Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark

Even if you're not traveling with kids, the Children's Discovery Garden just inside the entrance to Wegerzyn Gardens Metropark is worth a visit. The first thing you'll see as you enter is a small cottage with a rainbow-hue forest for a roof. The whimsy only increases. A limestone grotto with a gentle waterfall and meandering moat beckons the littlest park visitors, who come in bathing suits for a free mini water park experience. There's also a music maze, wetlands area with a swampy pond and even an interactive vegetable garden.The adult-size gardens are just as fanciful. Through May 2013, a free-standing willow-branch sculpture (designed by artist Patrick Dougherty and crafted with the help of volunteers) beckons visitors. It's a swirling maze of twigs, bent and twirled into small paths ripe for exploring. Just beyond are the formal gardens, including a Victorian Garden and the Federal Garden, where European beech trees have been trained into beautiful plump, leafy arches. And for a walk on the moderately wild side, head onto the wooden boardwalk that deposits visitors on a 1-mile circular footpath through  forested swampland.