A perfect place in the middle of the city for some lunch, or to read a book! Even on really warm days because there is beautifully shaded areas. A great spot to think.

Very nice place to enjoy the day for a bit

Wonderful place to break for lunch. Nice fountain.

They really did a great job revamping this. I remember it was mainly an area for homeless people to hang out and usually bathe or soak. Brings in good food trucks now.

Great public space.

Across the street from the Des Moines Civic Center, most people have probably walked/drove by this place while visiting Des Moines. There is a really cool structure at this park that gets lit up with different colors at night. Otherwise, its just an open space in the middle of downtown Des Moines that sometimes get booked by political candidates while visiting Iowa during campaign season for rallies.

Pete Up in the Park at Cowles Commons! What a great location in town! I got to see Pete Buttigieg in person! Thank you Des Moines!

Beautiful day and a well-kept park.

Went for the NCAA tournament just to hang out with my kids they had a blast lots of room to run and play

Love skating around this place!

Love this spot! Great splash pad for kids! Sculpture lights up at night and looks super pretty! Great family events, like Fam Jam, held here as well. Smoking isnt allowed in the area, so its perfect for kiddos!

Delicious grilled cheese from Say Cheese

I always take my little pub dog there most days.She needs exercise & I ALWAYS pick up her droppings!

Not like the old days but still pretty. And relaxing. Was a great backdrop for when I took my daughters senior photos.

Love the way they renovated this a few years ago. I can remember back in high school there was a weird black pool and fountain that was really gross! The renovation of this plaza is a sign of all the great work Des Moines has done to improve itself.

Fun meeting place chance to cool off

NCAA Bball watch party. Who ya got? Its all fun!

LOVE COMING HERE WITH MY CHILDREN! Its beautiful at night and in the daytime, and theres a place to sit for adults or kids who dont want to play in the water.

Neat place in the heart of downtown

Had fun during the NCAA activities!

Love this place in the summer time. The fountains are cool the led-lighted architecture is great. Perfect place to bring a date to or the kids on a hot summer day / night. If youre walking around downtown Des Moines make sure you put this on your list. And theres always something going on there too it seems some type of event some type of festival Food.

An absolutely beautiful little concrete-park downtown. Love playing the street piano in the summer.

Unexpected awesomeness in the middle of the city. If you have kids, bring dry clothes because they wont be able to stay away from the water feature. Lovely urban park for an adult lunch.

A concrete delight interwoven with circular sculptures which project moving images of the well-sculpted cyclist thighs spinning round and round for your infinite pleasure. Best visited at night for maximum cyclist-image visibility.

We went to the Christkindlmarket here. It was a good showing for the first year, if a little small. The brass band was great and the glühwein was good and warm. Hope they are back again next year.

Beautiful landscape. Peaceful spot in downtown near farmers market. Water play fountain for kids.

I got married there today and it was perfect. Tons of space and hardly anyone really there and no events going on there, so it was perfect. Very pretty place with a few nice views around

Such a gem in the heart of Des Moines! When the water fountain is on and the kids are out its a ton of fun! Spend a warm and sunny morning at the farmers market and definitely stop here to cool down!

Kinda neat. The images on the decorative light are guys playing soccer.

This is a beauty area with a lot of art to fest your eyes on. They host events that are definitely worth checking out. Worth a relaxing walk through. Beautiful are with a lot to see.

Its nice and peaceful, good place for kids to play in the fountain and it has different things happening down there.

Albesila Luminarium...Amazing! Amazing! Amazinga

Variety of fun events held here throughout the year. March Madness parties, food trucks, and yoga are just a few of the things youll find in the park. A walk-in fountain runs throughout the summer.

Even though it was rainy I enjoyed wandering through the Kristkindelmart. The vendors were entertaining and informative. I have been to many other events at this venue and while parking might be an issue the events made that hassle worth it!

Contemporary Public gathering spot in downtown Des Moines.

It was nice to see the grandkids having a good time in a clean area of Dad Moines.... And it was free. The downside was an expensive food truck. While most of the people with kids there couldnt of paid to be there if it wouldnt of been free.

Get open area to have events, easy to get to.

I love being here its fun just watching the kids play,Ive always wished or wanted to take the one I love there and play together in the waterfalls but that wont happen so last nite I went there on my motorcycle and played in the cool falls by myself,I enjoyed it with a little sadness in my heart

We froze at the Foreign outdoor market, but we bought stuff anyhow and had lots of hot drinks and my favorite miniature mince pies from a food vendor. Weather was horrible so went inside Capitol Square to warm up. All kinds of merchandise available-- good for Christmas shopping but dress warm because two out of the three years we have gone the weather was miserable!

Kids loved to play in the water jets, but a high traffic area.

Love this place... great place to sit... relax and take in someDes Moines!!

Nice location with people watching the Iowa and Iowa State football game

This is a great city space that Ive been to for multiple occasions, from the Christkindl Market to the March Madness watch events. Parking garage right across the street. There are plenty of bars and restaurants nearby, as well as food trucks for many of the events held here. Various hotels in all directions accommodate for the visitors and locals alike.

