When the late Yelper Ken N. first reviewed Windsor Village Park as part of his passion for…read moredocumenting Indiana's parks and landmarks, it was a sad little park. It's improving. This is a relatively small park at five acres. It houses a family center that was established in 1953 and was renovated in 2009. The family center is a 12,000 square foot center that has a fitness room, game room, computer lab, multi-purpose room for rental, outdoor basketball court, indoor gym, patio, seating, and the park includes a covered shelter with short trails. This is definitely a residential park, and the neighborhood around it is definitely dense in population. The park has a food pantry every Thursday from 1-3pm. You can also now play pickleball here. Oh, and the park has a splash pad for the kids. This is definitely not a destination park, however, it serves the neighborhood well. Around 2024, IU Health made a donation that helped to provide some upgrades, safety improvements, and improved trails. If you're in the area, it's a park worth visiting and it's nice to see the improvements from back when Ken N. first let us know about the park.

Potential. There is a lot of potential at this park. There is a community center built in 2009…read morefor indoor activities including pickle ball. There is a really nice basketball court. There is a decent playground, open space, and a shelter on the west end of the park. But the parks department website says the community center is closed until further notice. The splash park is a concrete slab with a pole sticking out. And on the west end of the park, houses on each of the corners are boarded shut. Although that doesn't mean it is unsafe, it does make me take caution, especially if I had a child with me. So, my advice is to watch the website for updates and hopefully, Indy Parks will come up with a plan to re-establish this park. Review #629

On the triangle shaped corner of Indiana Avenue and Senate, a beautifully landscaped pocket park…read moreoffers a space for visitors to contemplate peace and what they can do to promote it. The park has a center circle filled with shrubs and a multi-sided post that has peace blessings written on it. Inside are hundreds of peace prayers. The shrubs are surrounded by a concrete circle lined with benches and large pots for plantings. Because of the triangle shape, there is room in the park for more landscaping including a small tree and more colorful shrubs. Just a nice place to sit and relax with some shade from the nearby building. This is another one of Indy Parks' pocket parks with a theme. Review #3298

Don't blink too much when you are in the area or you just might miss this place. This is a small…read morepocket park located in the heart of downtown. The garden had a lot of trash on the ground during my visit and was no very well maintained. There were not many live plants/flowers to see. I will give the plants and foliage a pass because I visited during the winter, but the trash should be cleaned up. They may want to consider planting a few year-round plants as well. Just my two cents. The park has a few benches in somewhat of a semicircle to sit on. The benches are around a peace pole, which contains hundreds of prayers for peace inside. The outside of the pole has phrases like "May peace prevail on Earth" and May Peace be in our Homes and Communities." This park was dedicated to youth who've lost their lives to violence, hence its name. It is intended to inspire peace and tranquility. It is advertised as a perfect escape from the hustle of Downtown, but it is very close to an extremely busy intersection, so it is hard to leave the big city atmosphere. There is metered street parking on the streets surrounding the garden and nearby. This garden is not a destination spot though and is something that you either stumble across or go to on your way somewhere else.

Sometimes, a good idea actually takes root and does something good for a community. Back in 2016,…read morea neighborhood (Springdale) decided to turn an empty lot into a park that would help preserve one of the oldest trees in the neighborhood: The Nowland Oak. In cooperation with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful's IPL Project Greenspace, the neighborhood created a small park to tell the story of Indiana during the 300 years of the tree's life. A concrete base was created by a local artist (Nick Gehlhausen) and formed roots spreading down the hillside. On the base, panels were set up showing the history of the state in timelines and script. On the reverse side of the panels, information about native plants is shown. Mosaics were created by artist Barbara Zech to welcome visitors and to follow a path to the park. Note that additional markers were embedded into the sidewalk and lead visitors to an even older Chinquapin Oak a couple blocks away estimated to be 450 years old! (It is probably the oldest tree in Marion County and is called the Temple Oak.) Instead of removing the tree on a lot that was slated for demolition, it is nice to see something pleasant and educational added to the neighborhood. Note: There is no parking other than street parking in the area. Review #578

