Three park departments share Avon. Washington Township Parks runs the free splash pad, the tortoises at Pecar Park and Murphy Aquatic Park; the Town of Avon runs Blue Heron Park, the 83 acres around Town Hall with a lake and a radio-control car track; and Hendricks County runs W.S. Gibbs Memorial Park, where a 30-foot hill turns into a sledding hill after a snow. Six of the nine picks below cost nothing, and the indoor ones cover the cold months: the library, the Y’s warm-water pool and an indoor playground. For the rest of the metro, start with our list of 101 things to do in Indianapolis with kids.
Jump to upcoming events in Avon
1) Washington Township Park
Washington Township Park spreads over 160 acres on both sides of Whipple Lane, with White Lick Creek along its east edge. The Upper Park has the big playground, a pond, a gazebo between the two and a basketball court. Down in the Lower Park are the splash pad, four pickleball courts, the amphitheater and the Explorer Barn, where the township runs its school-break camps. The park map also marks gaga pits, a sand volleyball court, a disc golf course and trailheads for hiking, mountain biking and the White Lick Creek Trail.
The splash pad is free and runs Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, with shade sails, seating and restrooms attached. It can’t be rented, and the township warns that seats fill fast. It’s one of the free spray grounds in our Indianapolis splash pad guide.
Families with a dog can use Paw Park, which the township calls Hendricks County’s first dog park; it takes a membership or a $10 day pass per dog. Township residents who own a kayak can buy a $5 annual pass to paddle the park ponds. There are no kayak rentals.
- Address: 435 Whipple Lane, Avon
- Splash pad hours: Mondays through Fridays noon to 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend)
- Cost: Free
2) W.S. Gibbs Memorial Park
Hendricks County Parks built W.S. Gibbs Memorial Park on Gibbs Road between County Roads 200 S. and 350 S. The mailing address says Danville, but the park sits inside Avon’s town limits, and about 110 of its 160 acres are now woods, prairie, ponds and play space. The 30-foot hill is the landmark. A staircase goes straight up, and a concrete switchback trail makes the climb accessible. Most of the year it’s a lookout; after a snowfall, it’s the park’s sledding hill.
The nature-themed playgrounds are split by age, 2 to 5 and 5 to 12, with swings and a sound garden, and there’s a separate nature play area. About 3 miles of trails mix gravel, natural, concrete and paved surfaces and pass an 8-acre pollinator garden and the Bicentennial Tree Trail. The two ponds are stocked with bass, bluegill, redear sunfish and channel catfish, and each has an ADA-accessible dock. There’s no fee to fish, and licensed anglers can keep what they catch under state rules. The restrooms are open year-round, and the park lends a GRIT Freedom Chair mobility wheelchair for free in two-hour blocks.
Gibbs is also the Avon stop in our guide to things to do in Brownsburg with kids, a short drive north.
- Address: 4521 Gibbs Road, Danville
- Hours: Dawn to dusk daily
- Cost: Free, including the 18-hole disc golf course
3) Blue Heron Park
Blue Heron Park was Town Hall Park until March 2026, and the town’s own park pages still use the old name in places. It covers 83 acres around Town Hall and the police station, with playgrounds, paved trails, a 9-acre lake, a small pond and 3-acre Sycamore Lake. Fishing is catch and release with a state license, and swimming, wading and ice skating are off-limits on every town lake.
Track 36, the outdoor radio-control car track, is free and public, and the town says it’s the only one of its kind in Hendricks County. The outdoor ping pong tables sit between the shelter and the track, and paddles and balls are stored on the shelter’s west wall for anyone to borrow. The 18-hole disc golf course starts next to the old horse barn on the west side of the lake, with scorecards in the mailbox by the first tee.
- Address: 6570 E. U.S. Highway 36, Avon
- Hours: Dawn to dusk
- Cost: Free
4) Pecar Park Nature Center and Pock Woods
Jack and Diane, the two African spurred tortoises our first look at Pecar Park introduced, still live in the nature center, along with turtles and whatever other animals the park naturalist brings in. Outside are a playground, a pond the park map calls Raccoon Lagoon, an outdoor classroom, a community fire pit, a geocache and open prairie and wetland to explore.
The nature center opens for programs and rentals; the township doesn’t post drop-in hours. The monthly Wild World of Nature series picks a new plant, animal or habitat theme each month, and the program calendar also lists family crafts, guided hikes and archery classes. The archery range is booked online, and every archer signs a waiver first.
Pock Woods next door fills in the trails Pecar didn’t have. The park map shows six named trails across the two parks, including a Fairy Trail and the Pock Pass, Creeping Cricket and Morel March trails. Park at Pecar and follow the gravel campground drive to the entrance. The township’s nine primitive campsites are here too, seven in full sun and two shaded inside Pock Woods, all within walking distance of indoor restrooms and showers.
