Family Entertainment
AMC Theater 8
Fun Zone Depot
The only indoor family entertainment center of its kind in Southeast Kansas. Includes climbing wall, bounce houses, retro video games, giant chess set & more.
Holiday Lanes Bowling Alley
Beautiful 24 lanes center has been in operation since 1960, has state of the art technology and a professional, attentive staff. Kids love “cosmic bowling.”
Kiddieland Amusement Park
The still popular train was the first ride at this amusement park inside Pittsburg’s Lincoln Park when it opened in 1953. An old-fashioned carousel will soon be featured also.
Lowe’s Skateway
Open since 1981, Lowe’s is an indoor rink open year round. Check website for seasonal hours.
Fishing
Frontenac City Park Lake
Three strip pit lakes sit on five acres in this quiet, off the beaten path park ideal for fishing, bird watching and picnics.
Joe Caputo Hookie Park
Ball fields, restrooms, fishing, swimming pool. Arma City Lake: Best approach to Arma City Lake is from East Center Street.
Lakeside Park
In Pittsburg. Playter’s Lake has been used for recreational purposes since 1901 when the slate dump from a mine was used to create a dam. A city park since 1920.
MLWA Unit 1 (Fishing Lake)
Popular easy to access fishing & picnicking spot. Five boat ramps. Adjacent to Bob Grant Bison Herd pen. Area donated by a mining company in 1926. Includes a 1950’s era picnic shelter.
MLWA Unit 2, 3 & 4 – Litchfield
Access via NW, NE & SE corners of S 260th St & E 570th (East of Pittsburg)
MLWA Units 5 & 6 (Quail Farm)
Access via KS-126 just west of 190th St; and, 560th Ave west of 200th St (West of Pittsburg)
MLWA Units 7 & 8 (Whitmore Pits)
Access via S 180th St just south of 540th Ave, both west and east side of road (Southwest of Pittsburg)
Mulberry City Park
Ballfield, fishing, RV
Wilderness Park
Four pits for fishing easily accessible. Former mined land area returned to nature.
Libraries
Arma City Library
Girard Public Library
On the National Historic Register. Built in 1906. It’s believed Girard was the smallest city in the world to have a Carnegie Library at the time.
Hepler City Library
Located on the site of the old Hepler Rural High School.
McCune-Osage Township Public Library
Pittsburg Public Library
Books, movies, audio books, graphic novels, digital materials, story times and more. Circulates a collection of over 70,000 items.
Walnut Public Library
Playgrounds
Albert Pouch Park
In Cherokee. Includes a small playground, pavilion, and outdoor basketball courts. Very shady.
Arcadia City Park
Includes playground, pavilion & basketball courts. CAUTION: Near railroad tracks.
Arma City Park
Includes playground, bocce, pavilion, wood carvings & veterans memorial
Countryside Park
A small neighborhood park in Pittsburg. Includes a playground & pavilion.
Deramus Park
In Pittsburg. Includes playground, pavilion, baseball field & basketball court.
Franklin Community Park
Includes playground, restrooms, pavilion & paved walking area. On old Jefferson Highway and adjacent to historical sidewalk connecting two communities.
Freddy Gobl Jr Memorial Children’s Park
Includes vintage playground equipment, Biba Playground, pavilion & outdoor basketball court.
Hepler City Park
Includes playground, restroom, basketball court. Adjacent to Hepler Ruritan Rodeo Arena, & Hepler Community Center & Library.
Immigrant Park mural
Tells the story of the immigrants who settled in Southeast Kansas and shows what the immediate area looked like at the turn of the century.
Katherine’s Playground
A universally accessible, uninhibited playground for children of all ages and abilities are free to play.
Kiwanis Park
In Pittsburg near PSU campus. Includes playground, pavilion & restrooms. Known by many locally as “The Barney Park” due to a large purple dinosaur slide.
Lakeside Park
In Pittsburg. Playter’s Lake has been used for recreational purposes since 1901 when the slate dump from a mine was used to create a dam. A city park since 1920.
Maggie Grebe Memorial Park
In Opolis between Pittsburg & Joplin. Pavilion, playground, several permanent picnic tables. Along old Jefferson Highway and Frontier Military Road.
McCune City Park
Playground, restrooms, pavilion. In the shadows of the local farmers coop grain bins, and a 1914 traditional tin-can style water tower. Great for photos.
Paul B Leffler Rotary Club Park
In Pittsburg. Includes playground, pavilion, grill, restroom, small basketball court & small sports field with backstop. Named after a local Rotarian.
Schlanger Park
ADA accessible playground, 2 pavilions, skate park, restrooms, sand volleyball, Schlanger Kiddie Pool, 18-hole disc golf course, dog park.
Sunflower Kiwanis Park
A small neighborhood park in Pittsburg. Includes playground & pavilion.
Walnut City Library Park
Playground from an old school is still maintained with vintage merry-go-round, monkey bars, slide, etc. Behind Walnut library.
Walnut City Park
Shaded playground and picnic area.
Winston Park
In Girard. Includes playground, learning trail, pavilions & swimming pool.
Pumpkin Patches (Fall)
Ol Yale Farms
Includes a kid-friendly “playground for giants”, Tire Mountain & zip line. Local artisans frequently do demonstrations.
Widmar Garden Produce
Pumpkins of all sizes and shapes, gourds, hay bales and mums. Open sunrise to sunset through Halloween.
Wood Farms Pumpkin Patch
Sits on 78 acres with hay maze, hay ride, combine slides/play set & more.
Swimming
Arma City Pool
Frontenac City Swimming Pool
Includes a zero-depth entry and has many activities for kids and seniors throughout the summer, including during the Frontenac Mining Days.
Girard Municipal Swimming Pool
Pittsburg Aquatic Center
Great for families or youth teams looking to cool off (or burn energy), with diving boards, tube slides, toddler pool, lazy river & sand volleyball courts.
Swimming Beach at Crawford State Park
An ADA compliant playground overlooks a 170 foot lakefront sandy swimming beach. Within waking distance are bathroom facilities, a shelter house, marina & café.
Trails
23rd Street Bike Park
Former mined area turned into outdoor recreation. Has a few miles of rolling single track trails, a mountain bike skills area, and a pump track.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Memorial Trail
In Crawford State Park. This 0.25 mile self guided interpretive trail about the builders of the dam is ADA accessible. Includes a statue of a Civilian Conservation Corps worker.
Deer Run Nature Trail
In Crawford State Park. This hardened 0.75 mile, self-guided nature walking trail with interpretive signs is ADA accessible. Local plants seen varies depending on the time of year.
Spider Leg Bridge Trail
In Crawford State Park. This 0.5 mile walking trail is ADA accessible and path takes hikers by the remains of a 19th century military outpost, and a closed-spandrel arch bridge.
Watco Trailhead Park
0.5 mile paved trail that connects Trail Head Park in Downtown Pittsburg to the southwest at Paul B Leffler Rotary Park. Nice to sit and rest: pergola, benches, landscaped.
Wilderness Park
Beginner friendly. 4+ miles of trails. A canopy of trees hides a gravel twisty dirt single track, double track fire roads & some exhilarating sheer drop-offs.