Beautiful playground for all ages and disabilities too! They even added an amazing communication…read moreboard. They have a covered area with picnic tables and plenty of lawn space. It overlooks a large fenced in area that houses their horses. It is open to the public and not supervised so be sure to be responsible and clean up after yourself. Only downfall is no bathrooms.

This is a beautiful playground and my 2yo loves running around here. It has all the fun playground…read moreessentials plus I love that it is wheelchair accessible :) Unfortunately it is not our first choice to visit due to the lack of any bathroom facility.

I went to a birthday party here for the first time and it was very nice! My daughter had a great…read moretime! They have 3 big bounce house/play areas. They have some little rides and games. I think they also have a mini golf course that I saw. It was covered in snow so I couldn't really tell. But they have a nice big room where everyone can sit and they even have a big blow up princess chair. From what my friend told me, they do everything from setting up to taking down for you which is nice. We did see another birthday part come in when ours was ending and they have them use a separate entrance which was nice along with another party room set up. So it doesn't see like birthday parties are on top of each other. The games take actual quarters so make sure you bring plenty of those! But it has an ice big open floor plan and sitting space for adults. My daughter loved it there!

Fantastic customer service and overall experience. Great to have the driving range back openread more

The Children's Museum in Oswego is fantastic and filled my kids with hours of fun and…read moreentertainment. We arrived on a Monday morning, left for lunch, and returned for more play until the museum closed at 4PM. The museum is technically two stories, although the first floor mainly consists of the admissions desk, a small gift shop, and a water play station. Waterproof smocks or covers would have been nice since my son's shirt did get quite wet. There were boats, fishing rods, and cascading channels of water for various kinds of water play. This was a hit with both of my toddlers. The second floor had much more activities. From large and small foam blocks, Magnatiles, a scarf suction pipe/chute, books, light tables, brite light pegs, and a mini spiral climbing structure, to a dentist's office, pizza and salad restaurant, fire truck, tree house, farmers market, farm, toilet to teach plumbing, aluminum recycling, color wheel, and much more, there was a lot for kids of all ages to explore. There was also a small sectioned-off area for 0-2 infants and pre-walkers. The space hosts birthday parties as well as STEM classes. The staff were lovely. We were given a stamp in our hands before we took a break for lunch so that we could re-enter for free that same day. The only complaint I have is that there was less in the way of offering arts and crafts or even free-form drawing. We did not see any parking lot, but took advantage of free 2-hour street parking. This is definitely a great spot for families with young kids in Oswego.

our family loved this place up until my daughters birthday party we had there, we paid for the most…read moreexpensive birthday party package, they didn't decorate the room with the colors we told them, they never gave us any scents for the slim add on that we paid extra for and they NEVER gave us any goody bags that were apart of the birthday package, we called and complained, it took them a couple days to call us back to tell us we would be getting an $80 refund and that it would take 5 plus days to receive the money and still haven't received it. We paid a ridiculous amount of money and didn't get what we paid for...... Also the pizzas they give you for the party are not actual normal sized pizzas they are slightly bigger than a personal pan pizza. But a lot smaller than a medium sized pizza. Definitely not happy with this place.

A few blocks from my hotel was this park. I decided after going about the day and seeing the sights…read moreI wanted to see, it was time to just leisurely walk around. What better place to do it than at a park. Especially one that has so much to offer. When I arrived I came at this park from the intersection of Madison & Ostrom. When I came here it was bit off putting to me as it was where the intersection was a bit wonky that allowed for vehicular to enter the park. So you needed to watch while you walking that no traffic was coming, or just walk about the grass, which is what I did. Being from out of town I had no idea what this park had to offer overall but I did do a lot of exploring which led me to a lot of different areas. I first just walked through the fields and along the tree lines. I backtracked a bit and stumbled upon the pool area. From there, I found the amphitheater and hung around there for a bit. After that, I found the football field and saw a lot of people using it for multiple reasons. From exercising, playing with their dogs, flying drones and many other things. I ended my time in the park at the rose garden. Roses were still coming into bloom, but I didn't mind that. I looked around at the different varieties of roses they had planted. I then sat on a bench for a few minutes to just take in this portion of the park. When I left, I was off towards Syracuse University campus. This park is enormous, and I am glad I was able to spend some time here.

