Mill Creek Park

This is the place to play in the grass, take a stroll through the park, get in a quick workout on the simple manual equipment, or just relax by the water fountain. Clean and well maintained.

On a solitary twilight stroll coming from Westport, I stumbled upon Mill Creek Park. And was I quite happy I did.
The park is clean and seemed just popular enough for it to not seem desolate. It is on the smallish side (or perhaps I just did not explore the grounds extensively enough) and is just a bit off from the Plaza. Actually, the one end of the park has the beautiful JC Nicholls Fountain which is just across from The Plaza. It has play areas and good trails.
If I lived near Mill Creek, I could see myself doing my daily walk here.

great place to walk on your lunch break, there are even work out machines next to the paths! beautiful views!

The park is nice to unwind for a jog and afternoon game of Frisbee, catch or soccer. There is the obvious fountain, but what has occurred more than not, are protests — that no one seems to pay much attention to as I think they’ve become cliché. Not to say the protests aren’t important, I just think that people have become desensitized.
I give 3 stars because its not the best park, and there are some fringe elements that find their way in there, as well as a few vagrants. Just be careful.

No voy a mentir a usted, esto no es un bonito parque. Solía trabajar cerca de aquí y este lugar está llena de vagabundos, borrachos y personas con problemas mentales severos. No vayas por la noche, repito no vienen aquí por la noche que no es seguro. Puede estar cerca de la Plaza, pero no dejes que eso te engañarle. Recientemente un corredor fue apuñalado aquí por un vagabundo. Si vas, estar lejos del parte norte y estancia cerca de la Fuente JC Nichols.

Just shy of 12 acres, this is the park that surrounds the JC Nichols fountain. Besides the fountain, it was also very popular for it’s 1.2 mile jogging track with it’s canopy of mature trees.
There is an Eco-​Pond Fountain sitting at the north end. There are two natural waterfalls and water-​loving plants in a large pond. It’s kind of a bird sanctuary. Another great park in Kansas City.

Pretty little park and fountain. I was told this plaza is a replica of a town in Spain.

I really do wish that I lived closer to Mill Creek Park. It’s so many things that an urban park should be, and I wish I could better take advantage of those in my neighborhood.
A long, thin park just off the Plaza, most people know this park due to the JC Nichols fountain, one of the most photographed landmarks in Kansas City. It’s a beautiful fountain, to be sure, and an important piece of KC culture, but this park is so much more!
What I like the most is that it’s a park that is truly used to it’s potential. It has a great running trail, and for people with bad backs like me, it gets bonus points for being made of that somewhat spongy, shock-​absorbing material that allows me to go further than ¼ a mile without crumpling in pain. Along the path are those workout stations. For people without access to a gym, that’s a great feature. Also, there are regularly soccer games being played on the green, as well as most any other game you could imagine.
Additionally, this park is great just for the look of it. I mentioned the fountain before. How many people have their Prom/​Wedding/​Whatevers pictures in front of the JC Nichols Fountain, making this space part of their lasting memories? And the backdrop of the Plaza doesn’t hurt either. I think a lot of us locals just get used to it, but the Country Club Plaza really IS beautiful. Just another thing to enjoy from Mill Creek Park.
The only thing I could think that would make this park a touch better would be the inclusion of a fenced-​off playground, to get the families out here more. But even then, this is certainly one of the pieces of the KC parks system most worthy of praise.

I was «doing a lap» around the walking trail in Mill Creek the other day with someone new to KC and I explained a lot of things I liked about the space:
1. A «cushioned» running track… not asphalt, but not cork… something in between.
2. Workout stations with different exercise devices.
3. Large green space
4. Awesome city «views» with the American Century buildings towering over you.
5. JC Nichols Fountain
Do I need to keep going? Sure. I’ll take another lap.

Mill Creek Park is sandwiched between Main Street and JC Nichols (aka Broadway) right by the Plaza. There’s a one-​mile track with a cut-​through path in the middle if you’d rather run or walk a smaller loop. There are neat exercise machines every so often around the loops — areas for pull-​ups, side-​to-​side exercises, see-​saw-​ish things… ha, I have no clue what the proper names for these machines are, but they can take your workout from just a jog to a little something fancier.
The famous Plaza fountain with the horses sits at the south end of the park and in late Spring you’ll always see kids getting their prom pictures taken or brides posing with their entourages. Good people watching!
I docked Mill Creek Park a star because at night it doesn’t feel as safe as it could, especially in the hilly part of the loop on the northeast side. There used to be more brush and benches where homeless folks would hang out and do who knows what. I don’t know if it’s due to vegetation dying over the winter or if the city actually made an effort to trim the brush down, but it’s looking a lot clearer and less creepy in the evenings now.
Sometimes you’ll catch a drum circle, people playing soccer, cute dogs, families laying out on blankets… who knows? It’s nice, go out and get a little sun!

I’m an avid exerciser who loves to workout at home and in the gym. But there’s nothing better than heading outside and sweating under the sun. This park, conveniently located just east of the Plaza, offers a perfect place to get out and burn some calories.
A 1.2 mile asphalt track surrounds the park’s expansive green space. It circles avid volleyball, soccer and frisbee players. If you need more than space to get your heart rate working, Mill Creek Park has you covered. This past summer the Parks Deptartment updated and added new equipment to the various workout stations along the track. Each station includes aerobic and body weight equipment to help break up the monotony of mindless running. I like to do interval runs between each station to rev up my heart rate.
The best part of Mill Creek Park is it’s close proximity to both Westport and the Plaza making it easy to head to a café or restaurant to refuel, relax and recoup after your workout.

Picture if you will, two built gay men wearing short shorts and tight American Apparel t-​shirts walking their big wiener! Well if you see them, let me know. Instead you will see me and my partner trying to get around the loop of Mill Creek Park with our aging 12 year old daschund. None of us built or dare wearing anything too short and definitely not too tight. But none the less, enjoying the beauty and mixed use space of Mill Creek Park right next to the Country Club Plaza.
I think it’s a great city park. Surrounded by St. Lukes Hospital to the west, Westport to the north, back of Café Trio and American Century business strip to the east and Plaza tennis courts to the south. The beautiful JC Nichols fountain sits on the south side of the park. Providing a perfect people watching scenario. In the spring and summer months one is assured to see wedding parties, prom couples and the oh so delightful engagement photo’s being taken in front of the fountain. Some beautiful, some tacky but always entertaining outfits and modeling poses! If not being used as a background for any of these photo ops, you will be sure to find kids (and adults) wading or swimming in the fountain. Not my first choice of a swimming hole but I’m not here to judge… just people watch. The fountain is beautiful when blasting water or in a winters frozen state.
There is a 1.2 mile circular cushioned asphalt trail that goes around this park. Perfect for dog walking, a little exercise or stroll through the park. There is a little Eco pond on the NE side of the park. Some exercise stations throughout and more than likely some homeless people taking up some space on the park benches, harmless and never seem to be a problem. The middle of the park is often used for volleyball or soccer games.
This park gets a lot of use. A lot of charity walks and events take place here. On any given day, you can see a group of protesters lining the south side of the park claiming their stand on a number of issues as cars line up trying to get into the Plaza. It is diverse, it is alive and it makes me feel like I’m part of a big city when I’m at Mill Creek Park.