While visiting Terre Haute, the first park I visited was Deming Park, and I knew I would return…read more The park has multiple amenities, including a full disc golf course, a swimming pool (during season), horse shoes, tennis, the Clark-Landsbaum Holly Arboretum, several art installations, a mini train "the Spirit of Terre Haute", and, oh yeah, a very cool playground. There are 177 acres at this park and that allows visitors to find quiet places as well as the hustle/bustle of the playground area. Shelters are available throughout the park and with many paved roads winding through the park, access to the shelters is easy. The playground was busy with families playing on the multiple pieces of equipment. I liked that there was plenty of shade close to the playground and that the picnic tables have roofs on them. During the season, a mini-train ride is available for a small fee. Just look for the colorful mural by Becky Hochhalter painted on the train shelter to know where to board. (Tickets are available at the nearby Torner Center during the season). There is also a nice garden near the playground entrance called "Jackie's Garden". It features a bronze sculpture of a seated little girl who is watching butterflies. The arboretum is a plant garden dedicated to preserving the varieties of holly. The entire hillside is covered with mature plants and each has been identified with markers to assist visitors. Nearby, a 14' tall stainless steel sculpture called "On the Wings of Flight" by Simonis (2015) can be found too! The park is a great place to spend some time if you are wanting to get outdoors and play. Review #892

Huge playground for the kids. One area is for the bigger kids and another area for 2-5 year olds…read more Tons of shade for the parents to watch the kids at play. There is a train that goes around a small track for $1.25 each passenger close to the playground. Haven't checked out the restrooms for cleanliness but they have them here and a water fountain in case you forgot to pack drinks. Lots of covered picnic benches great for a family picnic. There Is a community pool open in the summer close to the playground too. It's $2.75 for kids and $3 for adults. They have a diving board and water splash area for the younger ones. I wasn't able to see if the pool has a baby pool as it's not open until noon.

This is one of Bloomington's better parks. It has a ton of space and have everything that you would…read morewant in a park. It is very spacious park spanning almost 35 acres and dates back to 1957. The park has tons of parking available spread between 3 lots. There is also parking available near the pool. The playground features 2 parks. The first park is for 5 to 12 year olds and feature a medium sized jungle gym with bridges, tunnels and slides. There is also a sand digger and a bank of traditional/toddler swings. You will find benches and other spots for caregivers to sit. The equipment is a bit dated, but still in fair shape. There is great news though, the playground is scheduled to be reimagined next year. You will find a fair shelter just off of that playground with picnic tables under it and a grill just outside of it. The other playground area is for smaller kids and is fenced in to keep the little ones from running off. There is a cement dinosaur bench that caregivers and sit, along with a bunch of traditional benches. There is also some picnic tables under a canopy. The equipment in this area include a bank of traditional/toddler swings, and another medium jungle gym with tunnels, bridges, canopies and slides. Just like the older kid playground area, this equipment is a bit "seasoned", but still serviceable. The park is home to a nice paved 1/4 mile walking trail, Streamside Trail, that is wheelchair-accessible trail and bisects the park along the south side of Bryan Park Creek. Along the trail, you will find an outdoor fitness area with a bunch a very nice equipment such as a balance beam, chest press, incline sit up board, monkey bars, and dip bars. It is very nice and looks relatively new. I really liked the park's 2 full basketball courts . It was very nice and in great shape. The tennis courts are pretty good too. Other park amenities include a restroom facility, two multi-use fields with backstops, a horseshoe pit, and a ton of green space. You will not find a shortage of green space here, including the multi-use fields. It is suitable for pretty much any field activity including football, playing catch, soccer, a picnic or flying a kite. Along the Park's grounds is another shelter with picnic shelters with tables under it and a grill outside of it and some benches. If that was not enough, the park is co-located with an aquatic center. Being that i visited the park in November though, the Center was closed for the season. The park is well maintained and you can easily spend at least a half of a day or more here. I highly recommend checking out the park. It may be a bit outdated, but upgrades are on the way and the city is investing a lot of money into this park.

This is a great neighborhood park for the kids. There are several playgrounds available.read more

What an amazing park! Gigantic play structure with multiple slides, swings, climbing, balance…read morefeatures, fire pole, nice seating for parents, and bathrooms.