This neighborhood park is four acres of mostly wooded land with a bit of lawn running along the…read morenorth side next to 131st Street. There is a paved loop for hiking around the interior of the park. A small shelter has a couple picnic table and a grill. About half way along the north side, there is a small sitting area with a couple benches facing 131st. The park hadn't undergone its spring cleaning at the time of my visit, so there was a lot more debris in the park than I expected. If they get this cleaned up, I could easily see bumping this up a star on my review. The area is growing rapidly, so it is a commendable plan to save a bit of public space to keep the neighborhood from becoming too cramped. Review #791

I am torn between a 3 and 4 star rating on this one. I really love the idea that this man-made…read morepark was designed to create a functional wetland to catch runoff water from when the creek overflows AND provide a habitat for animals in an area that is seeing more and more development. I like that they have built an elevated boardwalk that allows the visitor to navigate one side of the wetlands from the parking lot to the gazebo on the north end without disturbing the area. They've even added informational plaques on the boardwalk that talk about how the wetlands work and the types of animal life they hope to attract. I think this would function much better if they had allowed more space. The limited size is less likely to attract animals like fox and muskrats when so close to a major highway on one side and housing on another. There are wooded areas behind some of the houses that from the air might seem to connect to Cool Creek Park, so I am hopeful that the space will succeed. The other problem is that building a space that is designed to flood suggests that the parking area should have been built up so that cars can park where there aren't puddles in the gravel. I was the only visitor while there and was able to find a spot that was dry, but it did take some navigation to work over to the elevated boardwalk. Review #766

This is a nice tribute to our Country's heroes, our vets. It is a small pocket park located right…read morenext to the Greenfield Fire Station #21 and catacornered from the Hancock County Courthouse Plaza. It was dedicated in 2010, but you could not tell. It looks amazing and new. The park is open 24 hours a day 365 days a year and it is free. The admission was paid in full by the wonderful service members. The purpose of the park is to ensure the service of every Veteran with ties to Hancock County will be recognized in a permanent way. It is a peaceful place that has a soothing effect and tasteful pays tribute to the deserving men and women. There is free parking on the streets adjacent to the park and within a reasonable walking distance. I parked right across the street from it. It is small but very impressive. It is well maintained and represents all of the armed forces, including the Merchant Marines. It is rare that they are represented. Each branch has a black granite panels that are dedicated to them. There is also one for POW/MIA. They have engraved pictures and words and their respective flags waving proudly on a pole behind them. You will also find benches in the park that you can sit on that were purchased by loved ones and dedicated to individual servicemen, along with a serviceman's cross along the fence, a purple heart stone dedication, paver brick's that are dedicated to individual service members by their loved ones. and a very nice sculpture of a solider in full battle gear kneeling next to his helmet. Many of the statues, and markers have lighting on them that features them at night and allows for viewing after dark. The purple heart stone dedication reads, My Stone is Red For the Blood They Shed, The Medal I Bear is My Country's Way to Show They Care, If I could Be Seen By All Mankind Maybe Peace Will Come to My Lifetime" The center piece of the park is a long black granite panel that represents all of our service members with a bench in front of it. The panel and bench reads, "Lest We Forget Those That Did Not Return". The panel also reads Sacrifice Commitment Honor Courage", The county did a great job putting this park together and an equally great job maintaining it. It is definitely something to see and a place to reflect on members's service to our country.

This park is incredibly well taken care of, it looks so new, like it was just built yesterday. You…read morecan tell so much love, care, and attention to detail was put into this park. I've been visited here plenty of times throughout a few years, and it looks just as great as it was the first time I stopped by. They always make sure to keep up with the garden, beautiful stone benches are placed throughout it, and they even have lights that flick on when it's late. The way the lights are placed make the park look even more stunning!

