Skip to content
Delaware Field GuideMenu

Places to go

Delaware attractions for an afternoon out

Looking for somewhere to spend an afternoon that isn't a park?

These are places with things to see and do, usually with admission and set hours — so it's worth checking before you head out.

Most are outdoors. If rain is on the way, trythe museums and libraries instead.

New Castle County

From these pages

A small child in a gray long-sleeved top reaching out to touch a black and white goat standing on straw in a walled contact yard, with a wooden ramp and platform behind.Brandywine ZooA shallow, clear creek running over pale gravel between wooded banks under a blue sky, with a gravel bar in the foreground and stepping stones upstream.Ashland Nature Center
Swipe. Every picture opens the page it was taken for.
Brandywine Zoo
A small child in a gray long-sleeved top reaching out to touch a black and white goat standing on straw in a walled contact yard, with a wooden ramp and platform behind.A dense mass of honeybees covering honeycomb behind glass, hundreds of individuals with a few cells of capped comb visible at the edges.

Brandywine Zoo

Zoo · Wilmington

9/9
OpenEvery day 10:00am – 4:00pm

A small AZA-accredited zoo inside Brandywine Park, under five acres, run by Delaware State Parks. Wheelchair and stroller accessible throughout, free parking across the road, and free to walk into from December through February.

  • Restrooms
  • Gift shop
  • Accessibility noted
  • Parking noted

This one is outdoors. It's in this section because it has a gate, a ticket and closing time, not because it keeps the rain off.

Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation, with the Delaware Zoological Society→

Ashland Nature Center
A shallow, clear creek running over pale gravel between wooded banks under a blue sky, with a gravel bar in the foreground and stepping stones upstream.A large green and brown frog sitting in a green mesh dip net held over a hand.

Ashland Nature Center

Nature center · Hockessin

9/9
OpenTrails and grounds Daily, sunrise to sunset · Visitor center, Monday – Friday 9am – 4pm (April to October) · Visitor center, Saturday & Sunday 10am – 3pm (April to October)

The visitor center hours above are the April-to-October ones. What it does in winter is not published.

Four miles of trails through forest, meadow and along the Red Clay Creek, free and open sunrise to sunset, with a creek shallow enough for children to stand in and a dog welcome on a leash. This is an outdoor trip: the building is small.

  • Free
  • Restrooms
  • Gift shop
  • Accessibility noted
  • Parking noted

NOT a wet-weather answer. The ranger station is worth a look and will hold a child for about ten minutes; everything else here is outside.

Delaware Nature Society→

Why these are separate from the parks

A park is just open — you turn up. These are structured places to spend a few hours: zoos, nature centers and other destinations with posted hours, visitor facilities or a defined program. Not all of them charge — Ashland's grounds and trails are free — but all of them have a schedule worth checking before you leave, which is why they sit apart from the parks with the hours and the price up front.

Related

Send this to someone

Know someone who'd find this useful? Send it their way. It might save them a wasted trip, give a dog somewhere to run, or help keep the kids busy when it rains.