- Address: 5203 E. County Road 150 N., Avon
- Cost: Free to visit; campsites $15 for township residents, $25 for nonresidents
5) Burnett Woods Nature Preserve
Burnett Woods was the first public nature preserve in Hendricks County, and the Central Indiana Land Trust still owns it. The woods are mature black walnut, beech, oak, hickory, sugar maple and tulip poplar, with trillium and wild geranium on the forest floor in spring. Two marked loop trails run over level ground, and the land trust names it as a good preserve for hiking with young children.
Park at Light and Life Methodist Church next door, near the road, and walk the sidewalk to the trailhead behind the preserve sign. The land trust asks for no visits on Sunday mornings because of the parking.
- Parking: Light and Life Methodist Church, 8264 E. County Road 100 S., Avon
- Hours: Dawn to dusk
- Cost: Free
Related Article: Best Places to Go Hiking with Kids in Indianapolis
6) Avon-Washington Township Public Library
Storytime at the Avon-Washington Township Public Library starts with Wee Wiggles for babies and moves up through Big & Little Storytime for toddlers and preschoolers. School-age kids get LEGO Club, Pokémon Club, a STEM Lab and Paws to Read, and families can sign up together for Family Bingo Night. Most kids programs take registration on the library’s events calendar.
The Friends Bookstore inside is open Mondays from 10:30 a.m. to noon and on the second and fourth Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Address: 498 N. Avon Ave., Avon; 317-272-4818
- Hours: Mondays through Thursdays 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sundays 2 to 5 p.m.
- Cost: Free
7) Hendricks Regional Health YMCA
The Hendricks Regional Health YMCA has a warm-water recreation pool with zero-depth entry, interactive water features and a 78-foot water slide, next to a four-lane lap pool. Family Swim is on the pool schedule. Inside the building, a family center has a play structure, and outside there’s a 3.2-mile walking trail.
It’s a membership Y, but the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis accepts day passes at every center. The price isn’t posted online, so call the front desk before a first visit.
- Address: 301 Satori Parkway, Avon; 317-273-9622
- Hours: Mondays through Fridays 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sundays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
8) Chuck E. Cheese Adventure Zone
The Avon Chuck E. Cheese pairs its arcade with an Adventure Zone: the Superhero Playground, a multi-level climber with rope challenges, climbing walls, slides and tunnels, plus a Trampoline Zone. Both are for kids under 56 inches, so older siblings stick to the games. Grip socks come with trampoline admission, and an All You Can Jump pass lets kids leave and come back later the same day with the receipt.
On the first Sunday of each month, Sensory Sensitive Sundays open the building two hours early with dimmer lights, lower sound and no flashing effects, with no reservation needed.
- Address: 9931 E. U.S. Highway 36, Avon
- Hours: Sundays through Fridays 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturdays 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Related Article: 25 Best Indoor Playgrounds in Indianapolis for Kids
9) Murphy Aquatic Park (summer)
Murphy Aquatic Park opens for the summer only, and the gates are closed until 2027. Inside are a wave pool, water slides, a toddler zone with cabana rentals and an ADA-accessible splash playground with 48 spray features and a super-splasher. Town of Avon and Washington Township residents pay the resident rate, and that includes families in the parts of Brownsburg, Danville and Plainfield that pay Washington Township property taxes.
Outside the pool gates, the park has an all-inclusive playground, a pond and a paved trail that runs west to Washington Township Park (No. 1).
- Address: 753 S. County Road 625 E., Avon
Coming Up in Avon
The slider pulls from our family calendar, Avon listings first and then the rest of Hendricks County. For this weekend across the metro, start with things to do this weekend in Indianapolis.
Coming Up in Avon
Family events in and near Avon, updated daily
Blue Heron Park hosts the town’s two signature events: Night at the Park each July, one of the Fourth of July fireworks shows around Indianapolis, and the Harvest Hayrides Festival around the lake each October. Avon’s official hours for Halloween night are in our list of Indianapolis-area trick-or-treat times, which we fill in each fall.
Putting Together an Avon Day
- In summer, the splash pad in Washington Township Park’s Lower Park in the morning, then the paved trail to Murphy Aquatic Park for the afternoon.
- For two free rounds of disc golf, the 18 holes around the lake at Blue Heron Park and the prairie course at W.S. Gibbs Memorial Park.
- On a fall Saturday, the Burnett Woods loops while the leaves turn, then the playgrounds and the climb up the hill at Gibbs.
- For a night out without going far, a campsite at Pecar Park, the Pock Woods trails before dark and an archery session booked ahead.
- On a cold weekday, a library storytime in the morning and Family Swim at the Y later on.
The White Lick Creek Trail is planned to run all the way from the Plainfield Recreation Center to Williams Park in Brownsburg, and Avon’s neighbor to the south has a guide of its own: things to do in Plainfield with kids. Most of what’s above is free, and so are the 40-plus picks in our roundup of free things to do in Indianapolis with kids.