Jefferson Oaks is a really nice shaded park. There is a paved walking path, and parking located…read moreconveniently near the shelter. There is a water fountain and the next door baseball field has restrooms. The highlight of the park is the playground which has multiple pieces for kids of all ages to play on. I was surprised at how many pieces of challenging workout equipment were on site. Lots of upper arm strength and balance needed for some. There was also a mixture of new play towers as well as an old school spiral slide and spinning wheel. The park was clean and had lots of mature trees for shade. For the size of the town, this is a really good option for entertaining the kids. Review #2820

I've lived in Indianapolis my entire life with the weird exception of a few hours spent being born…read morein a Lebanon, Indiana hospital. While Lebanon is my birthplace, Indy is my home. Yet, I have to admit that I've not always ventured out and explored my Indianapolis home as much as I should have and as much as I'd have liked. Lately, I've been trying to really change this and explore Indy. I've been driving down streets I've never been down. I've been looking at neighborhoods. I've been going to museums and I've been checking out Indy's more unique spots. One such spot entered my review yesterday as I joined friends for dinner at the nearby The Iron Skillet. I nearly always arrive early places - partly because I get a little disoriented at times and am afraid I'll get lost and partly because of the unpredictability with my body. The good part of this is that it often affords me the chance to explore. While I won't say this part of town was foreign to me since I grew up in Pike Township, it had been years since I'd really explored it I really enjoyed myself. In fact, I'd never been to this site - the Wilbur Shaw Soap Box Derby Hill. I fell in love with it the minute I saw it. It's May and I love racing anyway. There's something awesome about soap box derby and there's something way awesome about this site. The Wilbur Shaw Soap Box Derby Hill is the longest track in the country at a full-on 1000 feet. It was built in 1953 and has a laser timer, digital weighing system, new scorer's bridge, and a pit area. USA Today has recognized the track as one of the top Soap Box Derby facilities in the country. All racing here is sanctioned either by All-American Soap Box Derby or National Derby Rallies and there is an actual Indianapolis Soap Box Derby Association. While I'd thought I might just check out the place yesterday, they were actually racing. It was honestly thrilling and I loved watching the kids race in the cars. It was one of those times in life when you tap into the innocence and wonder of childhood and I absolutely loved it. I'd have been thrilled if my fun evening had stopped right there. The track is named after Wilbur Shaw, an Indy 500 veteran who also served as IMS president from 1945-54 when he passed away. He was also the automotive test evaluator for Popular Science magazine. Shaw was a Hoosier who was born in Shelbyville in 1902. He won the Indy 500 3 times - the 2nd driver to do so and the first to do so in consecutive years (1939, 1940). In many ways, he was responsible for saving the track shortly after World War II when it was nearly closed to make way for post-war housing. It was Shaw who drew in Tony Hulman to ultimately buy the track and rejuvenate it! This is a magnificent place to visit. It's actually under the umbrella of Indy Parks and if you've never watched Soap Box Derby I highly recommend it.

Wilbur Shaw is the namesake of the longest soap box derby track…read more in the country at 1000 ft. He was born in Shelbyville, Indiana on October 31, 1902 and took an early interest in cars and racing. By 1919, Shaw decided to build race cars for a living, and vowed he would win the Indianapolis 500 someday. He drove in his first Indianapolis 500 in 1927 at the age of 24 and came in fourth. Not one to give up, Shaw won the Indianapolis 500 race three times--in 1937, 1939 and 1940.He was the second person to win the 500 three times and the first to win it twice in a row. During WW2, the INDY Speedway was padlocked and the property dilapidated and became a weed-strewn eyesore. After the war ended, Shaw found a wealthy businessman to bankroll a restoration of the Speedway. Soon, the Speedway was hosting exciting racing events and bringing in enormous crowds, due to the hard work of Wilbur Shaw and financial backing of Indiana businessman Tony Hulman. These two men managed to bring the Indy Speedway back to life after the dark war years and restored the luster of the 500 as the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing." This special Hill, which I visited on the Circle City Tour, was dedicated to Wilbur Shaw as a Memorial Soap Box Derby Hill, and is located at 30th Street and Cold Springs Road in Indianapolis, IN. The Wilbur Shaw Memorial Soap Box Derby Hill is a public park managed through Indy Parks. Yes, soap box derbies are something seen in Little Rascals movies but it is a fun, wholesome family activity. The Derby races are held here-at the longest derby track in the country-- starting in early summer and it is a big deal here in this mid-western Speedway town. And what a wonderful way to honor Speedway savior and race car aficionado Wilbur Shaw for all his many accomplishments. 5 YELP STARS.