St. Patrick's County Park — Attraction in Notre Dame

I am posting this review due to conflict with one specific park employee. This rating has nothing to do with the grounds or any other employee or volunteers of the park. My son and future daughter in law rented the gazebo area to be married on 10/31/18. The rental was to start at 4pm for a 5pm wedding. It was a small wedding that included a total of 14 people. Immediate family. Parents, siblings, grandparents and great grandparents. Out of the 14 people, 8 were senior citizens, one that was 85 and the other that is just shy of 100 years old. At time of rental we were told we could drive down service road to unload vehicles, in which we did. When we completed unloading , we moved those vehicles to the parking lot. As the seniors arrived, we had them pull up service road and park by gazebo so they wouldn’t have far to walk with their canes, etc... at this time I saw a park ranger driving through, I asked him if it was ok to leave the seniors vehicles parked where they were. He reply’s with “rules state you are supposed to park in parking lot over there” as he points in that direction. “ I see you have seniors with disabilities, please just pull your vehicles up so the driveway can be accessed.” I very much appreciated this gesture and moved the vehicles. Thank you. As the wedding was just about to start (4:58 pm), a woman employee came out of the office and told us we had to move our vehicles to the parking lot. I tried to explain that I had spoken with a park ranger, but this seemed to make no difference to her. So... We put the wedding on hold to accommodate the demands of this woman. I, the father of the soon to be married, moved each vehicle as quickly as I could. As I was moving one of the 3 vehicles, yes 3, not 14, I saw this woman(park employee) leaving in her vehicle. As she was leaving, she saw one of our guests pulling into the park. This woman (park employee)got out of her car and was, in my opinion, harassing our guest about where to park. I then had a few words with this employee. I told her she was not nice and had no compassion for seniors. She got back in her vehicle and left. Evidently her shift was over at 5pm and she had to have this last “power trip” before she left for the day. Look.... I understand park rules. As a matter of fact, my daughter works as a naturalist assistant at a state park every summer as she is majoring in environmental science. The point here is compassion and understanding and sometimes that is not written in black and white, such as rules. UPDATED: to response from owner. My current guess is the response is written and from the individual I had conflict with. Back to my point of compassion and understanding, the unwritten rule. It is never black and white. A person as an individual needs to find this for themselves. I wish you the best in finding...

🌲 Shamrocks, Sunshine & Shenanigans: A Review of St. Patrick’s Park, Indiana 🍀

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if Mother Nature and an Irish poet teamed up to create a Midwestern wonderland, St. Patrick’s Park in Indiana might just be your answer.

First off—no leprechauns (that I saw), but don’t let that deter you. What you will find is 398 acres of pure, green goodness. It’s like the Earth put on its favorite sweater and said, “Here, have a breath of fresh air and a side of serenity.”

The trails? Gorgeous. Whether you're a casual stroller or a hardcore hiker looking for a “find yourself” moment in the woods, the park delivers. The river views are stunning, especially at sunset, when even the mosquitoes seem to pause for a golden hour selfie.

For the picnic enthusiast: there are tables, grills, and just enough shade to keep your potato salad from becoming a science experiment. For the kids: playgrounds and open fields that are basically “energy drainers” disguised as wholesome fun. For the dog: unspoken kingdom. You’ll see tails wagging like there’s bacon in the breeze.

Winter? Cross-country skiing. Fall? Color therapy for your soul. Summer? Nature’s playground. Spring? Frogs, flowers, and flirtation with sunshine.

Final thoughts: If you’re within driving distance and don’t visit, that’s a crime against happiness. Bring snacks, bring friends, bring your favorite human—or just yourself and a good walking stick. Bonus points if you wear green. Not required, but the trees will respect you more.

🌟 Rating: 5/5 shamrocks. Would hike, picnic, and ponder existence...

I'm sure this is a nice park but every time we go we are surely disappointed. The first time we went it was fine, nothing special. There were no maps or anything to tell visitors where you could hike/ski/tube. The trails that we did find were short and hard to navigate since there were no maps provided to visitors at the entrance. The second time it had snowed a few inches the previous night and the website says there is cross-country skiing available. We drove all the way out there, walked around the grounds for the main office and the whole time were followed by a large truck. As we got out to try and find where we could get any help a worker in the truck yelled as us and interrogated us as to why we were trying to find the main office. He continued to rudely ask us questions as we tried to explain we just wanted to find out where we could ski/tube/do any sort of other winter activity. They also never answer their phone so you can never know what is actually going on there unless you drive all the way out there and try to figure it out yourself. Even if you do this they will follow you around the park and interrogate your presence there. If I was giving ratings on the park itself, I'd give a 5. But the 2 stars are for the poor experiences with the management of the park and...