Best Outdoor Adventures In Massachusetts for Kids!

Heritage Museums & Gardens

With over 100 acres of magnificent gardens featuring rhododendrons, hydrangeas, daylilies, and more at the Heritage Museums & Gardens, they have so many things to do and see. Follow one of the many paths and trails to take yourself on a journey throughout the park. Kids love to visit the Hidden Hollow and Treehouse area of the gardens. Look around to see what art displays are around the garden. Currently they have Bugs, Birds, and Bricks. A Lego exhibit constructed to look like birds and insects throughout the grounds. The current ticket price is $20.00 for adults and $10.00 for ages 3-17. Children 2 and under are free. Heritage offers a number of discount programs through partner organizations. You can find the discount information here.

They also have events and activities for kids and adults. One interesting indoor exhibit at the gardens is the American Automobile Collection. Heritage Museums & Gardens features 41 outstanding examples of automobiles, from the 1899 Winton to the latest model and addition, a 1965 Ford Country Squire station wagon.

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deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum

deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is the largest park of its kind in New England. With over 30 acres, it clearly makes it’s distinction from other museums in the area. In 2009, deCordova changed its name from deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park to deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum to incorporate the new focus on sculpture. The museum provides a constantly changing landscape of large-scale outdoor modern and contemporary sculpture and site-specific installations. The Sculpture Park hosts more than 60 works of art. There is also an indoor portion of the museum. Inside of the Museum features an eccentric slate of rotating exhibitions and innovative interpretive programming. The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is part of the Trustees organization. The cost to enter is Adult: $18, Student (with valid ID): $12, Child: $0 (Under 12), and Senior Citizen: $14. They also offer discounts please click here to find out more.

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Breakwater Walk Adventure

Breakwater Walk Adventure also known as the Provincetown Causeway is a pathway of rocks that allows individuals to cross the harbor and reach the very tip of the Cape. You can take the Breakwater Walk to the Long Point Lighthouse and beach. It is important to look into tide charts and plan accordingly. A mid-day hike is your safest bet. Also look into morning and evening times. You should still know when high tide will occur that day regardless to be safe. The rocks are not flat and even and can take some time to cross but it is part of the adventure.

Visit a Light house

There is just something about visiting a lighthouse in Massachusetts. Perhaps it is the cool Cape air, the sandy beaches, the rocky shores, or the great atmosphere of the Massachusetts coast. Massachusetts has over 47 lighthouses. With so many to choose along the coast, you can access them easily. Take a walk and explore or even tour some lighthouses. Some are still active and some remain inactive. You can see a complete list of longhouses here.

Go for a hike on a Mass Audubon Trail

Mass Audubon has over hundreds of miles of trails. These trails can take you by the ocean, a pond, river views, by farms, forests and fields, hills, and rocks. You can stroll over boardwalks and rock paths. You can also enjoy wildlife and visit the beach. One of the best things is that the trails are free for everyone to enjoy! You can find more about the trails here. We ask that you to please carry out anything you bring in to keep our community trails clean.

Corn Maze

Visiting Massachusetts during the fall? You don’t want to miss out on a New England fall tradition of visiting a corn maze. With so many to choose from it’s another great outdoor activity that kids love. In some corn mazes, you can even go though two different mazes. Take an afternoon and spend that time outdoors getting lost then working together to find your way out. You can find a list of corn mazes in Massachusetts here.

Have A Beach Day

Massachusetts has close to 200 miles of coastline. So of course an outdoor list of things to do would not be without beaches. It doesn’t have to be summer either to visit a beach. You can visit the beaches throughout the year. There are always things to do and discover on the Massachusetts shore line. So just because it may not look like your typical beach day outside doesn’t mean you should take visiting the beach off your list. Some activities include, picnics, hiking, building sand sculptures, discovering tide pools, climbing rocks, swimming, and more. For a list of beaches in Massachusetts click here.

Bike at Cape Cod National Seashore

The National Cape Cod Sea Shore is filled with outdoors activities in Massachusetts. From beaches, hiking, over sand driving, wildlife, trails, history, and picking. One of our favorite highlights is the bike trails. The views are unbeatable compared to other trails. They also have paved trails for accessibility. The Cape Cod Rail Trail runs 26 miles between the towns of Dennis and Wellfleet. There are also three bike trails Nauset in Eastham, Head of the Meadow in Truro, and Province Lands in Provincetown. During your bike ride you can even stop and have a picnic along the way. To find out more click here.

Visit Plimoth Patuxet Museums

A trip to the Plimoth Patuxet Museum is taking a step back in time. It contains three different sites. The Plimoth Patuxet a 17th-Century English Village, Historic Patuxet Homesite, Craft Center, and Nye Barn. The Mayflower II which is located in downtown Plymouth. The Plimoth Grist Mill also located in downtown Plymouth. Step back into time while visiting as the characters fully embrace the 17th-Century English Village. There is plenty to do and see. You can easily travel to each location as they are not far apart. You can learn more about the museum by clicking here. If you are a Sails library card holder, you may be able to find a Plimoth Museum discount through a library click here for more information.

Climb Some Rocks At The Beach

The Massachusetts shore lines are filled with plenty of rock climbing opportunities for kids. From jetties to rock lined beaches, kids always make an adventure out of it. Growing up in New England and tackling jetties and rock lined beaches is just something you do. Challenging yourself to see how far you can go. The rocks are not always flat topped so please keep that in mind. Each are different as well as the level of difficulty to cross them. Not all are always opened and welcomed for the public to enjoy. Please look into safety and regulation before you head out on your next adventure.

Take a walk through The Bogs

The Bogs is located in Mattapoisett, MA and is part of the Mattapoisett River Reserve. It is Buzzards Bay Coalition-owned property with 50 acres of cranberry bogs stretch out on the trail. These bogs however, are retired from commercial production. You can still find cranberries growing wild in a few patches. One the back edge of The Bogs, you will find a large freshwater shrub swamp. Which is a rare habitat for southeastern New England. There is over 120 acres of protected forest that line the western slope of the property. You can find many trails running through for you to discover. In season and off season, The Bogs is a great place for an adventure. For more information on visiting The Bogs click here.

Visit Edaville

Edaville is a Family Theme Park located in Carver, Massachusetts. This truly is a family theme park as there are rides for everyone in the family to enjoy. Edaville is divided up into three areas; Cran Central, Thomas Land, and Dino Land. While each area of the park is amazing in its own way. You will find fun and memorable things to enjoy. Walk back in time and visit the Dinosaurs in Dino Land. Reminisce childhood memories in Cran Central and make new ones! Visit the Island of Sodor and all the engines that inhabit it. We have put together a list of our Top 21 Must Do’s in Edaville. Be sure to also check out our 6 Safety Tips for Visiting Amusement Parks with Kids.

Take in an Airplane Exhibition

Massachusetts has eight airports and large number of flight schools. On many occasions you can find an open house or open hangar to visit. Families can visit on these event days to view airplanes and tour hangars. In many cases, you can find a wide variety of airplanes to see. You may even see some older war planes , some privately owned and racing planes. You can find open hangar days by searching through Facebook events.

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