City: Indianapolis, IN

Category: Parks & Recreation

Telephone: (317) 233-2434

Address: 801 W. Washington St.

Description: Want to attend a baseball game, stroll along a canal, go to the zoo, hear top entertainers at a lawn concert, or visit a world-class American Indian museum? In most cities, that would mean a lot of driving to get from place to place. In Indy, White River State Park has it all—conveniently and beautifully. The nation’s only urban state park, White River State Park offers an awesome array of attractions and entertainment. The 250-acre park covers both sides of the White River just west of downtown, between Washington and New York Streets. It started as part of a revitalization plan in the 1980s, with the goal of providing first-class entertainment, sporting complexes, gardens, and museums to the downtown area. Although the Indianapolis sports facilities were built elsewhere, the former industrial area has lived up to the goals of the dreamers who envisioned it—and more. The park serves as an anchor for the Canal Cultural District, one of the city’s many cultural districts. The park is home to the Indiana State Museum and IMAX Theater, Indianapolis Zoo and White River Gardens, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art, NCAA Headquarters and NCAA Hall of Champions, the Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial, Victory Field as home of Indianapolis Indians baseball, Military Park, the Governors Lawn concert venue, historic Pumphouse, restaurants, and much more. White River State Park offers many areas for walking, hiking, biking, and in-line skating. At Central Canal, you can walk, jog, or skate along this waterway that runs from the White River through the park. Be serenaded on a gondola ride on the canal or rent one of the pedal boats during the summer. Climb on a Segway to enjoy Indy in a different way. Pedal through the park on your own bike or rent one. You can also share the ride with the whole family in one of Bike Indy’s unique surreys. Surreys and bicycles for adults and kids can be rented from a kiosk between the Indiana State Museum and the NCAA Hall of Champions. Maps, helmets, and locks are included in the rental cost. Restoration on the White River State Park area began in the late 1980s. Originally engineered in the 1830s as a way to ship goods through the state of Indiana, the canal project went bankrupt and the Indianapolis section of the canal was the only section that was ever dug. Although the canal was never used for what it was built for, the restoration and development that has occurred has changed the area and made it a main cultural and recreational center for the city of Indianapolis.