. There is also a bronze sculpture to the right of the entrance that commemorates the relationship between the two cities. Review #3099

The Millrace trail is a fantastic place for a family walk. The Kid's Castle at Shanklin Park is a…read moregreat stop along the way. Have played slow-pitch softball here and fields are well maintained. Boat launch at Shanklin is too. ***Word of caution, if you do plan on visiting nearly any part of Shanklin park, be ready to encounter many Canadian Geese and tons of what they leave behind.*** Goshen Parks are one of the main reasons my family chose to live here and we visit them or take advantage of their programs or services as often as we can.

Shanklin park is a great space. It has lighted baseball/softball diamonds, a canoe launch for the…read moreElkhart River, Kiwanis Pavilion, Shanklin Pool and Schrock Pavilion, a large rentable enclosed pavilion. Best of all is the community-built Tommy's Kids Castle, a large, fun, and well maintained kid's play area. It has areas for larger and smaller kids, baby swings, regular swings, tons of slides and things to climb. Best of all there is a bottleneck in/out which means you can give kids the freedom to explore without worry by sitting near the entrance.

The views here are spectacular. We've often seen the platform as we drove past on Red Arrow. It's…read morea great place to chill and pass some time. There are a few short trails that you can hike and high and low platforms where you can get a good look at the Galien River marshlands. Free to the public with lots of parking

Very nice and accessible friendly park. It's a short stroll but peaceful and beautiful. Great place…read morefor fishing and bird watching. Only thing is that parking is very limited.

Amazing park just outside of New Buffalo. Beautiful, clean, fun. Tons of playground equipment and…read moreeven trails in the woods to explore. Lots of parking. Basketball courts. Bocce ball courts. Public bathrooms and drinking fountains too. Splash zone: The last time we visited, it wasn't quite warm enough to play in water, but WOW is that an awesome feature worth mentioning in its own paragraph. If we lived in the area, you'd better believe that we'd hit this park up several times a week in the summer to cool off. Bravo, City of New Buffalo. Bravo. This is the small town park that lots of big town parks aspire to be.

This is amazing for toddlers and children. Amazing age appropriate playgrounds with safe rubber…read moreflooring directly next to cute splash pad/sprayground. Plenty of picnic tables with pavilion. Such an amazing find for the family.

During a brief trip to the Fort Wayne area, I got the chance to stop by Promenade Park while out…read morewith a friend of mine. Promenade Park opened in 2019 as the first phase in Fort Wayne's Riverfront Fort Wayne project. Main features include Canoeing and Kayaking, a very cool fountain, games, a pavilion, picnic tables, an amazing playground, a snack bar, a stage, trails and, of course, water. The park is relatively small at 4 acres, but they really have laid it out beautifully and they have quite a bit here. Promenade Park is a KultureCity.org Sensory InclusiveTM Certified Venue. Accessibility features include accessibility to the trails, kayak/canoe launch, main entrance, picnic areas, playground (ground level play features), an accessible restroom, accessible signage, accessible swings, accessible water fountains/bottle fillers, and more. Accessible parking is available along Wells Street (adjacent to the pavilion). The garden area is designed specifically to provide visual and sensory separation. There's tactile ribbon embedded in the pavement throughout the park (this helps people who are blind/low-vision). Pathways are extra wide and can accommodate multiple wheelchairs. Honestly, I was blown away here and so thrilled I took the time to stop and check this out. I'm likely planning an event in Fort Wayne soon, and there's no question I'll be returning to this beautiful urban park.

Clean, well kept, expansive park with many places to walk, sit in nature, and explore FW. there is…read morea really neat integrative playground with handicapped accessible elements.

This is Fidler Pond Park... which is not Illustrated correctly on Yelp. Very beautiful landscape…read morewith a 1.5 mile circumference soft gravel Trail. Plenty of geese honking what the sounds of Harmony of being in any natural habitat. What's unique about this park is their homes surrounding the trail, as well as bird houses spread throughout. Very tranquil and safe for evening or morning walk. There are a few porta johns and Swinging benches along the trail as well. Definitely a lovely place to visit and break the monotony and wine down from a busy day.

A nice place to take the kids to fish from shore. They have fly fishing lessons sometimes. They…read morerent poles, boats, other equipment if you want. Peaceful with lots of wildlife.

This is a nice little nature park with parking and bicycle parking. You can walk the nature trails…read moredown to the creek or take the paved bicycle trail to the Indiana State Line. About 3 miles. This trail goes right by South Firemans Park as well.

Good park Pool is clean…read more Bathrooms are eerie Fun for kids and adults Lots of stuff to do

it was OK, but in the main part, there were writings of peoples names and peoples name ship…read moretogether, but the main problem is that there were a lot of writing bad things about people and the park is really dirty easy spot so your kids in the park. The park is a little too big. You can lose your child really easily if you take your eyes off then, be careful, the giant slide has a bunch of sand and is easy to slip in the back by the giant hill. There's the blueberry vegetable and the added the new part in the back, which is really nice for the little kids that don't wanna be by the older kids way easier to watch your kids in the bath and you do not want to lose your kids in the back. There is a zip line which is a little scary cause it seems to fling you and you might wanna hold onto your kids because it flings them if they are really light