Active and passive recreational delights are in store for visitors to Raccoon River Park. Reputed as the "crown jewel" of the parks system in West Des Moines, this facility spreads over more than 630 acres.
One of the first settlers of West Des Moines, James C. Jordan, built the historic Jordan House on Fuller Road. Notably, it was Jordan who fired the midnight gunshot on October 11, 1845, declaring the West Des Moines area open to Anglo-European settlers.
Experience the fruits of a historic commercial district revitalization in the Valley Junction of West Des Moines. The city has been reinvigorating this district since 1987 under the standards and guidelines of the Main Street Iowa program.
A visit to Walnut Woods State Park opens the opportunity to explore various points of interest in its 260-acre expanse on the south banks of the Raccoon River. This nature reserve off Walnut Woods Drive offers shaded campsites, with eight of them having complete power and water hookups.
Opened in 2004, the Jordan Creek Town Center holds the bragging right as Iowa’s largest shopping complex with 1.34 million square feet of commercial space. This mall, located on Jordan Creek Parkway, exudes a park-like setting, with the expansive lake on its grounds incorporating a boardwalk.