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Fonner Park has hosted live thoroughbred horse racing in Grand Island since 1954, with its spring meet running from mid February into early May. Guests can watch races trackside, place wagers, play keno, and dine at the Finish Line Restaurant. The Fonner Park campus is also home to the Nebraska State Fairgrounds, Grand Island Casino, and the BigIron Events Center, making it a busy entertainment hub nearby.

BigIron Events Center, known as the Heartland Events Center until it was renamed in June 2026, is a multipurpose venue on the Fonner Park campus. Its Eihusen Arena holds about 7,500 people for concerts, and the complex also includes the Bosselman Conference Center. The center hosts concerts, indoor football, volleyball, livestock and stock shows, trade shows, and graduations throughout the year, with tickets sold per event.

Island Oasis Water Park is a city operated outdoor water park covering six acres in Grand Island. Highlights include a 350,000 gallon wave pool, a 750 foot lazy river, two six story speed slides, and four additional 150 foot slides. Younger children can enjoy a zero depth play area with fountains, an otter slide, and a lily pad walk, and the park also offers sand volleyball, shelters, and concessions in summer.

Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer is a living history museum spread across more than 200 acres in Grand Island. Visitors can walk through Railroad Town, a recreated prairie community with costumed interpreters in spring and summer, then tour the Stuhr Building exhibits on early settlement and a large collection of antique farm machinery. Admission is charged, and the museum is a short drive nearby for families and history fans.

Grand Island Casino opened its permanent property on the Fonner Park campus in April 2025, bringing full casino gaming to central Nebraska. The gaming floor offers about 750 slot machines, 20 table games, a live poker room, and a sportsbook for following and wagering on the day's games. Dining includes Ruthie's Steak and Seafood plus more casual choices, and the Show Lounge hosts live entertainment. Guests must be 21 or older for gaming.

The Nebraska State Fair is held each year on the Fonner Park grounds in Grand Island, running for 11 days from late August through Labor Day. The fair features ticketed and free concerts, a carnival midway, cattle, equine, swine, sheep, and goat shows, a ranch rodeo, a demolition derby, and a truck and tractor pull, plus plenty of fair food. Annual attendance often tops 300,000, so plan parking and tickets ahead.

Raising Nebraska is a free 25,000 square foot agricultural discovery center inside the Nebraska Building on the State Fairgrounds at Fonner Park. Dozens of interactive exhibits explain how food travels from the farm to the dinner table, covering crops, livestock, ranching, and modern farm technology. It makes an easy indoor stop for families and curious adults, and field trips and group programs can be scheduled in advance.

Stolley Park is a historic 34 acre city park in Grand Island and home to Kids Kingdom, a large fortress style playground with slides, bridges, climbing areas, and colorful murals. The park also features an arboretum, a disc golf course, picnic shelters, the William Stolley House, and a replica settler cabin and early schoolhouse. The miniature Stolley Park Railroad is closed during 2026 while the area undergoes a major renovation.

The Grand Theatre is a 1937 art deco movie house in the Railside district of downtown Grand Island. Operated by the nonprofit Grand Foundation with volunteer staff, it screens films on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at modest ticket prices. The restored facade and marquee recreate the original design, and a small lower level museum shares the theater's history. It makes a relaxed, nostalgic evening outing nearby.

Grand Island Little Theatre is a community theater that has presented live productions in Grand Island for nearly 60 years. Each season features five regular productions of plays and musicals performed by local volunteer casts and crews, along with a children's theater workshop. Tickets are sold per show, and performance dates are posted online. The theater sits along Highway 34, close to Stuhr Museum on the south side of town.

Railside is Grand Island's historic downtown district, centered along Third Street near the railroad tracks. Restored brick buildings house antique shops, boutiques, coffee houses, restaurants, and bars, and the district also includes the Grand Theatre, Amur Plaza, and a public sculpture walk. Community events such as Third Thursdays add music and activities, and the Grand Island visitors bureau office on Third Street offers local travel information.

Heartland Antique Mall is a longtime multiple dealer antique store on Third Street in the Railside district of downtown Grand Island. Shoppers can browse a wide mix of antiques, collectibles, vintage home decor, and one of a kind finds from many vendors under one roof. It pairs well with a stroll through downtown, where more antique shops, cafes, and the historic Grand Theatre are all within easy walking distance.

Imagination City Children's Museum offers hands on, imaginative play for young children in the Northwest Crossing shopping center in Grand Island. The museum features interactive playhouses, a water table area, and several rotating exhibit rooms, including a real combine cab to explore. Admission is charged per person with half price entry after 4 PM, and birthday parties, special events, and field trips can be booked.

Spring City Indoor Trampoline Park is an indoor recreation center in north Grand Island built around open trampoline courts. Along with open jump sessions, guests can try rock climbing, an obstacle course, and trampoline dodgeball. It is a popular choice for kids, teens, and families on cold or rainy days, and party packages are available for birthdays and group outings. Hours change seasonally, so checking ahead is recommended.

Eagle Scout Park is a city park in north Grand Island built around Eagle Scout Lake. A walking trail loops around the water, and the park offers picnic areas and a playground, with a splash pad and the Veterans Athletic Complex right next door. Locals use it for morning walks, jogging, and relaxed family picnics, and it offers an easy outdoor break with free admission and plenty of open green space.

