I was thoroughly impressed with this park. In 2018 the park was renamed to Westermeier Commons, in honor of Mark Westermeier, who served as Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation director for 15 years. It has everything you would want in a park a more. It has a splash pad. it has three medium sized shelters and one large one. The large shelter is also where you will find the restrooms. It is also located by the splash pad and play ground. All the shelters are very nice and have grills right outside of them.
The park has two clear strengths though. Its playground area and its trails. The playground is awesome. It is very futuristic. It covers 25,000 square feet of play space. It has top of the line, new age equipment. There is an awesome double see-saw, an AeroGlider (a fun rocking boat that sways back and forth and has bench seats), a spinner belt, a conveyor belt slide, new swings, monkey bars, balance beam, rock climbing, a saucer swing and a huge junge gym that looks like some kind of spaceship with slides. The playground area is lined with a soft rubbery surface. The playground is fully accessible and all children are able to enjoy the equipment.
Don't worry, if you have really little kids they have another area that has a much smaller jungle gym and slide and toddler swings. One of my littles' favorite part of the playground area was the light touch game that is over by the saucer swing. There are a few, and I mean few benches around the playground area for parents to sit and keep an eye on their little ones. You may not notice it, but there are 3 cave-like areas under the elevated walkway behind the jungle gym to provide a space for children who need quieter spaces during play or just a time out.
The playground area is very clean and really first class. You can tell that a lot of planning went into it.
Now, the park has a lagoon that is home to many ducks and little fish and there is a boardwalk that runs along the lagoon. There are trails here for miles and miles, interconnected with one another, some paved and some natural. The trails are known as Central Park's East Trails, which are about 3 miles of trails that wind through a variety of ecosystems including native prairies, wetlands, and woodlands. Some of the trails in the park are named Paw Paw, Prairie, Woodland, Maple, Oak, Tuliptree, and Interurban. They all feeds You can go even further than 3 miles on these trails though, because they are connected to the Monon Greenway. The trails are good for jogging, walking and taking the dog for a walk. Dogs are not allowed on the splash pad or in the play area though.
My littles and I really enjoyed this park. It is beautiful with a lot to offer. We spent a few hours here. Surprisingly, the littles liked walking the boardwalk just as much as they liked the playground. I highly recommend this park. read more