Sometimes I'll take my dog for little road trips to new parks (driving an hour or two from home),…read moreand Thornden Park is one we've been to a couple times. It's a really nice, open park with lots of space to walk around. I do wish they had some sidewalks or something along the roads going up or down the hills, but that's one of the few issues I can think of. The park is maintained well, has a lovely rose garden (one of my friends volunteers here regularly, actually, which is how I found out about the park - they have a "Rose Day" in mid-June to celebrate, and I'm told that timing is mainly because that's when the roses are usually at their peak), and lots of fun features - like the amphitheater area, where my dog was especially interested in watching some folks who were preparing for a summer play. There's a pool area as well, tennis courts, concession area, and so on... and my pup especially seemed to love rolling down the hills just below the Thornden Park Water Tower (pictures included in this review, of course). It's worth noting that I *have* had a couple slightly sketchy experiences here... including one time being followed around by another park goer who seemed to be experiencing some mental health issues. As with anywhere, just be mindful of your surroundings.

We love going to Ryder Park, which is connected to the Erie Canal Trail. It is located right next…read moreto the Town of Dewitt building. There is a fun playground with lots of swings and slides. There is a large pavilion with attached bathrooms and electricity, and there is another smaller pavilion there as well. There's also a nice trail around a cute pond and a steam that runs beyond it, and you are permitted to fish there. It's a great place to visit to ply and hang out, and is also able to be reserved for parties or events.

Great fun place for all ages of kids with some adult fun…read moresprinkled in like alcohol!! Clean location, friendly staff and the food is pretty good to. We had the pizza combo and the it was pretty tasty, and at $55, two entry fees, pitcher of soda and a large pizza as we as $20 credit for games I thought it was a pretty good value. We went in a rainy Saturday and the kids had a great time !! We'll be back for sure.

A great indoor spot for kids on a rainy day! We took our toddler here today and it was perfect. $12…read moreentrance fee for her to jump around on all the bounce houses, she had a blast for hours. Also a special gate at the register area that prevents kids from wandering to the front doors... very helpful! I do wish there was a gate at the arcade area to prevent young kids from wandering in there alone. But overall a really great place to bring your kids!

Great path and is handicap accessible. Perfect for casual walks and can even be enjoyed in the…read morewinter time. Leash up your pups.

Been going to the canal park for a few years now, since I've moved out this way. My son and I enjoy…read moregoing here and riding bikes and everyone that goes there seems pretty friendly. They have bathroom sites throughout and separate parks along the trail and the scenery is great. They take good care of the trail system as well.

This is such a unique and cool park! It's about a half an hour drive from Syracuse, in Cazenovia,…read morewhich is a super cute town with lots of nice small businesses to explore. This place is the ultimate solution if you kinda feel like going to a museum but also want to be outdoors and go to the park, and can't choose. The park itself is stunning. It's an outdoor art park that has sculptures spread out around the grounds. There are multiple trails, some gravel and some grass. Some truly stunning views, with the lake visible in the distance at some high points. You'll wander through fields and woods and hills and happen upon other-wordly shapes and statues. The pieces are spread out, but not so much that you get overly tired hunting for them. Some are in clusters, but every now and then you'll just happen upon another one. Stumbling on another sculpture kind of makes you feel like an archaeologist or explorer uncovering ruins of ancient civilizations. It's got a very ethereal feeling. My favorite sculpture was giant metal flowers that kind of looked like a gate, but there were a lot of cool figures in different styles and mediums. The only downside I saw was that the paper maps available at the entrance had a QR code with more info about the artists and art, but I didn't see any paper or sign descriptions anywhere, which I thought would be helpful for folks who don't have phones or always run out of their data halfway through the month (guilty.) I understand that perhaps pieces change often, but it still would be nice to have more options for deeper context. Nonetheless, it was still super fun to wander and gander. I came early on a weekend morning and there was another car or two, but mostly the park seemed empty and it was extremely serene. Love it, wish it was closer. If I lived down the road I'd probably be here every day.