This is a very nice park that is tucked away in Bloomington. There is limited parking available…read morespread across 2 lots and another lot with just handicap and 15 minute spots. I guess you can park along the road as well. This park runs along Old State Road 37, has a canal that runs parallel to it and has a lot to offer. They have a couple of very nice shelters with a bunch of picnic tables, a fireplace, and a grill outside of them. They are really nice and can be reserved. They also have a couple of playgrounds in the park. There is a small playground by the larger pavilion with a swing bank with toddler, traditional and ADA swings. The equipment sits on a bed of wood chips, has a large paved trail that runs through it, and picnic tables nearby. The second playground area is across the street and much larger. It has a large red play structure, a bank of saucer swings, a sit and spin, a small playhouse, a pyramid net climber, a bank of traditional and ADA swings and small play structure for little kids. The equipment is in great shape. The large play structure has a bunch of gnarly slides, some bridges, a pebble bridge, and can be accessed from a large bridge. The small play structure just has a couple of canopies, a bridge, and a slide. It is much less exciting than its larger counterpart. The area has picnic tables and a bunch of benches around for caregivers to sit while their little's play. It is lined mostly with wood chips, but has some patches of cement and rubber surfacing mixed in. There is a bathroom facility over in the area as well. You will also find a sand volleyball court here at the park. It is a decent court and I do not know how much use it gets. The park features paved hiking/walking nature trails that are pretty nice. It is a scenic park and has a peaceful feel about it (the further you get away from the main road, the better), and is very scenic and picturesque. Along the main road is a portion of the trail that also parallels the canal, where you will find a bunch of picnic tables that are visible from the road. The park is home to a couple of desolate baseball fields that look abandoned and is closed off. There is a modest parking lot attached to the fields, but it is gated and closed off like the fields. The fields have potential and appear to have been an awesome spot to play ball at one point. Anyway, this is a very nice, low key park that has a lot to offer. It is well maintained, picturesque and soothing. I can not think of many changes I would suggest for this park other than more parking. You could easily spend a half a day here and not even know it. I recommend spending some time here and checking this place out.

Large park, lots of things to do, kept my son busy for over an hour…read more Clean facilities and clean park.

This park is amazing. It is a gem located in Bloomington. It is a Rails to Trails pedestrian…read morethoroughfare and was once an old rail switchyard. It spans 65 acres and was opened in 2019. By the looks of it, I though that it was opened more recently. This park has everything you want in a park and much more. This is a modern park and I was really felling it. There are two decent sized parking lots for you to park your vehicle. What amenity that brought you to the park will determine the lot that you will use. The park features a dog park with separate areas for large and small dogs. There is seating for pooch owners to sit in each area, as well as lots of green space and a few obstacles for the pups to play. There are a few picnic tables in between the two dog areas. The park also has a ton bright green picnic tables in a plaza area just off of one of the parking lots and a very nice shelter with picnic tables under it, a fireplace and a grill. This area is also where you will find the restroom facility in this area. There is also a low-key splash pad in this area, but it was shut down for the season during my November visit. This park is also home to an awesome outdoor amphitheater with lawn seating. It looks pretty impressive. There is also an 11,000 square foot pavilion with overhead doors, making it an indoor/outdoor event space. Both spots are available for rent and are prime spots to host your next event. They are used to host special events such as 5K runs, farmer's markets, and You will also find a skate park that could easily be a stand alone park itself. It is a concrete park with bowls, rails, and a snake run. Graffiti, tags and stickers are prohibited in the skate park area, but you will find some nice tags just outside of it. The park's playground is first class. It is a huge area on a mud-free rubber/artificial grass surface. There are benches, walls and glider swings for caregivers to sit while their littles play. The area's equipment includes saucer swings, tunnels, a rock climbing wall, slides, some traditional swings, wall net climbers, a pyramid net climber, and xylophones. The equipment is very modern and looks relatively new. On the other end of the park is where you will find a very nice full basketball court, a bocce ball court, and 4 pickle ball courts. There is a large patch of green space on this side of the park as well that is suitable for picnic, playing catch, or tossing a frisbee. A Bloomington police also has a station at this entrance to the park. Even though their is a police presence on site, the park contracts with a security company to assist with park patrols and safety. The highlight of this side of the park though is the outdoor fitness area. It is a circular area that has equipment that includes a chest press machine, a shoulder press machine, a strider, a dip machine, sit up bench and pull-up bar. In the shadow of the workout area is a community gardens, which feature 39-foot by eight-foot raised garden beds that are available for rent. A 3.1 mile trail, the B-Line Trail, passes directly through the park. The Trail is nicely paved, completely accessible and well illuminated with LED lighting. If 3.1 miles is not enough for you, it connects to the Bloomington Rail Trail, thus adding 2 more miles. This is a nice park that has everything you could ask for. It is well maintained. I will not that there are a few urban campgrounds on the outskirts of the park and you will find transients sleeping on park benches and using the restroom there, but they are not aggressive and just keep to theirselves. I highly recommend checking this park out. You can easily spend a half day here.

