Parks and Recreation Events

Adventure Awaits! We’ve partnered with Capital Area Therapeutic Riding Association (CATRA) to provide you with some time on their farm having fun and learning to care for miniature horses! A unique opportunity to connect with miniature horses while learning essential skills. Open to children age 5 & older, teens, and adults! Pre-registration is required. Space is extremely limited. Adventure Awaits programs are sponsored by UPMC and supported by Visit Hershey & Harrisburg Adventure Trails.

Curious about edible plants and how to utilize them to create yummy summer recipes? Join Naturalists at Wildwood Park to learn how to make a refreshing drink, a healthy salad and a sweet treat. Samples of each edible treat will be provided.

Join us for a FREE concert at Fort Hunter Park - Susquehanna Folk Music Presents Cumberland Honey! Dauphin County Parks & Recreation is excited to offer a summer of fun events for the whole family with our Sunset Music & Movie Series! This series of free events is made possible by our Presenting Sponsor, Veolia, and Event Sponsor Ollies. Sarah's Creamery Ice Cream Truck will be on-site with sweet treats, including Penn State Creamery Ice Cream.

The Commissioners and the County's Cultural Celebration Task Force invite you to a free festival celebrating cultural diversity in Dauphin County. Sponsored by Capital Blue Cross, this event will bring together our region's diversity and cultures as well as celebrate and increase awareness of our vast differences and commonalities. This is a free event and no tickets are required.

Join volunteer Jane Earle to see some of the wetland plants, such as American lotus and the rose mallows. Common ragweed, responsible for a great deal of allergic response, will be identified along the North Boardwalk. Meet in front of the Nature Center.

Do you like flowers, chocolate or watermelon? These all rely on pollinators! Join a Naturalist to discover the many different animal species that are pollinators and examine their important roles in helping the environment, including wildlife, plants and people. Become a detective and explore the flowers around Wildwood Park to get up-close views of pollinators in action! Then, make a pollinator house that you can take home to help pollinators that live in your area.

Monarch butterflies are some of the most widely studied insects in the entire world. Join a Naturalist for a chance to see these amazing insects up close and personal in three of their prominent life stages. Program will occur outside on the West Lawn by the small pavilion closest to the Nature Center.

Enjoy a movie night outdoors under the stars at Fort Hunter Park. The whole family is sure to love Mufasa! The Friends of Fort Hunter will operate a concession stand with movie snacks and drinks. Dauphin County Parks & Recreation is excited to offer a summer of fun events for the whole family with our Sunset Music & Movie Series! This free series of events is made possible by our Presenting Sponsor, Veolia, and Event Sponsor, Ollies.

Registration Opens - Saturday, March 1 Join Wildwood Park for the 6th annual Run Wild for Wildwood 5K & 10K. This scenic run/walk will take you on the Wildwood Way Trail around the lake and the Towpath Trail along the Pennsylvania Canal! Bring your friends and family to show your support for Wildwood Park and the community. Registration will open on March 1, 2025 for this event.

Join Penn State Master Gardeners for a leisurely stroll to learn about one of Harrisburg’s Best-Kept Secrets - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. learn about some of the many perennials, shrubs, and trees in the Park. Gather inspiration for your garden and gain unique information about this local Park, by learning to identify these plants, some of their pollinators, other insects or diseases, and soil or location preferences.