Walk the paved path behind the Dillons at Central and Maize far enough and it ends in the grass. Keep going and you're on a creek bank that belongs to the city, but the route does not provide a continuous connection between the parks.
That path is part of something called the Cowskin Greenway, and if you've lived in Westlink for any length of time you've probably crossed a piece of it without knowing it had a name. It's not one park. It's four separate parcels of land along Cowskin Creek, acquired in four transactions between 1989 and 1994, all with the same stated purpose: connect Buffalo Park on the east side of the neighborhood to Swanson Park on the west. The city's own parks department still describes it that way. The parcels remain separate.
Four Parcels Along the Creek, One Planned Connection
Here's what actually makes up the greenway, according to the city's own facility records:
| Year Acquired | Size | Donor | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 2.75 acres | Richard and Gwendolyn Bogue | West of Maize Road |
| 1989 | 3.90 acres | Land exchange with Rolling Hills Country Club | Along the creek |
| 1991 | 4.01 acres | Dillon Real Estate Co., Inc. | Southwest corner of Central and Maize |
| 1994 | 7.70 acres | Max and Debbie Ogden | West side of the creek, north of Central |
Add it up and you get roughly 18.4 acres of city-owned creek frontage, assembled piece by piece over five years by two families, a grocery chain's real estate arm, and a country club willing to swap land. The records show a gradual assembly of creek frontage, not a single donated tract.
The City's Greenway Description
Wichita's parks website describes the plan this way: these parcels "will eventually connect Swanson and Buffalo Parks." The planned connection is not a continuous trail today.
For anyone who has stood at one of these unmarked patches of grass wondering if they were trespassing, the answer is simple. You're not. You're standing on a park. The trail connection between these parcels is not complete.
The Pond Has a Name Even Though the Map Doesn't
The most useful of the four parcels is the one Dillon Real Estate donated in 1991, at the southwest corner of Central and Maize. Three of its four acres sit on a lake that the city developed into a fishing pond. Locals who actually use the spot call it Nellie's Pond, and it's stocked with largemouth bass, bluegill, and channel catfish. It's a quiet, three-acre piece of water tucked behind a shopping center, and the easiest way in is to park in the Dillons lot and walk from there.
The parcel has one more layer most people driving past never learn: the ground it sits on used to hold a police station. What's there now instead is a statue that's taken enough abuse over the years to look like it's been through something. Nobody would guess either fact by looking at the pond today. It just looks like a good place to fish after work.
Buffalo and Swanson: Two Parks Along the Planned Greenway
The two anchor parks the greenway was planned to link offer very different ways to spend time outdoors.
Buffalo Park, at Hardtner Avenue and Maize Road, is the workhorse: 38.17 acres with a baseball diamond, two softball diamonds, a basketball court, tennis courts, and a water playground that runs all summer. It's the park most Westlink families already treat as their default.
Swanson Park, on the far west side, is the quieter counterpart. It has its own short loop trail, a little over a mile, mixing paved sections with dirt paths that deer, raccoons, and the occasional coyote also use. As of March 2026, part of that loop is temporarily closed for flood damage repair, so check the current status before you plan a longer walk there. The rest of the loop is still open and worth the trip on its own.
Each park has amenities of its own, while the planned greenway connection between them remains incomplete.
If You Want to Walk It This Weekend
- Park at the Dillons lot at Central and Maize to reach Nellie's Pond, the easiest and most complete piece of the greenway to actually experience.
- Head west to Swanson Park for the loop trail, but confirm the current closure status first since part of the route has been out since earlier this year.
- Head east to Buffalo Park if you want ballfields, tennis courts, or the water playground instead of a walk.
- Don't expect the pieces in between to connect. Treat the greenway as a string of small stops, not a single trail, because that's what it actually is.
How the Greenway Works Today
Westlink's outdoor space works not as one long connected trail system, but as a handful of small, distinct places that happen to share a creek. The pond behind the Dillons is its own destination. Swanson's loop is its own destination. Buffalo's ballfields are their own destination. The planned connection between them is not complete.
I've watched this stretch of Central and Maize change for a long time now, long enough to remember when some of these parcels were just empty lots waiting for someone to decide what they were for. That's part of what thirty-seven years in one place teaches you: some plans finish, and some just quietly become the neighborhood's normal, unfinished or not.
If you're curious about more of what makes this corner of Wichita work the way it does, or if you're thinking ahead to a move in or around Westlink, Nancy Jo Statton has spent decades learning the parts of this area that don't show up on a map description. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