I love the update. Very pretty and very kid friendly

Lovely place to visit just across from the Iowa Civic center in between 3rd St- Walnut St and locust St. It is a must. Hold a lot of Events downtown like the beer festival, the bacon festival and a lot more.. Through out the summer, people visit with their kids to play, take pictures as well. And it has this pretty colorful water fall. You will not regret it.

Beautiful place. Great to relax outside.

This is a large open area in downtown where lots of different events are staged. Food and wine tastings, NCAA basketball tournament watch parties, ending points for marathons, Cowles has kind of done it all. When its not being used for an event, its just a nice area to walk around and take the kids. There are fountains and a small wading area, so Cowles also acts like a little splashpad as well. Its worth stopping by and seeing whats happening.

Relaxing place to go for a walk

Fountains dont turn on til 11am during the week, so it was a very disappointing trip for our young ones who traveled all the way from Ankeny for a water play morning in Des Moines

Beautiful place to sit outside on a nice evening.

A local Des Moines favorite! Always host amazing events plus the water feature in the summer is a family favorite!

My grankids love going there and playing in the fountain. Love that they added all the water toys for the kiddos to play with. But its ashame that parents dont make their kiddos pick up and put back what they play with and walk off and leave them in the water.

This place is very nice and well kept.

Good place to sit out and reflect on life

The city has completely renovated this area in the past few years and its now a great place to enjoy a workday lunch or to listen to music and have a drink after work. I particularly enjoy the fountain on hot summer months.

Every event here is great and so easy to get around and park with the garage nearby

Great place for an outdoor lunch if you work downtown.

Clean place. We like to stop here after the farmers market and cool down with the fountains and small wading area. My kids just love it!

Cmfrt. Chilling waiting for his show! Check him on Spotify!

Cool facility. Was only here for the VegFest, but it was an awesome location to host the event!

Beautiful open respite in urban setting.

Never I was seeing art like this before it was unique and impressive

The light display tornado and the light display waterfall was a treat with hidden little leaves

Great job of setting up for the NCAA tournament. Good food & beer choices.

The water stays on so its constant fun for the kids!

Nice place for kids and parents. Lots of fun in the water fountains. Food trucks and space to set up displays.

Neat outside area for ecents, inside was open and accessable for touring craft and food vending booths.

Cowles is lovely after the reconstruction. A fountain, a large red umbrella sculpture, and well done plantings. Right across the street from the civic center. Friday after hours with the food trucks is awesome.

I take my grandkids thre alot

Fountains with colors water. Fun atmosphere even when alone

Lots of fun when they have the Iowa Craft Beer Tent there

Great place to hang out with your family. Colored fountains are fun for kids to play in. They have a public piano in the warmer seasons, that you can play. Its not uncommon to see skateboarders doing tricks. All-in-all, its a cool place to be.One caution, is theyve glued down decorative metal leaves all over the perimeter of the border ledges where people sit. The edges of all of them are sharp as knives. Cant believe these things havent been removed or at least dulled already. Its definitely an accident waiting to happen.

Gots lights, colors, an water jets for the kids or you big kids out there. Lol

Downtown Park.

Nice clean breezy area.

Beautiful area at night and very relaxing.

Beautiful at night.

Beautiful and great location at citys center!

The colors were spectacular

Dsm!! PutS on events theres over the weekend almost all summer ITS the spot!!

Just a nice place to see

What a great outdoor venue downtown!

Close to downtown Des Moines and a really great atmosphere!

There are always some great events here!

I lived in Des Moines 15 year before this was here on this site; now coming back I just had to take it all in of (place that grows) Des Moines has done just that.

Enjoyed kringlemarket. Parking was tough. Was funBrought back memories of markets in Germany. Looking forward to next year

Not a very welcoming place for handicap or older people or anyone not familiar with a town with all the streets closed in the direction you need to go. No parking and if there was you would not be able to get to it. Found a parking garbage that cost $5 to get in and another $5 to get out. Same experiences when finally got talked into going to Farmers Market. Not a place I desire to go any more.

The fountains are great fun for kids

A good, calm atmosphere to rest. Cool fountain!

Pretty, nuf said

Love the improvements made to this public space downtown. Its a cool place to host large events such as the ncaa tournament hoops event/watch parties they had over the first few days of the basketball tournament.

Very thoughtful design!

I love the idea that theyre getting ready to set up there beautiful Christmas tree you got Kinkos you got the post office got a big area to sit and just relax you been excellent long Mexican restaurant right there and its just a very pleasant place to be in nice building

Great place to take photos of downtown. Fun local events. Kids playing in the awesome fountain. Great addition to downtown Des Moines.

Lots of space, clean and a fountain splashing area for the kids to play in.

Not really a park. Its a good place to meet up with people. And there is a big water feature that the kids can play in.

Love this area downtown

I was skeptical with the change to that location. But it really is a fantastic area now for events or personal liesure.

Nice area in downtown Des Moines.

Went there for the Chriskindlemart. Miss seniomsed days.