Cascade Park — Attraction in New Castle

Okay, so here we go. Drove an hour and then some. This was supposed to be the site of a abandoned theme park, so I was super excited to go and check it out. Now, before my mom and I went to the park, she had done some research and read a couple of reviews from people that claimed there were like broken down rides and whatnot that you can actually sit in and whatever. We turn into the entrance and are met with a pretty desolate area with no clear parking. We pulled off to the side and got out and walked around a little bit. No one was around. There were some random run down food stands, but that was it. So we start walking down a ways on the path thinking that the rides must be further back, we come to a memorial constructed for Vietnam vets. There were two separate memorials. We keep walking and run into a kids playground and nothing else lol it was so BIZARRE! At this point, we're far enough from the car that we go ahead back for the car and drive past the playground to another clearing and there's a river that runs through the area. My mom read that there's a big Cascade that we should see, if nothing else. The waterfall we came to was a tiny shred of a waterfall I'd seen in a while, and was super disappointed. We snapped some pictures and moved on. We could drive down to a bridge, but the bridge itself was locked and gated, but there was a walking trail that people seemed to frequent. My mom and I walked the trail and came back to the car. We're on our way to drive out and as we're driving and almost out of the park, she said "oh look! Do you see that?? That's the Cascade!" Sure enough, there was a sizeable waterfall we almost missed, shown in the photographs. We were pleased to find at least one of the things we came there for. But yeah. The rides haven't been there since like.. the 80s. It's a pretty place (but pretty rough in 30 degree weather), but...

Even though it's not a very nice park compared to other parks in and around New Castle, I absolutely love this place. There isn't really much to do, but I used to go there as a kid in the 1980's and it was really worn down back then. The good news is that, compared to the shape of the park back then, it has drastically improved. The landscaping looks nice, the bocci ball court area looks good and is kept up nicely, it's generally cleaner than it used to be and probably the best thing that has happened is the addition of a dog park on the outskirts of the park, which I go to frequently when the weather is nice. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention the waterfall. It is still as cool as ever but I have to admit it doesn't look nearly as intimidating as it did when I was 8 years old. Lol Even after all these years, I find that I still go for a drive through the park once in a while. There are some nice things about the park but the fact that I spent more time in this park (and loved every minute of it) than any other place my entire childhood is reason enough for me to...

Cascade park is a treasure. I wish there was better play equipment and more for children to do.

August 22, 2025: We spent an early afternoon at Cascade Park yesterday. The children had a wonderful time on the old wooden playset and the newer tall tower set. It looks like a red tire swing was installed. It was popular. We had a nice meeting down in the Grove, be sure to bring wet towels to wipe down the picnic tables! Very important. We walked back along the creek to explore. They children were active and engaged. There was broken glass were I parked. I moved what I could. I need to put a dust pan and hand broom in my car for next time. I still believe Cascade Park is a lovely respite in New Castle. We are fortunate to have this lovely, natural park. It needs to be preserved, protected and treated...