10 Best Picnic spots in Cleveland for Family Trip

Need a perfect place for a family trip? don’t worry, here are the few best places to visit that will make your outing memorable Depending on what you and your loved ones like, you can plan a day full of fun, food, and memories that will last a lifetime.

As we know Cleveland city is surrounded by Lake Erie so it has many picnic spots to enjoy a beautiful family trip or an adventure trip with friends.

Best Picnic spots in Cleveland City

Among the numerous options available for a day outing, we have shortlisted the top ten picnic spots in Cleveland that are worth exploring with your squad of friends or family.

1. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

This is a nice enough Zoo, the landscaping is quite nice. The current resident artist has gorgeous sculpture installations. To see some of the fish and monkeys you either have to walk up a huge hill or wait for a train to take you up.

The staff is always helpful and friendly and willing to speak with guests and it gives for a better experience. Amazing management, always clean, and has awesome vendors to make sure you are never hungry!

A nice place to spend the morning and walk around, fun to watch the animals. The aerobatic show is fun, and the light displays are amazing. The rainforest building is incredible.

Directions: Go to Maps

Cleveland metroparks zoo
Cleveland Metroparks zoo

2. Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Awesome park, probably the best in Ohio.Lots of cool areas. There are also waterfalls, picnic areas, and many trails. Great for walking, running, biking, fishing, and camping! There are several hiking trails throughout the park! No entrance fee.

The park has so many nice things to see, the waterfall, the covered bridge, and the marshes. You can take a car road trip from top to bottom of the park visiting many historic sites. They have a scenic train ride available also.

The visitor center is very nice and the people working there are very helpful. There are so many spots to discover and enjoy, it’s a wonderful hiking area and overall just a great place to relax if you need to get away.

Directions: Go to Maps

Cuyahoga valley national park
Cuyahoga valley national park

3. A Christmas Story House

If you have a love for the movie ‘ A Christmas Story this is a must-see! Would be the perfect holiday trip and you can even stay overnight at the house. Fun place to visit to see the house from the movie! It has a cool backstory as to why this location was chosen for to film.

They have some of the original props on display at their museum. The gift shop has all kinds of options big and small, including gifts for other Christmas favorites. The house tour is on the shorter side, but still an incredible experience. You can touch and play with everything in the house.

Great place to visit, and beautifully kept, highly recommend going in the summer months.

Directions: Go to Maps

Christmas story house
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4. Cleveland Botanical Garden

There are flowers of all kinds from all around the world and different kinds of birds too. There are signs with pointers to what the bird breeds are and where the flowers grow in their natural habitats.

The gardens are very quiet and very empty which made for a wonderful experience. There is something for everyone, parking is easy, the staff is friendly and pleasant and the menu for the cafe is refreshingly unique and fresh.

There is an outdoor and indoor greenhouse garden. If you are wanting to play with a new camera or lens this is the perfect place. The flowers in bloom are gorgeous.

The grounds are stunning and the children’s garden is phenomenal. There is a ton of educational signage around that explains the role of each plant, and how the ecosystem sustains itself.

Directions: Go to Maps

Cleveland botanical garden
Cleveland botanical garden

5. The Cleveland Museum of Art

A wonderful gem in Cleveland, a great collection of Armour, swords, and other artifacts from that Era. They also have a nice gift shop and cafe that you can stop in on your way out. The architecture inside and outside is works of art themselves.

Amazing gallery! Give yourself plenty of time for this one. Fantastic collections from ancient to modern if you enjoy art don’t miss the gallery.  There are West, East, North, and South wings categorized by Era and place of origin. 

There are paintings, sculptures, pottery, Armor, weapons, furniture remnants of an old building and so much more. One little gem is the lake right across the museum.

Staff is friendly to help, they have guided tours as well, and importantly entry is free.

Directions: Go to Maps

Cleveland museum of art
Cleveland Museum of Art

6. Edgewater Park

The park is gorgeous, it’s so big and surprisingly so clean too. The swimming area is great. As the name suggests this park is on the edge of the water. This is a famous beach and park here in Cleveland. This one is near downtown and gets an amazing view of downtown.

