Photos: First look at new Ada Co. park promising thrills, ‘nature play’

Photos: First look at new Ada Co. park promising thrills, ‘nature play’

At the new Park at Expo Idaho, scores of trees, shrubs, grasses, and new installations are bringing a section of land back to life.

Over the past two years, crews have worked hard to transform a former horse racing track and stables area into wetlands, a playground, and a skatepark. Trails and pathways thread through the site, connecting the Boise River Greenbelt to the AC Boise stadium and the fairgrounds.

Ada County Senior Planner Josh Brown said that the park’s grand opening is planned for October 23, with some work on finishing touches likely continuing after.

Brown said the park’s design focuses on “nature play,” designed to get visitors interacting with the park’s built and natural elements.

“We want everybody, no matter what part of the park you’re in, to feel like you’re experiencing nature,” Brown said.

The county began construction on the park in late 2024, thanks to $32 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding it received during the COVID-19 pandemic, as BoiseDev reported. Earlier this year, the soon-to-be-completed park won an award for “Excellence in the Concept,” public space design category in the 2026 World Landscape Architecture Awards.

Skatepark: ‘Something to grow into’

California Skateparks designed the park’s skatepark, the same company that designed the 2024 Paris Olympics’ skating features.

The skatepark features nearly two acres of skateable area over five acres total, Brown said. He called the skatebowl “pretty technical,” but emphasized that there are features for all ages.

The skatepark’s creators designed it with the belief that “professional-type areas create professionals,” Brown said.

“If you want Olympic athletes to come out of your community, give them something to grow into,” Brown said. “There’s stuff out here to do as a four-year-old, but if you’re a 22-year-old trying to qualify for the Olympics, you’ve got the features out here.”

In another section, a skate track winds through a young, planted woodland of trees like river birch and ponderosa pine, bunch grasses dotting the future forest floor.

Nearby, a roller derby area can be used for practices of that sport and street hockey, Brown said.

Playground: ‘Go have fun’

The playground area sports dozens of elements interwoven with boulders, trees and plants, and pathways.

Features include a bouldering climbing wall, a large swingset, a sandbox with a waterpump, hammocks, rope swing traverse, and slides. The tallest towers 37 feet over the landscape, offering a great vantage point of the park — “and it also makes you sweat a little bit,” Brown said.

Pathways through the playground intentionally dead-end sometimes into boulders, Brown said.

“We’re inviting you to jump on the boulders,” Brown said. “Go have fun. And when you’re on that, you get to the next spot.”

Toward the soccer stadium, a bathroom and surrounding pavilion offer shade, with pavilion ceiling vaults designed to draw in air, amplifying breezes, Brown said. A nearby “misting garden” lets visitors turn on tall, metal misters, which will stay on for about an hour, he said.

Brown said that over 1,000 cyclists already bike to each AC Boise home game. Parts of the new park feature “bike gardens,” or additional bike parking for those looking to attend the game or visit the park via the greenbelt.

A restored wetland

Historical maps of the park area show that the area adjacent to the river used to be a wetland, Brown said.

One of the main objectives was working with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the US Army Corps of Engineers to create a 19-acre wetlands area where water from the Boise River could come in, slowing flows and offering a site for fish to spawn.

Brown said that shortly after part of the area closest to the river was cut into place, fish began entering the lowland to hang out and spawn. On Tuesday morning, small fish could be seen throughout the wetland channel as it stretched from the river side of the park to the stadium side.

“Ecological uplift, which is what we’re trying to achieve here — success! Done!” Brown said.

Fish are not the only wildlife moving in. Brown pointed to the stumps of three installed cottonwood trees near the greenbelt reduced to whittled, pointed stumps.

Some beavers had enjoyed a tasty meal.

“When we started designing this, the Fish and Game guys joked, ‘you know you’re building a beaver starter kit, right?’” Brown recalled with a laugh.

One of the cottonwoods was already resprouting, and other trees stand poised to pick up where the cottonwoods left off. Brown said over 1 million plants from more than 16 nurseries have been installed in the park since work began in December 2024.

In some sections of the wetland, plants like yarrow and milkweed are already filling in, while others planted in the seed mix may not sprout for another few years, Brown said. Willow trees are voluntarily sprouting in places, with other clusters of willow stakes and logs, called wattles, installed elsewhere. Trees and plants shade the waterway that flows through the lowland area, offering fish protection from predators.

While the area is currently irrigated, after year three, it’s expected that more than half of the wetland’s planted areas will be established enough and will be irrigated by flows from the river, Brown said. Pathways wind through the wetlands, and up to a ridge area with wooden swings overlooking the entire park.

Though some green thumbs will notice some weeds mixed in, Brown emphasized that creating a biodiverse tapestry of plants is a work in progress, with much expected to grow tall and fill in over time. Brown pointed out bunch grasses planted by crews 30 days ago that had doubled in size.

Brown said of all the areas, he’s partial to the wetland.

“It’s awesome to me. It’s my favorite part of the park because you’re inviting all of the native species back in. We’re restoring it to what it was before.”