Day Trips From Fargo With Kids
A tank of gas and a cooler — day trips with kids from Fargo-Moorhead, nearest first, each with a dated drive time, what it costs and when it is actually open.
Some of the best family days start with leaving town. Every trip here is under two hours from downtown Fargo each way, by a Google Maps reading dated on each entry, and they are sorted nearest first. Read the season and hours lines before the drive line: several of these close or cut back after Labor Day, and a day trip that ends at a locked gate is the worst version of this.
Nearest first
Fort Abercrombie State Historic SiteAbercrombie, ND
The first permanent U.S. military fort in what became North Dakota, and the only post in the area besieged for more than six weeks during the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862. A WPA project in 1939–40 rebuilt three blockhouses and the stockade and brought the original guardhouse back to the site, and there is a new interpretive center. Time it right: the buildings are open daily only from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day. The rest of the year it is events, school tours and appointments, though the grounds stay open.
- Season: Daily from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day; the rest of the year, events, school tours and by appointment only
- Hours: 9am–5pm daily in season
- Grounds: Open year-round
- Admission: $10 adult · $5 ages 6–17 · 5 and under free
- Address: 935 Broadway North, Abercrombie, ND
- Phone: 701-553-8513
Drive 41 min · 36 mi from downtown Fargo — Google Maps, September 21, 2026
Visit ↗Read on the venue's own site September 21, 2026
Chahinkapa ZooWahpeton, ND
A zoo in Wahpeton with the Prairie Rose Carousel on the grounds: built in 1926 and restored by local artisans, with 20 hand-carved wooden horses, every one an original. Daily tickets are sold only at the entrance. The zoo posts which days it opens each week but has not posted when this season ends, so check before a late-year drive.
- Hours: Fri–Sun 10am–4pm
- Season end: Not published yet
- Admission: $15 ages 13+ · $13 ages 3–12 · $14 seniors 62+ and military · 2 and under free
- Carousel: $3 a ride
- Address: 1004 RJ Hughes Dr, Wahpeton, ND
Drive 58 min · 47 mi from downtown Fargo — Google Maps, September 21, 2026
Visit ↗Read on the venue's own site September 21, 2026
Otter Tail County Historical MuseumFergus Falls, MN
All on one floor: a wildlife hall of animals that were or are found in Otter Tail County, a one-room rural school, a chapel, and a street of shops — train station, livery, saloon, bank, drug store, barber, dentist and more — plus an agricultural wing added in 1983. Weekday hours most of the year, with Saturdays added only in summer. They close for a list of holidays and ask you to call ahead if you are visiting near one.
- Hours: Tue–Fri 10am–4pm; also Saturdays 10am–2pm, June–August
- Admission: $6 ages 12+ · $2 ages 5–11 · 4 and under free
- Closed: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, the Wednesday–Friday of Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
- Address: 1110 Lincoln Ave W, Fergus Falls, MN
- Phone: 218-736-6038
Drive 1 hr · 61 mi from downtown Fargo — Google Maps, September 21, 2026
Visit ↗Read on the venue's own site September 21, 2026
Splasher's of the South SeasCanad Inns, Grand Forks, ND
The indoor water park inside the Canad Inns hotel, which connects to the Alerus Center: water slides, a lazy river and splash zones for small kids, and the only water on this page once winter sets in. Public hours are shorter than they look. Monday and Tuesday are hotel guests and pass holders only, and midweek it opens to the public only from late afternoon. Hours change; check the calendar linked from their page before you go. Everyone in the park wears a wristband, and a parent who is not swimming needs a spectator one.
- Hours: Public: Wed–Thu 4–9pm · Fri 4–10pm · Sat 9am–10pm · Sun 9am–9pm, as posted on their October calendar
- Mon–Tue: Hotel guests and annual pass holders only
- Full day: $25.95 ages 9+ · $15.95 ages 5–8 · 4 and under free with an adult
- Evening pass: From 7pm · $18.95 ages 9+ · $11.95 ages 5–8
- Address: 1000 South 42nd Street, Grand Forks, ND
Drive 1 hr 11 min · 77 mi from downtown Fargo — Google Maps, September 21, 2026
Visit ↗Read on the venue's own site September 21, 2026
North American Bison Discovery Center + Frontier VillageJamestown, ND
Two stops on the same street, one drive. The Bison Discovery Center is the year-round half, on hours that change with the season (below), with free entry for SNAP EBT cardholders and up to three guests. Frontier Village, at 404 17th St SE, is the summer half. Its own site says it is free to walk in (they suggest $5 a vehicle) and open daily 10am–6pm from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend to mid-September, with old-town buildings, pony rides, a playground, stagecoach rides Thursday to Sunday at $10 a rider, and the World's Largest Buffalo at the end of the lane.
- Hours: Sept–Oct Mon–Sat 10am–5pm · Nov to the first Monday after Thanksgiving Tue–Sat 10am–5pm · then daily 10am–6pm to Dec 23 · Jan–Feb Tue–Sat 10am–5pm · March to Memorial Day Mon–Sat 10am–5pm · Memorial Day to Labor Day daily 10am–6pm
- Closed: Thanksgiving Day, and December 24 through January 2
- Admission: $12 adult · $10 ages 5–14 · under 5 free
- Address: 500 17th St SE, Jamestown, ND
Drive 1 hr 30 min · 94 mi from downtown Fargo — Google Maps, September 21, 2026
Visit ↗Read on the venue's own site September 21, 2026
Runestone MuseumDowntown Alexandria, MN
Opened in 1958 around a single artifact, the Kensington Rune Stone, which the museum itself calls both world famous and controversial. From May to October a ticket also covers nine outdoor historic buildings; from November to April it is the indoor exhibits only. The hours and prices posted are headed as summer ones, so check before a winter trip. The longest drive on this page.
- Season: May–Oct indoor exhibits and 9 outdoor buildings · Nov–Apr indoor only
- Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–4:30pm, Sunday closed (posted as summer hours)
- Admission: $12 adult · $10 seniors 65+, college students and teachers · $7 veterans · $25 family (2 guardians + kids 17 and under) · under 5 free (summer rates)
Drive 1 hr 42 min · 108 mi from downtown Fargo — Google Maps, September 21, 2026
Visit ↗Read on the venue's own site September 21, 2026
Lakes instead
Leave right after breakfast and you'll be home for bath time without anyone melting down.
Every place on this page was read on its own website, and the date beside each one is the day we read it. What that date does and does not promise.
More in this section: Travel & Day Trips in Fargo-Moorhead