Submitted
Sorry Simon and Garfunkel, it’s NOT all happening at the zoo. That’s so ‘60’s. Today parks, particularly Hamilton County parks, are where “it’s at!”
Just ask Amanda Smith, Superintendent of Natural Resources & Education for Hamilton County Parks & Recreation. She’ll tell you, as she did Cicero Kiwanis members last Saturday, that area parks offer a wide range of activities sure to interest various ages and degrees of recreational enthusiasm.
Summer camp, nature programs, and a nature center are available at Cool Creek Park in Westfield, with the center open seven days a week. Closer to home, Strawtown Koteewi Park also houses a nature center, programming, trails for hiking and horseback riding, and a lake for kayaking. Rich in history, this 750-acre park also offers adventure experiences, such as zip lining, archery, and a winter snow-tubing hill.
Smith highlighted many activities and programs at county parks, recommending a tour of Coxhall Mansion for adults and Cool Creek’s “Haunt on the Prairie” for young children. She was most enthusiastic, however, about the county’s nature programs, rookery, and recently acquired properties on which new plant species were found. That seems a “natural” for someone who majored in Natural Resources and Environmental Education at Ball State University. She loves to share that knowledge and works to help others understand that natural habitats include our front and backyards.
The Chatterbox newsletter is a wonderful way to see what Hamilton County parks offer. Hard copies are available at the park office in Noblesville and places such as libraries. You can also view a PDF copy online. Just follow this link.
A calendar, facility rental information, site specifics, and much more is available at MyHamiltonCountyParks.com.
About the Cicero Kiwanis
The Cicero Chapter of the Kiwanis International as a part of a non-profit global organization with members who are dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time. In the greater Cicero-area community, the Cicero Kiwanis provide scholarships to local high school students, support local schools through donations to various programs and manpower, provide food and assistance to local food pantries, support families and individuals in need or in crisis and help the community-at-large through donations to Riley’s Children’s Hospital. Weekly meetings begin at 7:30 a.m. on Saturdays at the Red Bridge Community Park Building in Cicero.