Chisolm Creek Park: Joss’s New Favorite Place

We drove up to Wichita on Easter Sunday to spend the holiday with family. Because we arrived sooner than they were available, we ended up swinging by Chisolm Creek Park for about half an hour. It is now Joss’s favorite place, and he can’t wait to go back.

Chisolm Creek is similar to Oxley Nature Center in that visitors can experience a variety of ecosystems throughout the park. These include wetlands, prairie, ponds and woodlands. Learn more at gpnc.org/chisholm-creek-park/

My grandparents lived maybe half a mile from Chisolm Creek, so growing up, we were frequent visitors! I was excited to show Joss some favorite places…and impressed that they were 1) still there and 2) that I found them with ease! Our visit was brief, but we got to scramble over the broken concrete slabs crossing the creek. Joss looked for mussel shells and enjoyed touching the cool water.

I love that there is a nice mix of paved, wide trails and smaller trails going off into the woods and down to the creek. I also love how much Joss enjoyed climbing trees and running around exploring. It made me realize we need to do better at visiting our local trails, like Turkey Mountain and Oxley.

We even found the old combine that has been there for decades now. We always loved pretending to drive this as kids!

Both of these are near the western entrance. You can also park close to the Great Plains Nature Center on the east side. GPNC has frequent events for all ages, like craft and story times. We didn’t make it to the nature center this time, and it’s been awhile since I’ve visited.

There are so many incredible old trees at Chisolm Creek Park!

Other Wichita Adventures

If you’re planning a trip to Wichita, here are a couple other things you can do:

Visit the Delano District

Located in west downtown Wichita, the Delano District is home to yummy restaurants and unique shopping. We stopped by Hatman Jack’s because my stepdad needed a new hat, and they are THE place for quality headwear. Beanies, fedoras, Sunday hats, bucket hats…you name it.

I finally got to achieve a bucket list item and visit Milkfloat, a coffee shop/bakery. I follow them on Instagram and have wanted to visit for YEARS! Finally got the chance. I ordered a pistachio cream cruffin topped with mini chocolate chips and a honey pistachio latte. They have some really interesting coffee options and interesting dessert flavors. You can convince me to buy pretty much anything if it’s a flavor combination I haven’t tried before.

Finally, because we parked RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT, and ramen and boba are two of Joss’s favorite things, we ate lunch at Yokohama Ramen Joint. They have boba with all the options – jelly, popping boba, pudding – in a wide variety of flavors. Joss devoured his ramen.

But my favorite part was the Studio Ghibli mural on the wall! It was so fun naming the different characters, and such a delightful surprise.

Haaaaaaaaaaaaam!!!

Madison Avenue Central Park in Derby

If you need one last hurrah on your way out of town, Derby has some pretty nice parks, apparently! Derby is south of Wichita, east of I-35. We met a friend at Madison Avenue Central Park, and I was impressed! Joss was less impressed because he was hot, tired and really just wanted to go back to Chisolm Creek.

In addition to a gorgeous playground, there’s a splash pad, tables, restrooms, etc. The only downside was that if you have really young kids with a tendency to wander, it’s easy for them to escape the playground area and get up closer to the parking lot. So you must be vigilant!

I especially loved this animal carving. So many critters to see! Like chipmunks having a tea party!

A view from the other side:

Anyway, we kind of packed in a lot of activities considering we were there just over 24 hours! There are a ton of other fun things to do in Wichita. You can find some of them in this article (it’s number 9): tulsakids.com/9-easy-road-trips-from-tulsa/

What are your favorite things to do in Wichita?