Family

A museum about the human body that is much less clinical than it sounds. The Amazing Body Pavilion walks you through a giant heart, a set of oversized organs, and a brain you can climb into, with sound and light effects the whole way. Kids see real preserved specimens, test their balance and reflexes, and try out surgical tools in a simulated operating room. It is smaller than the natural science museum across the park, which makes it a good second stop or a lower-stakes option with younger kids. Sits right in the Museum District so it pairs well with the childrens museum.

The best indoor family destination in upstate New York, full stop, and worth a drive from anywhere in the state. It is enormous: a walk-through Sesame Street set, a full arcade with classic cabinets, a butterfly garden, a working carousel, a Berenstain Bears house and the National Toy Hall of Fame. The 2023 expansion added a whole neighbourhood of new play worlds and an indoor skyline bridge. Older kids and teens stay engaged through the video game history halls while toddlers have their own zones. Budget a full day and expect to still miss things.

Austins childrens museum and the default answer when the weather ruins a Barton Springs plan. Everything is designed to be pulled, poured, built or knocked over, with a huge water play area, a light and shadow lab, and a maker studio with real tools. There is a separate space for babies and crawlers so the under-twos are not steamrolled by big kids. Outdoor backyard play space extends the visit on nice days. Two to three hours is realistic and there is a cafe on site when everyone crashes.

A real World War II submarine you go down inside and walk through end to end, which is the kind of thing kids talk about for years. The passages are genuinely tight, the bunks are stacked beside torpedoes, and an audio tour explains what life aboard was actually like. An adjoining indoor museum holds torpedoes, a Poseidon missile and submarine artifacts. It is at the Pearl Harbor visitor center so it slots in alongside the memorial and aviation museum. Not suitable for strollers and small kids need to manage steep ladders.

Hawaii State Parks rents a small group of simple housekeeping cabins at the black sand beach park outside Hana, along with a tent campground. The cabins are basic, with beds, a kitchen and a bathroom but no resort polish, and they are one of the only affordable ways to actually sleep in Hana rather than driving back the same day. Staying overnight means the black sand beach, the lava tubes and the coastal trail before the day traffic arrives. Reservations are mandatory and the park now controls entry times for visitors.

A small aquarium right on the Waikiki shoreline focused entirely on Pacific and Hawaiian reef life, which means kids see the same fish they might snorkel with an hour later. Hawaiian monk seals live in an outdoor habitat and are the highlight for most children. There is a giant clam collection, a jellyfish gallery and a shallow outdoor touch tank. The whole visit runs about an hour and it is walkable from most Waikiki hotels, which makes it an easy rainy-morning pivot. Partly open air, so a poncho helps in a real downpour.

The campground sits on the hill above the gorge, which means you can walk down to the Gorge Trail at eight in the morning before the tour buses and the day-trippers arrive. That timing changes the experience of the park completely: the same nineteen waterfalls, none of the shuffling crowd. Sites are open and grassy with some wooded loops, and there is a swimming pool in the park. Seneca Lake and the Finger Lakes wineries are minutes away, and the campground is a short walk from the village.

Every trail guide gives you the same packing list. We wanted to know what families actually need, so we went through the “what to bring” notes on all 145 hiking adventures in our database - 103 of them have specific packing notes attached - and counted what shows up. The results are not the list you’d write from memory. Here’s what the data actually says. Water is not tied for first. It’s first by a mile. Drinking water appears in 76% of hiking packing notes - 78 out of 103. Nothing else is close. Hiking shoes or boots are second at 45%. Sunscreen is at 20%. Snacks are at 19%. ...

A small state campground squeezed into the notch between Lake Placid and Wilmington, right along the West Branch of the Ausable River. The river is the reason to stay: it is famous fly-fishing water and the rocky banks are perfect for kids to wade and skip stones. High Falls Gorge is a couple of minutes up the road and the Whiteface toll road is barely farther. Sites are close together and traffic on Route 86 is audible, which is the trade for a location right between the two towns.

A natural history and Texas heritage museum on the edge of Brackenridge Park with a strong dinosaur hall and a lot of hands-on space. The Naylor Family Dinosaur Gallery has mounted skeletons and a dig area, and the McLean Family Texas Wild Gallery covers the states ecoregions with taxidermy dioramas kids can get close to. The four-story HEB Body Adventure is essentially an indoor obstacle course about how bodies work. Riverside outdoor areas and a treehouse-style science center add more if the weather holds. Easily a half day.