Sharing the location with the Vigo County Schools' Aquatic Center, this location has some…read moregreenspace, a playground, a basketball court, and the main feature: A large skate park! Unlike most skate parks I have visited, this location has the dedicated bowl with ramps and also has an extended terraced area that allows skaters/bikers to build some speed. On the day I went, the mix of bikes and skateboards seemed to be getting along well, so I assume as long as the crowd is relatively small, the problems of different methods of mobility are too. If you like skating, this is the place to be! Review #902

There are great walking trails with lots of dogs. There is a huge children's playground located at…read morethe park. Depending on the day and time it can either be super crowded and over run with cursing children without adults. We almost witnessed 9 years olds getting into a physical fight. The park is so large and has so much potential it is just not well kept or monitored.

Wonderful break for my kiddos as we were driving cross country! 20 minutes off my route I- 64 BUT…read morethis place was quite AMAZING!!! I have never seen a park quite like it! And free!!! Kudos!!!!

Clean park with lots of shade. Playground is older but I'm good conditions. Kids had a great time!read more

Located north of downtown is a park that includes a clubhouse, basketball courts, a large swimming…read morepool, and a wooded playground. The park was renovated by the local Jaycees and partners back in 1985. There is a large paved parking lot next to the park which can easily hold the visitors to the area. The playground features numerous slides and has swings and some climbing structures. The pool is fenced and has a waterslide. The basketball goals are on the east side of the pool structure so they are separated from the playground area. Review #3200

The Paoli Community Park is large and spread out on a stretch of land bordered by Lick Creek. It's…read moremore rural than the other parks in Paoli and is primarily used as a baseball park. There are multiple baseball fields on site and there appears to be a lot of parking that is paved. It didn't appear to have a problem with flooding even though the creek lies just beyond a wooded area to the south of the park. I did notice a playground for smaller kids near the entrance which cleverly uses the slope of the hill to add a long and winding slide. My only negative is that it is a long distance away from the ball diamonds which make it difficult for parents who wish to watch the game and keep an eye on their kids. I didn't see any playground for larger kids to use, though I may have missed it. (The parks website don't list features.) Another well kept park in Orange County. Just a little too spread out for doing more than one activity. Review #2664

Not a bad little place to play if you're in a pinch and in the French Lick area. This park is…read morelocated a couple of minutes from French Lick Resort, so it's a good option if you're looking for a playground and you're staying at the resort. I like vintage things, so aesthetically, the playground here is right up my alley. The playground equipment looks like it was plopped onto the grounds in the early 1980s and hasn't been touched since. The playground equipment is all metal, with tall twisty slides, a cage-looking area, metal poles and a metal merry-go-round. The ground is sandy. My kids spent the majority of the time spinning on the merry-go-round. Literally, that's all there is to this playground, so your enjoyment might vary depending on how quickly your children tire of playing with a few old metal things. This park looks like it's built vertically, so if you climb up a little hill, you'll see a baseball field and some other things. Parking is almost nonexistent for the playground: just drive to where the road stops and pull over on the side of the road.

Away from the highly visited hotels and shops of West Baden Springs and French Lick, the northwest…read morearea of West Baden Springs has a community park. The entrance is located on a hill and has parking, a basketball court, and a concession stand nearby. At the base of the hill, several baseball fields and a playground are located. The ball fields look to be in good condition. So does the playground, but it lacked any type of protective surface to keep kids dry and safe. It appears to be just a dirt (not even grass) play area which was dry during my visit. There were a couple roads that lead down to the ballfields and playground, but parking was limited other than along the roadside. Not an ideal layout for anyone who wants to use the concession stand or paved parking up above. Review #2666