Free & Cheap Things to Do in Hastings

History & Culture

The largest municipal museum between Chicago and Denver fills three floors with wildlife dioramas, Plains Indian artifacts, a full-dome planetarium, and the story Hastings tells best: how local inventor Edwin Perkins created Kool-Aid here in 1927. The permanent Kool-Aid exhibit is pure nostalgic fun.

Address: 1330 N Burlington Ave, Hastings, NE 68901

Tip: Planetarium shows cost a few dollars extra and are worth it; big-screen films are also extra. Allow two to three hours. School groups pay just $5 including a program and planetarium.

Family Fun

A nonprofit hands-on museum where kids climb the construction zone's giant blocks, explore the nature nook, and create in the art corner — all themed around growing, living, working, and creating. Daily admission is good for the whole day, and everything is built to be touched.

Address: 3000 Osborne Dr E, Ste 4, Hastings, NE 68901

Tip: Bring cash or a check — card payments aren't taken at the door (memberships can be bought online). Closed Mondays. It sits just off Highway 281 next to Dollar Tree.

Quirky Landmarks

Built as a 'sign of hope' during the Depression, this 1932 landmark — the largest fountain of its kind between Denver and Chicago — sends columns of water 67 feet into the air, lit in shifting rainbow colors on summer evenings over Highland Park. Bring ice cream and stay a while.

Address: Highland Park, N Denver Ave & E 12th St, Hastings, NE 68901

Tip: Runs evenings from roughly Memorial Day into early fall — the colored-light shows after dusk are the draw. Lawn chairs and blankets welcome; the fountain fronts Hastings Utilities in Highland Park.

Parks & Nature

Central Nebraska's only farm-based outdoor education center spreads across 73 acres of barns, gardens, and prairie on the edge of town. Family Outdoor Club meets the third Saturday of each month, and seasonal community festivals fill the historic farmstead with hands-on agriculture and nature learning.

Address: 4705 DLD Rd, Hastings, NE 68901

Tip: This is a program site, not a drop-in park — check the events calendar before driving out. Field trips for schools and homeschool groups run $4 per student for 90 minutes.

Arts & Culture

Hastings College's sleek contemporary art center mounts rotating exhibitions by national, regional, and student artists — including work from the college's noted glass program — in a gallery that's always free and open to the public on weekdays.

Address: 700 E 12th St, Hastings, NE 68901

Tip: Open weekdays 9 a.m.–5 p.m. during the school year; closed most holidays and over the summer break, so call (402) 461-7396 before a special trip. Some exhibitions add weekend hours.

Arts & Culture

More than 30 bronze statues dot Hastings in three clusters — downtown's 2nd Street, Hastings College, and the museum grounds — joined by murals like the 210-foot 'Working Together Toward a People's Art' along the Pioneer Spirit Trail and the Eckhardt's Grocery mural honoring German-Russian settlers.

Address: 2nd St & N Burlington Ave, Hastings, NE 68901

Tip: Pick up a free self-guided bronze-tour brochure at the Visitors Center. The big trail mural runs between 2nd and 7th Streets along East Side Boulevard — easiest seen on foot or bike.

Family Fun

Hastings' city-run water park punches far above its ticket price: a wave pool, lazy river, zero-depth entry pool, climbing wall, key log roll, diving boards, and a tangle of water slides, open daily from Memorial Day weekend into August.

Address: 2200 W 3rd St, Hastings, NE 68901

Tip: Open noon–7 p.m. daily in season. Morning lazy-river walking and lap swim happen before the gates open. Full concessions inside; call the daily-status line at (402) 463-1016 on iffy-weather days.

Parks & Nature

A spring-fed five-acre lake beside the Little Blue River, ten minutes south of Hastings near Ayr. The 33-acre park dates to 1893, when an ice company dammed the river, and today offers fishing, paddling, picnic shelters, a playground, and nearly a hundred campsites under mature cottonwoods.

Address: 2 mi N of Ayr, NE 68925

Tip: Day use is free — no state park permit needed since the area is village-managed. Electric campsites are first-come; the lake suits kayaks and canoes rather than fast boats.