The Veterans Athletic Complex is a city sports complex on North Broadwell Avenue in Grand Island. It features multiple softball and baseball diamonds, soccer fields, and eight outdoor pickleball courts, and it regularly hosts softball, soccer, and pickleball tournaments that bring teams from across the region. A fishing lake is on site, and neighboring Eagle Scout Park adds a walking trail and playground for spectators.

Hall County Park is a wooded county park on the south side of Grand Island. It offers a paved loop for walking and biking, nature trails that wind through mature trees, picnic areas, and campsites. Gate hours change by season, with longer daily hours from mid April through mid October, and a walk in parking area just east of the main gate lets visitors enjoy the trails when the gates are closed.

L.E. Ray Park is a city park in south Grand Island centered on a lake with a sandy swimming area. The park is well known for Dog Island, a fenced off leash dog park with a separate small dog area and agility features. Visitors also enjoy disc golf, fishing, walking trails, picnic tables, and a playground, and the park is free to use from sunrise to sunset, making it a good stop for travelers with pets.

Indianhead Golf Club is an 18 hole semi private golf course spread across about 160 acres in southwest Grand Island. Established in 1990, the club welcomes public play and features a practice and teaching facility, a golf shop, and a full bar and grill, plus a party room for gatherings. Leagues, tournaments, junior golf programs, and punch card passes are offered, and visiting golfers can call ahead for tee times.

Jackrabbit Run Golf Course is an 18 hole public championship course on the northeast side of Grand Island. Its open layout suits golfers of all skill levels, and the facility includes practice areas, a pro shop, lessons and club fittings, and the Rabbit's Den bar and grill with an outdoor patio. Tee times can be booked online, and leagues, charity outings, and tournaments are held throughout the golf season.

Fonner View Golf Course is a public nine hole course on the southeast side of Grand Island that first opened in 1968. The par 32 layout measures just under 2,000 yards, making it a quick and approachable round for beginners, families, and golfers who are short on time. The facility offers a driving range, a chipping area, and a putting green, with cart and club rentals available for visitors.

The Grand Island Public Library is housed in the Edith Abbott Memorial Library, named for Grand Island native Edith Abbott, a nationally known social work educator. Dedicated in 1974 and expanded with a 25,000 square foot addition that opened in 2007, the library offers books, digital resources, local history materials, children's programs, and comfortable reading space. It is open seven days a week near downtown.

The Community Fieldhouse is a 70,000 square foot indoor recreation facility on the Fonner Park grounds, run by Grand Island Parks and Recreation from October through April. It offers indoor turf fields, basketball, volleyball, and pickleball courts, batting cages, meeting rooms, and a children's playground. Drop in admission covers all age appropriate activities, and the building also hosts leagues and youth tournaments.

Heartland Public Shooting Park, operated by Hornady, is a public shooting sports facility just west of Grand Island. It offers trap, skeet, five stand, sporting clays, and Olympic bunker trap, along with rifle, rimfire, handgun, and archery ranges. Leagues, monthly matches, youth events, and training courses are held throughout the year, and hours change by season, so guests should check the schedule before visiting.

Pete's Safari is a small exotic animal park just west of Grand Island where visitors can get up close to about 40 animal species, including several endangered animals. Guests can buy food to hand feed many of the animals, and optional encounters offer closer time with sloths and ringtail lemurs. The park welcomes families, school groups, and birthday parties, and it is open Friday through Sunday during its season.

The Townsley Murdock Immigrant Trail Site is a two acre parcel of prairie that has never been plowed, located near Wood River Crossing just north of Interstate 80 Exit 305. Wagons traveling the Mormon Trail wore a wide, shallow swale into the ground here that is still visible today. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the fenced site has interpretive signs and is easiest to see when grasses are short.

Mormon Island State Recreation Area sits just off Interstate 80 at Exit 312, south of Grand Island along the Platte River. Its lakes support fishing for largemouth bass, walleye, catfish, crappie, bluegill, and muskellunge, and no wake rules make it ideal for kayaks and canoes. The area offers swim beaches, modern campsites, picnic shelters, a playground, and trails, and it is a popular spot to see sandhill cranes each spring.

The Crane Trust Nature and Visitor Center sits at Interstate 80 Exit 305 along the Platte River. Visitors can explore ten miles of trails and footbridges, climb a 35 foot observation tower, view a research bison herd, and browse the Hornady Art Gallery and gift shop. Each March the Crane Trust offers guided sunrise and sunset tours to riverside blinds to watch migrating sandhill cranes, and advance booking is recommended.

The Edgerton Explorit Center in Aurora is a hands on science center named for Harold Edgerton, the MIT engineer who grew up in Aurora and became famous for pioneering high speed flash photography. Interactive stations in the Explorit Zone let children and adults experiment with science concepts, and the center also offers a portable planetarium, camps, and demonstrations. It is open seven days a week just north of Interstate 80.

The Plainsman Museum in Aurora preserves Hamilton County history on a six acre campus with five buildings and more than 50,000 artifacts dating from 1860 to 1950. Exhibits include a sod house, a log cabin, a one room schoolhouse, a recreated main street boardwalk, military displays, and antique farm equipment, along with the Victorian era home of Gen. Delevan Bates. It sits next door to the Edgerton Explorit Center.