A New Park Is About to Change the Way the Treasure Valley Plays

Coming to Expo Idaho in fall 2026, a new 50-acre park is poised to become one of the Treasure Valley’s newest destinations for recreation, connection and outdoor living.

The Treasure Valley has always been closely connected to the outdoors. The river, the foothills and the Greenbelt shape how people spend their mornings, weekends and time together in the Treasure Valley. And soon, residents will have another place to experience that lifestyle.

The Park at Expo Idaho is taking shape in Garden City on the former Les Bois Park racetrack, between the Boise River and the Expo Idaho fairgrounds. Scheduled to open October 23, 2026, the roughly 50-acre public park will combine outdoor recreation with a much larger effort to restore the site’s natural landscape.

More than three miles of trails will pass through wetlands, native plantings, ridges and open green space. Along the way, visitors will find a nature playground, an All-Wheel Skate Garden, a roller derby rink and gathering areas near the Greenbelt.

It's a major addition to the Treasure Valley, but its appeal lies in something simple: creating more ways to spend time outside.

From Racetrack to Riverside Park

The park is being developed on land once occupied by the Les Bois horse racing track, which sat unused after wagering ended in 2015. Rather than replacing the track with a conventional neighborhood park, Ada County has taken a more ambitious approach.

The design works with the site’s location along the Boise River floodplain. Former waterways are being reintroduced, wetlands restored and native vegetation planted throughout the property. Trails and boardwalks will allow visitors to move through these areas while also creating new habitat and improving the land’s ability to manage water.

The landscape is organized around two primary areas known as the Ridges and the Lowlands. The elevated Ridges were created using soil removed while restoring the lower wetlands, reducing the need to bring large amounts of material onto or off the site.

The result is a park shaped by the land rather than placed on top of it.

Designed for Many Ways to Play

The Park at Expo Idaho is intended to serve a wide range of ages and interests.

Its nature playground takes inspiration from Idaho’s landscape, with log scrambles, boulder gardens, climbing walls and misting areas. A shaded pavilion beside the playground will give families a place to gather and take a break from the sun.

Nearby, the All-Wheel Skate Garden will welcome skateboards, bicycles, scooters and roller skates. Designed by California Skateparks, the company behind the skateboarding venue used during the 2024 Paris Olympics, the space will integrate bowls and other skate features into a planted landscape with shaded seating and viewing areas.

A dedicated roller derby rink will add another option for wheeled recreation. Elsewhere, a food truck plaza and live music area near the Greenbelt will create space for casual meals, community events and slower afternoons outdoors.

The amenities are varied, but they share a common purpose. The park is being designed as a place where a morning walk, an afternoon at the playground and an evening with friends can all happen within the same landscape.

A Park Built Around Nature

What sets this project apart is the attention given to ecological restoration.

The former racetrack changed the way water moved through the property and separated much of the site from its natural floodplain. The new design aims to repair some of that disruption by restoring waterways, creating wetland habitat and reconnecting the land to the river.

The Lowlands will form the wettest portion of the park, with trails and a boardwalk carrying visitors through native plantings and restored wetlands. The Ridges will offer higher ground, views across the property and connections to the surrounding fairgrounds.

That balance between active recreation and natural space has already received international attention. In 2026, the project earned an Award of Excellence in the Concept and Public Space Design category from the World Landscape Architecture Awards, selected from more than 275 entries worldwide.

For the Treasure Valley, the park offers something increasingly valuable: a large public space that supports recreation without losing sight of the landscape that makes the region distinctive.

The Value of Open Space

As the Treasure Valley grows, well-designed public spaces become an important part of everyday life.

A home’s appeal is shaped by more than its architecture. The surrounding community matters too, including access to trails, parks, restaurants, gathering places and the river. These are the amenities that influence how a neighborhood feels and how residents spend their time.

For homeowners who value an active, outdoor lifestyle, the Park at Expo Idaho will add another major destination to that network. Its direct connection to the Boise River Greenbelt will make it accessible by foot or bicycle, while its range of spaces will give visitors reasons to return throughout the year.

The park also demonstrates that outdoor recreation and careful design do not have to be separate ideas. Trails can support both movement and habitat restoration. A playground can draw inspiration from the surrounding landscape. A skate park can feel integrated into a woodland setting rather than isolated from it.

That kind of thinking reflects a broader quality found throughout Idaho’s best residential and public spaces: a respect for the land and an understanding that the outdoors is part of daily life.

Opening in October 2026

The Park at Expo Idaho is scheduled to celebrate its grand opening on October 23, 2026. Once complete, it will be free to visit and open from sunrise to sunset.

The roughly $42 million project was funded through federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars, with no local property tax money used for construction.

For longtime residents, the opening will reveal a dramatic transformation of a familiar property. For newer residents, it will offer another way to experience the river and Greenbelt. For the Treasure Valley as a whole, it will provide something that becomes more valuable as a region grows: space to gather, move, play and simply be outside.

The park is not trying to replace the landscape around it. It is designed to bring people closer to it.