An indoor science-and-play attraction inside the Destiny USA mall, built around illusion rooms and physical challenges rather than quiet exhibits. Kids lie on a bed of nails, ride a bubble-wall, experience a hurricane simulator and try an anti-gravity chamber. A ropes course and laser tag are usually included or available as add-ons. It is loud and gimmicky in the best way and burns a lot of energy on a snow day. Being inside a mall means food, restrooms and a dry walk from the car are all sorted.

The hardest part of taking a toddler outside isn’t the toddler. It’s picking the place. Get it wrong and you spend two hours carrying a 28-pound human up a staircase you didn’t know existed, while the stroller you hauled from the car sits folded against a tree. So we went looking for the pattern. Every one of the 364 adventures in our database is tagged with a difficulty rating, a minimum recommended age and a stroller-friendly flag. Cross-referencing them turned up one finding that changes how you should search. ...

A barren, otherworldly landscape of wind-sculpted red rock formations and boulders that looks like the surface of Mars. Hawaiian legend says the rocks were placed here by the gods. The red, orange, and purple colors of the rock against the blue sky are striking, especially at sunrise and sunset when the light is warm. Kids love climbing on the rocks and the landscape is so unusual it sparks their imagination. A 4WD vehicle is needed to reach the site. Views of Molokai across the channel add to the drama. There are no facilities so bring everything you need.

A family-friendly park east of Troy with a sandy beach on Long Pond, nature trails, and excellent fishing. The beach is lifeguard-staffed and has a gradual entry that is great for toddlers and young swimmers. Several short trails loop around the lakes through mixed forest. The park is popular for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in winter. A nature center offers programs for kids during summer. The park is close to the Capital District but feels like you are in the deep woods. Kayak and canoe rentals available.

Two stunning glacial lakes with impossibly blue-green water that looks like the Caribbean set in the woods of central New York. Green Lake and Round Lake are meromictic, meaning their layers never mix, which gives them their striking color. The beach on Green Lake has lifeguards and the water is refreshing on hot days. A 3-mile trail loops around Green Lake through beautiful forest. The park also has an 18-hole golf course, playground, and campground. The lake color alone makes this worth the visit.

A sandy public beach on the shore of Mirror Lake right in the heart of Lake Placid village. The shallow entry makes it great for toddlers and the roped swim area keeps everyone safe. Lifeguards are on duty during summer. After swimming, the village is a short walk away for ice cream or lunch. The beach has restrooms and changing facilities. Views of the surrounding mountains from the water are beautiful and the sunset here is hard to beat.

The largest and arguably best campground in the Catskills with 219 sites set between two lakes and surrounded by iconic hiking trails. Kids can swim at the beach, fish from shore, and explore miles of trails that lead to stunning overlooks including the famous Artist Point and Newman Ledge views of the Hudson Valley. Kaaterskill Falls is accessible right from the campground. Boat rentals are available on the lake. The combination of great camping, swimming, and world-class hiking makes this the premier family base camp in the Catskills.

A massive 29,000-square-foot wooden maze that is way bigger than it looks from the parking lot. Families collect stamps at all five towers hidden inside the maze which turns the whole thing into a competition that kids and adults get genuinely fired up about. Split into teams and race to hit all five checkpoints first. The course changes periodically so repeat visitors still get a challenge. It is one of those perfect outdoor activities that gets everyone moving and laughing without anyone complaining about being tired.

A paved 1.5-mile coastal path connecting five beautiful beaches on Maui sunny south shore. The path passes through resort properties along dramatic lava rock coastline with excellent whale watching in winter. Kids can hop between beaches, explore rocky tide pools between them, and spot sea turtles resting on the sand. The path is flat, paved, and stroller-friendly making it one of the most accessible coastal walks in Hawaii. Each beach has a slightly different character and the views of Molokini and Kahoolawe offshore add to the scenery.

A lush valley park centered around the iconic Iao Needle, a 1,200-foot moss-covered rock pinnacle rising from the valley floor. A paved 0.6-mile trail leads to a viewpoint overlooking the Needle with the West Maui Mountains as a dramatic backdrop. The stream below is shallow enough for kids to wade in. The valley is deeply significant in Hawaiian history as the site of a pivotal battle. The paved trail is accessible for strollers and the whole visit takes about an hour making it a perfect low-effort, high-reward stop.