The City of Carmel has injected a bunch of fun activities and art along the Monon Trail in area…read moreknow as Midtown. The trail splits in this area with bike/running paths and pedestrian paths. In the medians between, there is a artsy splash pad/fountain, good for a quick cool down on a hot day. One area has a fun climbing structure for kids. There is even a colorful ping pong table, complete with paddles and balls. I even saw a bocce ball and shuffle ball courts - completely equipped! The setup is perfect for a date night or family fun. There was a temporary photo backdrop of splashing water commemorating the local swimmers going to the US finals and Olympics. Along the trail are several sculptures and murals that keep the trail interesting. There are benches and tables periodically to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee or socialize. The landscaping is lovely. The area is kept immaculate. The maintenance staff is super friendly. There is some street and garage parking nearby. The pedestrian traffic gets congested during peak times. Pro tip: Early morning walks are quiet and there is plenty of parking.

Beautiful trail that leads to a cake shop. It was so pretty during the fall season. You can see all…read morethe foliage. Great way to get your steps in.

Excellent quick hike getaway in Avon. - no entrance fee or…read moremembership needed - easy to find right in heart of Avon no long trek - on-site free parking - deep forest & streams - secluded, no crowds - connect with nature - flat easy to navigate trail, short distances

This nature preserve has a lot of undeveloped potential. The land (83 acres) is forest with a…read moresmall creek running through it. The park has little information (no kiosk) but does have a sign asking visitors to wipe the soles of their shoes BEFORE entering so that they don't bring in seeds from invasive plants. The park entrance is at the southwest corner of the preserve (near the highway). From there, a trail leads back to the first loop (Blue) that covers roughly the middle third of the park. On the north end of the loop, there is a sign that directs you back to the entrance or north to the second loop (red) which covers the northern third of the park. Basically, the red loop covers the area on the other side of the creek. Both loops and the connector trails consist of moderate size trees with foot worn paths between them. A few wooden bridges rest on the ground to get visitors through the wettest areas of the park. The loops have very little elevation change so I would rate the hikes as easy to moderate. Although the preserve does not have its own parking, the neighboring church (to the west) allows park visitors to use the church lot any time other than Sunday morning. I can see not wanting to develop the land for visitors, but information about the parks plants and animals would be useful. Trail lengths and a map of the layout would also be helpful for first time visitors to plan their treks. Review #806

WALKED ON THE MONON TRAIL ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 2025…read more===================================================== My husband really wanted to take our e-bikes to Indianapolis, but I didn't want to deal with loading and unloading them every day on our four day road trip from L.A. to Indy. We did find a good place to rent e-bikes in Indy, but it was so freakin' hot and humid that we didn't do that either. We did however walk on part of the Monon Trail a couple times the week we stayed in Indy. The next time we go back and the weather is cool we'll definitely rent e-bikes and go explore. History: The Monon Trail is named for the Monon Railroad, which was on the land that the path is now on. It was opened in 1999 as a ten mile bike and pedestrian pathway. Today the paved pathway stretches more than twenty miles.

12 years since my last review of the Monon Trail. This Indianapolis treasure connects miles and…read moremiles of neighborhoods and is used daily by cyclists, walkers, runners, rollerbladers, you name it. In the summer months, it can be quite busy. In the last few years, it's been great to see some of the business and residential development along the Monon. Specifically from 30th street all the way to downtown. Who can be sad about a trail that lands you at a bakery like Leviathan? Or, you can also follow the trail until it connects with another fabulous network, The Cultural Trail just off east Mass Ave downtown. If you're visiting from out of town, this is a great option for exercise and a little peace and quiet (other than the intersections... which are not always peaceful thanks to Hoosier drivers ).

If you like the Indy outdoor scene but want to avoid the crowds, Southwestway Park is a great place…read morefor it! I consider the hiking to be similar to Eagle Creek and Fort Harrison parks, but with the perks of no entry fee and thus, less crowds. I went on my hike on an early Saturday evening. There is pretty good shade coverage on the trails. They are rated for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Some spots can be muddy or slick, so good traction on your shoes is a must. I don't believe there is a bathroom on the premises. There's also not a ton of parking by the hiking trails either. However, there is some construction going on in the area, so they might be adding some extra facilities with this.

This is a great park for mountain biking of all levels and hiking. Good free outdoor activity and a…read moreworkout. We took some of our kids mountain biking for the first time here. Helmets are definitely a must. Even the beginner trail can be challenging if never mountain biked before. My kids really enjoyed it, one struggled with getting up the hills though so that caused some hardship when biking with multiple people in close proximity. The mountain biking trails also have hikers on them so beware and try to be as safe as you can. After mountain biking, we hiked a trail which was fun. Not sure how long the trail was, but we walked all the way down by the water which was very pretty. They have a paved path as well if that's more your speed. Parking areas are available which makes accessing the park easy. I didn't notice any restroom building, but they had a porta potty open for use. A playground was accessible near the area we parked at.

White River State Park is one of the most popular parks in the city, and for good reason! The…read morenickname for it is Indy's backyard. With riverfront and canal-front trails, a pedestrian bridge to the zoo, proximity to the city, and the amphitheater, so much goes on down here. Over the years, my favorite special events have been the food truck festival and the solar eclipse festival. The area is kept to be pedestrian friendly, with parking being underground to the park and wide walking and biking lanes. During warmer weather, I often see a hotdog vendor for a nice and easy lunch. There's lots of sculptures around the park too, which helps to keep things scenic. There's also a huge lawn space for running around.

