Thorne-Rider Park | Sheridan

Thorne-Rider Park stretches along the banks of Little Goose Creek on Sheridan’s north side, offering a broad, tree-lined community space where sports fields, quiet footpaths, and open lawns come together. The park has long been a local favorite, the kind of place where you see families unloading picnic baskets, runners tracing the creekside paths, and kids drifting between playgrounds and ballfields.

Setting and Landscape

The park’s central thread is Little Goose Creek, flowing gently beneath footbridges and past stands of cottonwoods that rustle with a light, papery sound whenever the wind shifts. On summer afternoons, the sunlight filters through the leaves in shifting patterns, creating soft dapples over the water. Wide grassy areas spread out from the banks, framed by scattered shade trees that offer cool spots during the hottest part of the day.

A paved multi-use trail winds through the park, connecting to Sheridan’s broader pathway system. You can follow it along the creek, hearing the water slip over shallow stones and catching occasional glimpses of ducks gliding through calm sections.

Recreation and Amenities

Thorne-Rider Park blends active recreation with easygoing open space. Baseball diamonds, soccer fields, and basketball courts draw steady crowds during local leagues and evening practices. Near the center, a playground and picnic shelters create a family hub, often dotted with birthday parties or casual weekend gatherings.

Just beyond the busiest areas, the quieter pockets of the park offer a different rhythm-benches tucked near the creek, small side trails, and grassy hills where people settle in with books or simply stretch out under the trees.

Community Feel

The park carries a subtle hum of local life. On warm days, you’ll hear the crack of a bat from the ballfields, kids shouting as they race across the playground, and the steady crunch of bicycle tires on the paved path. During community events or summer evenings, the place fills with a pleasant mix of neighbors strolling dogs, teenagers tossing frisbees across the lawns, and older residents taking slow walks along the shade-lined trail.

Atmosphere

Thorne-Rider Park feels lived-in and friendly, providing both space to move and space to pause. With the sound of Little Goose Creek running quietly through its center and the Big Horn Mountains rising just beyond town, the park serves as a comfortable slice of Sheridan’s outdoor culture-simple, green, and welcoming in a way that makes people linger just a little longer than planned.