Adventure Weekend in Overland Park, Kansas: Where to Play, Eat, & Explore

We have explored Kansas City many times as a family, but this trip we crossed the state line into Kansas to spend a full weekend exploring Overland Park. We discovered that Overland Park is so much more than just a Kansas City suburb! This city holds its own with impressive museums, unique experiences, beautiful outdoor spaces, and plenty of delicious places to eat.

During our weekend, we went indoor skydiving, raced go karts, explored local history, wandered through beautiful gardens, shopped a huge farmers market, and of course enjoyed some Kansas City barbecue. If you are looking for a fun Midwest weekend getaway, here are some of the best things to do in Overland Park, Kansas.

Where is Overland Park, Kansas?

Overland Park is located in northeastern Kansas, just southwest of Kansas City. It is part of the greater Kansas City metro area, making it easy to combine a visit with other Kansas City attractions.

Overland Park is about four hours from St. Louis and three hours from Omaha. We found it to be a great choice for a weekend getaway with plenty to do without spending a lot of time driving between stops.

Best Things to Do in Overland Park, Kansas

Overland Park Fall Festival & Farmers Market

We happened to visit during the annual Overland Park Fall Festival in Downtown Overland Park. Even though it rained during our visit, we still found plenty to see. The festival fills Downtown Overland Park with food, entertainment, activities, and more than 75 booths featuring art and handmade items from local and regional makers and free admission.

Saturday’s festival also coincided with the Overland Park Farmers Market at Clock Tower Landing. We couldn’t believe how many vendors there were! We found everything from produce and baked goods to specialty foods, flowers, art, and locally made items.

We visited on September 26, which was the final Saturday of the summer market season. The Farmers Market also offers select fall and holiday dates, so check the schedule if you are visiting later in the year.

Museum at Prairiefire

The Museum at Prairiefire is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. Make sure to take some time to walk around the outside before heading in because the colors seem to change as you move around the building!

The exterior was designed to resemble the flames of a Kansas prairie fire. The building incorporates dichroic glass made with 3M film originally developed by NASA. The colors change depending on the light and the angle from which you view the building.

Inside, you can see fossils, dinosaur bones, rotating exhibits, and plenty of hands-on displays. Our kids loved seeing the massive dinosaur bones and even designing their own dinosaur.

The Discovery Room upstairs features interactive science activities, specimens, live animals, puzzles, and more. This area is especially a hit for kids.

Baseball fans will also want to check out the College Baseball Hall of Fame Home Run Dugout Experience. The College Baseball Hall of Fame has found a permanent home inside the Museum at Prairiefire with the Home Run Dugout the first phase of the new experience. Our kids had fun testing their skills in the virtual batting experience, which lets you step up to the plate and take a few swings.

Johnson County Museum

We also spent some time exploring the Johnson County Museum which does a great job of bringing the history of the area to life. The exhibits cover different periods of Johnson County’s history, with plenty of interactive displays that keep things interesting for both kids and adults.

One of our favorite parts was the 1950s All-Electric House. This isn’t a replica but an actual house built by Kansas City Power & Light in 1953 and opened to the public as a model home in 1954. More than 60,000 people toured the home during its original six-month run to see what was then considered the latest in modern living.

Today you can actually walk through the house inside the museum. We loved seeing what was considered cutting-edge technology in the 1950s and comparing it to our homes today. The house later became a private residence before eventually being moved inside the museum.

Kids will also want to save time for KidScape. This imaginative play area features a kid-sized community where children can shop at a market, work on a farm, teach in a school, serve food in a diner, and more.

Andretti Indoor Karting & Games

If your family likes a little friendly competition, plan plenty of time for Andretti Indoor Karting & Games. This place is HUGE, and we couldn’t believe how much there was to do. There are multiple indoor electric go kart tracks with options for both kids and adults. You will also find a massive arcade, racing simulators, virtual reality games, a 7D theater, bowling, and a restaurant.

Our family spent almost 4 hours here and tried a little bit of everything during our visit. This is also a great place to keep in mind for a rainy, cold, or extremely hot day since there is so much to do indoors.

There is no general admission fee, so you can pick the activities your family wants to try or choose one of the combination packages. With so much to do, it is easy to spend several hours here.

iFLY Kansas City

One of the biggest highlights of our weekend was iFLY Kansas City. We have tried a lot of different family adventures over the years, but indoor skydiving was a new one for us! It was so much fun, and one of the best parts is that both kids and adults can participate.

Instead of jumping from an airplane, iFLY uses a powerful vertical wind tunnel to create the feeling of freefall in a controlled indoor environment. Before flying, we went through a short training session to learn the proper body position and hand signals. Then we suited up and headed into the tunnel with an instructor to keep you safe and in the right position.

