Free & Cheap Things to Do in Eau Claire

Parks & Nature

Eau Claire's crown jewel — a beautifully developed 9-acre free riverfront park at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire Rivers with paved walking paths, a walking labyrinth, a natural amphitheater hosting free summer concerts, and two pedestrian bridges spanning both rivers. The park is the hub of downtown Eau Claire life, hosting the year-round Wednesday and Saturday Farmers Market, live music events, and community festivals throughout the year.

Address: Riverfront Terrace, Eau Claire, WI 54703

Tip: The Farmers Market runs Wednesdays and Saturdays May through October at the Phoenix Park Pavilion — one of the best in western Wisconsin. Free summer concerts in the amphitheater are a local institution. The confluence viewpoint where both rivers meet is a great photo spot.

Outdoors

A free 30-mile rail-trail following the Chippewa River south from Phoenix Park in downtown Eau Claire through river bottoms, prairies, sandstone bluffs, and wetlands. The city section starting at Phoenix Park requires no trail pass and is fully paved — perfect for a free morning walk or run along the river. Old converted railroad bridges span the river at dramatic angles, offering some of the most scenic views of any trail in Wisconsin.

Address: Phoenix Park, Riverfront Terrace, Eau Claire, WI 54703 (north trailhead)

Tip: Start at Phoenix Park for the most accessible and scenic section — no trail pass needed within the city limits. The trail connects to the broader Chippewa River valley for a longer ride. Walking is always free on the entire trail.

Parks & Nature

A free peninsula park jutting into Half Moon Lake on the edge of downtown Eau Claire — miles of free walking and biking trails, a free swimming beach, baseball diamonds, picnic areas, and one of the country's oldest minor league baseball stadiums where a 17-year-old Hank Aaron played his first pro season for the Eau Claire Bears in 1952. The wooded peninsula is surrounded by water on three sides and also houses the Chippewa Valley Museum and the small Paul Bunyan Logging Camp Museum.

Address: Carson Park Dr, Eau Claire, WI 54703

Tip: The Half Moon Lake swimming beach is free in summer. The walking trail loops the entire peninsula — about 2 miles with water views most of the way. The Paul Bunyan Logging Camp Museum charges a small fee in season ($8 adults), the Chippewa Valley Museum is listed separately. The baseball stadium is worth a peek even outside game days.

History & Museums

A 30,000-square-foot regional history museum tucked into Carson Park, with permanent galleries on the Ojibwe and Dakota people of the upper Chippewa Valley, the 19th-century logging boom that built Eau Claire, and the immigrant farmers who followed. Two restored historic buildings on the grounds — an 1860s log cabin and an 1872 one-room schoolhouse — round out the visit.

Address: 1204 East Half Moon Drive, Eau Claire, WI 54703

Tip: $12 adults / $10 seniors 62+ / $5 ages 5–17 / free under 5. Open Tue 5–8pm, Wed–Fri 12–5pm, Sat 10am–5pm; closed Sun–Mon. $2 Museums for All admission with SNAP/WIC/Medicaid card. Pair with a walk around Carson Park's peninsula — the museum sits right on it.

Arts & Culture

The largest rotating outdoor sculpture exhibit in the country — 120+ contemporary works installed along Water Street, the Downtown Mall, and the Mayo Health Systems campus, with new pieces rotated in each summer. Visitors vote on a People's Choice winner each year, and the winning sculpture stays permanently while everything else cycles out.

Address: Downtown Eau Claire (Water Street + West Grand Avenue), Eau Claire, WI 54703

Tip: Free 24/7 outdoor exhibit. Pick up a free tour map at the Visit Eau Claire visitor center or download from visiteauclaire.com/sculpture-tour. New installations go up each June; vote for People's Choice through the website. Combine with a Phoenix Park stroll — the sculpture trail passes right through.

Arts & Culture

Eau Claire's $60 million performing arts center at the literal confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa Rivers, opened in 2018. A 1,200-seat theatre, a smaller 396-seat black box, recording studios, and visual arts galleries — including the free Graham Avenue Walking Gallery that runs the full length of the first floor with rotating regional art. The building itself is the architectural landmark of downtown.

Address: 128 Graham Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54701

Tip: Free building access during business hours — wander the Graham Avenue Walking Gallery and the lobby art installations any weekday. The riverside patio behind the building is free seating with confluence views. Show tickets vary from $15 student rush to $60+; check the box office calendar.

Parks & Nature

A 230-acre wooded natural area along the Chippewa River owned by UW-Eau Claire and laced with gravel trails, wooden bridges, stairs, and a State Street tunnel. The campus footbridge over the Chippewa connects downtown to UWEC's hilly campus — a free walk that's one of the most picturesque short hikes in western Wisconsin, especially in fall.

Address: UW-Eau Claire campus, Eau Claire, WI 54701

Tip: Free year-round, dawn to dusk. Park free at UWEC Lot 4 weekends/evenings; the trail starts at the campus footbridge. The 1.4-mile loop takes about 30 minutes at a stroll. Boardwalks can be slick after rain. Spring mushroom season (April–May) is when the park earns its mushroom-paradise nickname.

Quirky Landmarks

The retail front and gallery for Volume One — Eau Claire's free biweekly culture magazine and the city's de facto creative-scene hub. The store stocks only Eau Claire and Wisconsin-made apparel, books, music, art prints, and gifts, and the in-store Volume One Gallery runs free rotating art shows, book readings, and small acoustic concerts year-round.

Address: 205 North Dewey Street, Eau Claire, WI 54703

Tip: Free entry and free to browse the gallery. Grab a free copy of the latest Volume One magazine on the way in — every event happening in Eau Claire is in there. Most gallery openings are on First Fridays with free refreshments. Easy walk from Phoenix Park.

History & Museums

An authentic 1890s logging camp reproduction in Carson Park has told the story of Wisconsin's white-pine era since 1934 — bunkhouse, cook shanty, blacksmith shop, and heavy equipment, narrated through the words of the lumberjacks themselves. Out front, the obligatory photo op: Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, larger than life.

Address: 1110 E Half Moon Dr (Carson Park), Eau Claire, WI 54703

Tip: Seasonal, roughly May through September. The $18 adult / $7 youth bundle adds the Chippewa Valley Museum across the park — the two together make Carson Park a full half-day. The Tall Tales Room is the kids' favorite stop.

Family Fun

A purpose-built downtown children's museum on North Barstow Street — three floors of hands-on exhibits covering water play, building, art, and body science, designed for kids ten and under. The flat $11 ticket covers everyone over age one, and the museum sits a block from Phoenix Park's riverfront, splash-distance from the farmers market.

Address: 126 N Barstow St, Eau Claire, WI 54703

Tip: Guests on WIC, Medicaid, or free/reduced lunch pay a $4 reduced rate with proof at the desk. Member-only hours run 8–9am on weekends, so non-members should aim for mid-morning. Combine with Phoenix Park and the Saturday farmers market.

Parks & Nature

The Eau Claire River drops over a broad ledge of ancient rock at this county park fifteen minutes east of town — the biggest waterfall in the area, with sandy riverside beaches, swimming holes between the rapids, and wilderness hiking trails along both banks. Locals treat the smooth granite shelves like natural water-park furniture all summer.

Address: 600 Big Falls Forest Rd, Fall Creek, WI 54742

Tip: The vehicle pass is required year-round and sold onsite — $6 daily or $35 annual for all Eau Claire County parks. Water levels change the character completely: spring means thundering falls, late summer means wading pools. No lifeguards, so watch kids closely.