Family things to do in Huron, Ohio

The equipment is the point here if you have children: a playground, beach volleyball courts, a permanent outdoor ping-pong table and cornhole boards, all on the sand, plus a picnic shelter with grills for when someone needs feeding. The Paddle Shack rents water mats and floats as well as boards. There is no lifeguard, so this is a stay-in-the-water with them beach rather than a read-your-book one.

• Playground on the beach
• Volleyball, ping-pong, cornhole
• Picnic shelter and grills
• Rentals from the sand in summer
• No lifeguard — swim at your own risk

The town’s sports park, and the one to know about on a day when nobody wants the beach. Ball diamonds, batting cages, tennis and pickleball courts, walking and biking paths and a playground, with public restrooms on site and wheelchair access.

• Batting cages
• Tennis and pickleball
• Playground
• Public restrooms

A three-acre pond with catch-and-release fishing and paths around it. This is where a small child catches their first fish — the mile-long pier is a lot of walking and a long drop to the water, and this is not.

• Catch-and-release
• Good first fishing
• Walking paths

172 acres with playgrounds, tennis and pickleball courts, soccer fields and a disc golf course — enough space to let older children run at something while the younger ones are on the playground.

• 172 acres
• Disc golf course
• Playgrounds
• Soccer and courts

A walk-through park with more than 200 animals that you feed by hand, plus stocked fishing ponds and a gift shop. More than 75 babies are born there each year, which is the draw in spring. Open from the start of May through October, with longer hours in high summer.

• 200+ animals
• Hand feeding
• Stocked fishing ponds
• May to October only

The one beach in the region with lifeguards on duty through the week in season, and a fenced kiddie pool and splash park beside it. There is a gate fee between Memorial Day and Labor Day. For a family that does not want an unsupervised lake, this is worth the thirty-five minutes.

• Lifeguards on duty in season
• Fenced kiddie pool and splash park
• Gate fee in season

Hand-carved carousel figures, vintage band organs, a restoration workshop where volunteers carve and repair the animals, and a Cedar Point section. There is a rideable carousel. Open year-round, but hours shift with the season and holidays, so telephone first.

• Rideable carousel
• Cedar Point exhibit
• Indoors, year-round
• Call ahead for hours

You drive your own car through among the animals and feed bison and giraffes out of the window; one cup of grain per vehicle comes with admission. A separate walk-through section has gibbons, capybaras, kangaroos and porcupines, open mid-May to early October. The drive-through runs year-round.

• Drive through in your own car
• Feeding from the vehicle
• Walk-through section, May to October
• No convertibles or soft-top Jeeps — hard roof and doors required
• Dogs only, leashed, not in the drive-through