With the warmer weather here, it is the perfect time to start enjoying all the outdoor space that the Derby City has to offer! Here is our Louisville guide to parks and playgrounds in the area.
Adventure Playground and Splash Park
1201 River Rd, Louisville, KY 40202
This playground includes three areas for different age groups and a climbing rock nearby. The play area has wonderful views of the river, the Great Lawn, and the downtown skyline. The playground features large play structures that resemble a steamboat, a towboat, and a bridge. There is also a climbing pyramid. The Splash Park is open seasonally, from early May through October. This play area includes water cannons, spray misters, a tipping water bucket, and colorful metal sculptures of fish that are elevated and spray water from their mouths.
Beckley Creek Park
1411 Beckley Creek Pkwy, Louisville, KY 40245
A traditional urban park, located at the northern stretch of The Parklands, its Garden Gateway entrance abutting Shelbyville Road near the I-265/I-64 juncture. Beckley Creek Park serves the surrounding suburbs with its picnic areas and fishing lakes, farmers markets and community gardens, paved or natural-surface trails that wind along the creek, and business meetings and wedding receptions at the Gheens Foundation Lodge.
Brown Park
1000 Browns Ln, St Matthews, KY 40207
This park includes a large pavilion with picnic table, play area equipped for children ages 2-12, musical play features, and forest play, and paths for walkers and runners. The ducks that frequent the park are an attraction for the kids. There are seasonal events that take place at this St. Matthews park.
Cherokee Park
745 Cochran Hill Rd, Louisville, KY 40206
Cherokee Park’s main feature is the 2.3-mile Scenic Loop, with separate lanes for vehicle traffic (one-way) and recreational users. One of the original parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the park provides a pastoral setting amid rolling hills, open meadows and woodlands of the Beargrass Creek valley. Within the park is a playground and splashed, located near Hogan’s Fountain.
Cliffside Playground and Sprayground at Broad Run Park
10700 Broad Run Pkwy, Louisville, KY 40291
Nestled at the base of a cliff overlooking the southern limit of The Parklands, the Cliffside Center is an active site complex. The amenities include the Greensward, the Redbud Shelter, the Ogle Foundation Woodland Pavilion, the Cliffside Playground and Sprayground, and the Midway, a gravel walk lined with benches.
Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve
12501 Harmony Landing Rd. Goshen, KY 40026
Located in Goshen, this park is located just outside of Louisville. It includes a lot of activities for families, including a playground, nature center, and trails.
Des Pres Park
4709 Lowe Rd, Louisville, KY 40220
Located near Jeffersontown, this park boasts 27 acres with amenities including: a multipurpose field, playground, pickle ball, and picnic area with tables.
E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park
2201 Lakeland Rd, Louisville, KY 40223
A 554-acre oasis on the outskirts of Louisville, the rolling fields that were once farmland are now the site of some of the finest indoor and outdoor recreation facilities in Kentucky. Stop by for a swim, play a round of tennis or bring your pet to the dog park! There are two playgrounds, one located near Picnic shelter 1 and one located near the dog park.
Joe Creason Park
1297 Trevilian Way, Louisville, KY 40213
Located across the street from the Louisville Zoo and next to the Louisville Nature Center, this park is popular with bird watchers and cross-county runners. There are tennis courts and a 3.1 mile hiking trail, as well as paved paths for walkers and runners.
Iroquois Park
5216 New Cut Road, Louisville, KY 40214
The park covers over 700 acres and includes an amphitheater, basketball courts, biking trails, disc golf, a multipurpose field, picnic areas, spray ground, and a wheelchair-accessible playground.
Marshall Playground & Sprayground in at Beckley Creek
1310 S Beckley Station Rd, Louisville, KY 40245
The playgrounds and picnic tables and restrooms of Marshall and Cliffside are open year-round, but the water at the spraygrounds are on from May through September, weather permitting. This is an accessible, integrated space that allows for creative play and problem-solving for children of all abilities. There are “toddler” and “big kids” sections, but anyone can find summertime delight here.
Pope Lick Park Playground
4002 S Pope Lick Rd, Louisville, KY 40299
This park lies south of Beckley Creek Park and includes the John Floyd Fields and the Park Administration Building, and it offers access to Floyds Fork and the Louisville Loop. Wander through the warm-season grassland of the Prairie Preserve or hike the Big Beech Woods — an old-growth forest of mossy logs and understory trees and centuries-old canopies that soar above you.
Seneca Park
3151 Pee Wee Reese Rd, Louisville, KY 40207
In the heart of St. Matthews, this is a conveniently located park close to restaurants and shops. There is a shaded playground that includes an area for smaller children and an area for older children. Many runners enjoy the paved 1.3 mile loop around the park. It includes a recreational field, usually for soccer games and other team sports. Nearby are tennis courts and basketball courts.
Do you have a favorite park you like to visit with your kids? Let us know and share your photos with #MomsAroundLouisville to be featured!
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