If you are not familiar, this lake is notorious for hazards preventing you from going into the lake or fishing from the lake - I believe organ failure is it's main attraction...every year it seems. A well known tarnish to an otherwise great city. Des Moines deserves better than this.

Edit: After looking over so many reviews talking about fishing & children swimming in the water, reading this has become rather disturbing. I am not attacking this park out of some agenda - it's simply the facts. Iowa bodies of water rarely yield fish suitable for human consumption - it's a byproduct of our large agricultural output; nitrates are always high. The same for swimming, particularly Gray's Lake. Fleur (one of the busiest roads in Des Moines, connecting to the city's airport) runs very close to the water & seasonal rains often close it down because how easily it floods over. All that land contamination draws back into the Lake and it takes time to for the water to return to safe thresholds. Don't let your children swim in this water; find a water park or go to Adventureland with their recent large investment in water attractions. A season pass pays for itself after 2 visits if you buy one early season & you can enter an unlimited amount of times with it. Better than rolling the dice on whether your child will need to be placed on an organ donor waiting list from swimming in polluted water.