Beautiful hidden gem less than 30 minutes from Syracuse! Over 4 miles worth of trails to discover,…read moreand 1.4 miles of artistic sculptures. Very easy terrain suitable for all ages. The max elevation gain is only 141 feet. Lots of fun sculptures to discover, public restrooms (although Porta potties), picnic tables for dining and more.

$6 entrance fee. Park has beach access to Oneida lake. Swimming is available during the summer…read more Lots of places to hang out and bbq or have family reunions, picnics or just a birthday party for groups of all sizes. Ample parking for most days. Sometimes in the summer months there is blue-green algae which causes the swimming area to be closed. Website normally will indicate this so check ahead if you are set on going swimming. This summer they had an inflatable slide so there was something for the kiddos to do besides swimming. All in all a nice park if you are in the area. Camping is available as well so you can camp out here and spend more time if that is in your plan.

I recently went on a weekend long camping trip with my father and stayed at the Verona Beach State…read morePark in upstate New York. My pops, who is now retired, purchased a recreational vehicle and has embraced camping as his new favorite past time. He has asked me several times to join him on an excursion and though I'm not very outdoorsy I finally relented. We pulled into Verona State Park on a Friday afternoon and even though it was early September and nearing the end of the season, the campground was still fairly crowded. The snack bar and store closed after Labor Day but I spent most of my time at the nearby Turning Stone Casino and didn't mind missing out on a few amenities. The park was immaculate, with clean shower rooms and nary a piece of litter in sight. The employees at Verona Beach obviously took their job very seriously and some were a tad overzealous. The workers frequently drove through the campgrounds, patrolling the area and enforcing their rules. I took a walk alongside Oneida Lake after dark and apparently violated one of the sacred rules, receiving a stern warning from the park ranger. I understand why camps only allow power generators during certain hours; gennies can often be noisy and we should preserve the sanctity of nature. On Saturday night we were caught in the middle of a thunderstorm and it rained for hours. I expected the rangers to be a little more lax on generator hours during the storm, when most campers are stuck inside and need electric to power their televisions and stave off boredom. The television in our RV only picked up local channels so we watched an old episode of Wonder Woman featuring special guest star Leif Garrett. Even during a downpour the rangers at Verona State ruled with an iron first, banging on the door of the RV like an angry police officer all because our generator was left on for a few extra minutes.

I visited a couple of weeks ago, back when we had warm-but-not-yet-sweltering weather. This park is…read morea bit of a distance from Syracuse, but worth the drive. It's not too far off from Heritage Hill Brewery, so you can do a two-for and visit both-- however the park is lovely and worth a visit on its own. There's an overlook near the entrance where you can get a glimpse of the waterfall. However, the falls are also within walking distance of the start of the trail. The hill is on a slant and there are steep stairs, so the view may not be accessible for those who have difficulty walking. However, it was so calming just to sit and watch and listening to the waterfall. The day I went, there were others out but the paths didn't feel claustrophobic. I took some time and walked through the woods. The trail I took was relatively short, I think about a half mile total. I appreciated that there was a marker at the start that let you know how long it was. I am by no means a regular hiker (hoping to change that one day!) but this trail wasn't exhausting and was quite serene. This is a great park with a great waterfall and is definitely worth checking out!

Beatutiful park! The falls are gorgeous! The trail to the falls has several steps, so do noy be…read moresurprised by that. It is a short walk to the lower obvservation deck. It takes some leg power to get back to the top, but it is totally worth the effort! Other trails are flatter, and despite not getting a view of the falls, they are still lovely.