If you have the option to add the High Flight to your visit, I highly recommend it. During the High Flight, your instructor takes you much higher inside the wind tunnel. This was one of our favorite parts of the experience and definitely worth adding. If indoor skydiving has ever been on your bucket list, this is such a fun way to try it without actually having to jump out of an airplane.

Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens

For a peaceful outdoor experience, don’t miss exploring the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. The Arboretum covers around 300 acres with themed gardens, artwork, native landscapes, and miles of trails to explore.

Summer was already over during our late September visit, but we still found plenty of beautiful late blooming flowers. We enjoyed wandering the peaceful paths and checking out the different garden areas and water features. There are many more miles of paved and unpaved trails to explore through the woods of the arboretum.

Our kids especially liked the Train Garden. Model trains travel through miniature landscapes, buildings, bridges, and other fun scenes. Even older kids can have fun spotting all the little details.

The visitor center has a kids area with activities, a cute gift shop, and even a cafe to make it easy to spend several hours exploring.

SCHEELS Overland Park

Normally I wouldn’t include a sporting goods store on a list of things to do, but SCHEELS isn’t exactly a normal store. Where else can you shop for hiking gear, wander through a huge toy section, play arcade games, and ride an indoor Ferris wheel for $1?

There is much more than shopping here too. We found an arcade, a huge kids toy section, and plenty of other things to explore. If you actually want to shop, you could spend a long time checking out the massive selection of outdoor gear, sporting goods, clothing, and more.

Where to Eat in Overland Park

We ate very well during our weekend in Overland Park! There are tons of restaurants to choose from, but these were some of our favorites.

Snooze, an A.M. Eatery

If you like fun breakfast food, add Snooze to your list. We tried both the Pancake Flight and stuffed French toast during our visit. The Pancake Flight is a fun option because you can sample several different flavors instead of having to choose just one. The menu also has Benedicts, breakfast classics, and plenty of savory choices.

Urban Egg

Another great breakfast option is Urban Egg. We apparently couldn’t get enough pancakes and French toast on this trip because we ordered another pancake flight along with stuffed French toast here too! Urban Egg has a big breakfast menu with both creative dishes and familiar favorites, plus plenty of choices for kids.

Chicken N Pickle

At Chicken N Pickle, dinner can easily turn into a couple of hours of family fun. Along with the restaurant, there are pickleball courts and games like ping pong, cornhole, shuffleboard, Battleship, and Jenga.

We liked that the kids didn’t have to sit around after they finished eating as there were plenty of games to play. The menu is family friendly too with plenty of choices for my picky eaters.

Q39 South

We stopped at Q39 South for lunch and got the classic Kansas City barbecue experience. The menu is packed with smoked meats, sandwiches, burgers, wings, and plenty of sides. After a weekend filled with so many different types of food, we couldn’t leave the Kansas City area without fitting in some BBQ!

Where to Stay in Overland Park

Drury Inn & Suites Kansas City Overland Park

We stayed at the Drury Inn & Suites Kansas City Overland Park during our weekend. The location made it easy to get around to all of the attractions on our itinerary, and Drury includes quite a few extras that are especially nice when traveling as a family.

A free hot breakfast is included each morning, along with free Wi-Fi and Drury’s evening 5:30 Kickback with hot food and drinks. The hotel also has an indoor/outdoor pool and whirlpool and we found the rooms to be spacious and comfortable.

Another bonus is that iFLY Kansas City is practically next door!

More Things to Do in Overland Park

We packed a lot into our weekend, but there were still a few places we didn’t have time to visit.

One of the biggest was Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead. The 12-acre attraction recreates a turn-of-the-century Kansas farm with animals, gardens, playgrounds, a fishing pond, and hands-on activities. Kids can even bottle-feed baby goats. The farmstead is open seasonally, so check the schedule before your visit.

Another option is new Slick City action park with slides and adventure of all ages. BRKTHROUGH is a new indoor attraction where teams have the change to compete in unique challenges using advanced technology.

You can also spend more time exploring Downtown Overland Park or check the Visit Overland Park events calendar for festivals, live music, markets, and other seasonal events happening during your trip.

Plan a Weekend in Overland Park, Kansas

We managed to fit a lot into one weekend in Overland Park, and I loved the variety of things we found to do. One minute we were wandering through peaceful gardens and the next we were indoor skydiving, racing go karts, exploring museums, or eating Kansas City barbecue.

Overland Park works well for a quick Midwest weekend getaway or as part of a longer Kansas City trip. We still have a few places on our list that we didn’t get to this time, which gives us a good excuse to come back!

Our visit to Overland Park was hosted and compensated by Visit Overland Park. As always, all opinions and experiences shared are our own.