Detweiller Park — Attraction in Peoria

Review Date: 08/19/2023

Another childhood location revisited.

Detweiller Park is a place I have fond, if not faded, memories from my childhood. I remember coming here on a few field trips and also coming here to slide down their sledding hill.

My friend Mary and I set out to hike some trails we grew up traversing and I said yes. We got there early to beat the heat and discovered about 30 games of kindergarten-level of soccer being played. Glad to see kids will have fond memories of this place as I do. Once we got parked, we headed out and hit some trails.

Being super rusty with the area, we poked around here and there trying to find where and what to hike. At one point, we had an elderly gentleman walk up to us and give an assessment on some trails we were debating on hiking. We didn’t really want to take this northern path that lead 7 miles away, so we took the Pimiteoui South trail about the lower part of the park, then took Dry Run trail to stretch out the afternoon before ending it too early.

It was a nice leisure stroll with a friend on a sunny and breezy afternoon. The entire soccer fields, once full with kids, were completely empty. In fact, the park was nearly empty by the time we got back to the parking lot. We saw more cars drive through the park than people hiking in the park.

While there are some trails, this isn’t the place to come if you are looking for some dedicated hiking trails like you can get at Forest Park Nature Center but still a great place to...

Big park. Lots of parking. Renting the shelters is a great option for Birthdays and Social Events. They're constantly making improvements while also battling erosion and potholes (thanks Emerald Ash Borer).

Outdoor spaces with grills, electricity, and giant trash bins make it a pretty enticing option for entertaining large groups. You get quite a lot of facility for $100.

They've continued to update playground equipment in almost every picnic area, and while you can still find the vintage swings (gotta have the swings), I've yet to see any of the older, dangerous equipment we broke ourselves on in the 80's. Everything I've seen had been newer, vinyl coated, purpose-built playground equipment for elementary children.

They have restrooms at each shelter area, which close seasonally for winterization. The facilities are equipped with "pit toilets" and running water for hand washing; however, the facilities at the soccer fields are standard public facilities supporting flush toilets, air...

A great park under the Peoria Park District system. Detweiller park not only offers large athletic fields for soccer and other sports it also regularly hosts cross country meets! Besides that it boasts miles of trails through unique plant communities. But you won't have to travel far to see gorgeous spring ephemerals in the parks unique woodlands. These Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale) are visible from the Dry Run Creek path! Come soon before these short lived flowers are gone! But do not worry if you do not make it in time. The trails are littered with spring blooming plants. Just look at the leaves of these Virginia Waterleaf! They will be blooming very shortly. There is always something to discover in the natural areas of the Peoria...