Big park on the right and a big beach on the left. The park has big spaces with lots of trees and shade. Also, there are exercise places throughout the park.

Great park for large groups and family fun, well-kept environment, access to an awesome beach, and available grills, benches, and tables. This is The best place to shoot some pics at the time of sunset in Cleveland.

One of the prettiest beaches. So many different things for little and big kids to do. Tons of slides in all shapes and sizes. they also have rock climbing, rupees climbing, and a sand area for kids to play in.

Directions: Go to Maps

Edgewater park
Edgewater park

7. Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Planetarium and museum focusing on local prehistoric discoveries, fossils, and geological specimens. You’ll enjoy the mining area is really neat to see what different elements look like.

Something for everyone to enjoy, with knowledgeable and friendly staff. Nice presentation of snapping turtles. Good displays of artifacts. The outdoor area is a must to see animals all looking healthy and well cared for in their environments.

There is so much to learn as well as being mesmerized by your surroundings. The dinosaur displays are really nice. The Perkins wildlife center is very nice as well lots of Ramps to walk and is wheelchair accessible.

A museum that packs a lot of punch with a lot of different objects to learn and explore.

Directions: Go to Maps

Cleveland-museum-of-natural-history
Cleveland Museum of natural history

8. Rocky River Nature Centre

The nature center is very kid friendly as well as informative, there are tanks with turtles and fish as well as a big climbing play tree inside. It is also free, so a great option for the right budget. There are a few stroller-friendly trails.

Absolutely lovely nature center and walking trails, all very easy to navigate with children. You can watch birds all day, the deck offers spectacular views of a 360 million-year-old shale cliff from the deck overhanging the river.

This is a great gem hidden just south of Cleveland. There is a fantastic Indian nature center that offers a wide variety of information as well as an educational seminar that occurs at different times of the day.

Kids love the nature center, plenty of things to keep them busy.

Directions: Go to Maps

Rocky river nature center
The rocky river nature center

9. Cleveland Public Square

Nice place to walk around and enjoy your evening, is free and not too crowded. Beautiful square in downtown Cleveland, designated as a national historic place.

The surrounding buildings are beautifully designed as well. Absolutely incredible views and a lot of activities to do. The Christmas lights in the public square are really beautiful.

Food vendors selling food and fresh produce, and random kids dancing around. A good place to take a walk and relax it’s an easy walk to nearby shopping areas and restaurants.

Encapsulates the city as a whole. Nice place to see Cleveland history. Once a year they open the underground tunnels to tours.

Cool space to hang out in for lunch. It’s even better than summer bears. There will be lots of free public entertainment, festivals, yoga, and other outdoor fun. Cleveland public square has its own official check on how it is.

Directions: Go to Maps

Public square
Public square

10. Greater Cleveland Aquarium

The aquarium is in the old Cleveland power plant, so cool they used a piece of Cleveland history to make this awesome aquarium! The building is stunning, parking is super easy. It gets better and better every time! So much work and dedication are carried out into the displays and care of the animals.

Very nice place for a smaller aquarium. All of the exhibits are occupied. It’s very kids friendly and interactive

It’s so nice to have someplace like this in Cleveland. It definitely, is a lot of fun to visit this place. Is a cool building with a lot of history. The stingrays and tunnel are the best parts, not very big.

The scenery is beautiful and the guides are helpful and all areas are well-kept.

Directions: Go to Maps

Greater Cleveland aquarium
Greater Cleveland Aquarium

FAQs

Which are the best picnic spots with water in Cleveland?

Cuyahoga valley national park and Edgewater Park are the best picnic spots in Cleveland.

Which is the best picnic spot for a family outing?

Cleveland Metroparks is the best spot to chill with family and friends.

adventure place in Cleveland?

Rockey river nature center is one of the best adventure places in Cleveland City.

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