Beautiful greenspace on the outskirts of downtown all along the White River, as the name implies,…read moreand the canal. Lots to see and do, or just relax, enjoy a little nature, walk or run along the water, enjoy all sorts of trails, enjoy some of the public art hidden here and there, have a little picnic, whatever you feel like. There is an outdoors concert venue, a souvenir shop, the zoo, various museums, such as the Eiteljorg, the Indiana State Museum and such. You can rent multi-seat bikes or a segway and cover more ground. Go and discover.

It is an awesome lil trail for a quick nature reset. Even though it isn't more than a mile long it…read moreis Beautiful!

Located right near the Hendricks and Boone Count Line on US 136, I was pleasantly surprised at the…read moreaccessibility of this nature park. The trails are limited to hikers and are paved with blacktop. The park offers a perimeter hike or a diagonal path along the sides of the creek that flows towards the Big Walnut Creek to the east. For visitors who like to know what they are looking at, the park has numerous stands with information as well as location indicators on the park maps. There are also labels for types of trees that blend well with the surrounding scenery. I also noticed some small stands with words of positivity like Kindness, Faith, Peace. I don't know the story behind those but they are low to the ground so as to not interfere with those hikers who simply want to see nature. My only knock on the park is that due to erosion along the creek, there were a lot of trees falling over into the creek. The branches were clogging the flow of water, trapping debris and leaves so that some areas of the creek were stagnating. A bit of maintenance to clean up the clogs and maybe some assistance on reducing the erosion would preserve some of the trees fighting to hang on. The park is just over 20 years old and could use a good cleaning to restore its condition. There is a lone shelter outside the wooded part of the park near the parking lot which looked to be in pretty good shape. Review #730

I have visited Carter Station several times while walking the Big 4 Rail Trail. The 20 acre park…read moresits off the trail and holds a pond, paved trail around the pond and nine parking spaces. Vegetation around the pond is natural and a bit wild. A single bench sits on the west side of the pond. The pond is home to many species of birds. I saw red winged blackbirds, ducks and heard wrens during my walk this morning. The property was donated to the Town of Zionsville for use as a park by local businessman Robert Carter. I would not consider the space as a destination park. The park is a good place for a short walk with a dog or a run through. I saw evidence of fishing in the pond. The walkway and parking are accessible. There are no restroom or other amenities.

I like that Zionsville has set aside property as green space, but listing it as a park is a bit of…read morea stretch. It seems to be nothing more than an expanded area of the hiking trail. There is a paved parking lot and within the 8 acres, there is a nice pond. The area seems to be maintained and clean, but it doesn't seem like much of a park. Maybe my expectations were raised by it being listed on the Parks & Rec website, but there just isn't much here to make it worth stopping by unless you are already at the trail. Review #643

I live approximately 3 miles from Pogue's Run Art & Nature Park, though I've never made it by until…read morethis evening as I was driving home from work and realizing I was in the need for a bit of nature. Pogue's Run Art & Nature Park is, quite obviously, a park that also includes a few pieces of public art lacking any sense of identity or formality. They are certainly pleasant enough - it just seems like if you're going to the trouble of creating a public park with art in it that you'd want to actually identify the art. This park is a part of Indy Parks and is at 2300 N. DeQuincy at the end of a street with an older business park directly across from it. It's in a residential area, though it's kind of set apart from it. I'm not sure if this is considered Little Flower or Community Heights - I think it's a bit too far north to be considered Little Flower. Pogue's Run is named after George Pogue, a blacksmith who was one of the early settlers in the area. He settled in the area round 1819, though even before that the area was known as a path for Native Americans. Pogue is one of Indy's great mysteries - he disappeared in 1821 and was never found. The park contains 1.5 miles of the 2.3 mile Pogue's Run Trail, a trail that was developed as part of a flood control project for Pogue's Run. The park is considered the northern trailhead for the trail. The south trailhead is at Brookside Park. The trail is really the park - though the art is scattered around the trail. There's not a whole lot else to do here and while the pond here is quite beautiful, it's obviously quite murky and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't eat a fish that was caught in it. Pogue's Run the creek runs from right about Arlington High School (which is even closer to my house) to the downtown area where it stops being a creek and flows under Banker's Life Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium. It empties into White River. There's lots of wildlife here, especially if you visit toward the evening. It's an Indy Park, so it's not open late but I'd imagine there's lots of wildlife then. In fact, it's one of the few Indy parks I've seen that actually has a gate. Signage is poor to get to the park, though there's a sign off East 16th Street (I've heard there's not one off East 21st). You basically have to know the park is there. The park has a wetlands that hosts geese, ducks, egrets, turtles, an occasional snake, and even a beaver lodge. I did a little research and found out that the art work was created in conjunction with Herron School of Art. Much of the art work is functional and gives you a place to sit while at the pond or watching wildlife. The park is, however, also very urban and you'll also see the interstate and nearby homes. There is a bit of a barrier to keep the older and, well, dumpy business park from being easily in view. One of my favorite aspects of the park was that it has a wooden trestle bridge that is just awesome. The trail itself is a mixture of paved and crushed stone. It's got some modest inclines. It's not what I'd call wheelchair friendly, though I was able to make it work and do the entire trail. I doubt it would be passable in a wheelchair after a rain or in snow. There's also a decent-sized parking lot. There's a single portable toilet located in the parking lot. I'm sometimes troubled by Indy's lack of devotion to its parks. This is a decent enough park, but it could be so much more with some creative vision and commitment. However, it's a bit of a working class gem in a working class area of Indy's eastside.

Not much of an art park because I'm most of the pieces are for sitting. There is pretty water by…read morethe part with graffiti, but currently the homeless is sleeping their with their tent. The art should be replaced every year or at least every couple of years to be called an "art and nature park". I'd also like to add that it is right next to a highway. So you will hear nothing but traffic and smell it as well. I always see pretty birds and geese though. The trail is still nice and it's very close to where I live so I do frequently visit.