The 26 best public squares in Erie

We had a quick stop before heading home. Beautiful park! Definitely want to come back and explore when we have more time. There are 6 different beaches entrances, 3 different piers, ferry rides and even a park. Beautiful!

Presque Isle State Park is an absolute gem along Lake Erie! The park is beautifully maintained, with clean restrooms, plenty of walking and biking trails, and several gorgeous beaches to choose from. Beach 6 and Beach 8 are the most popular, offering calm lakeshore waters perfect for families and a relaxing swim. My favorite is Beach 10 — the water there is crystal clear with open waves, giving it a more adventurous and refreshing feel. It’s a fantastic spot to just sit back, enjoy the breeze, and watch the waves roll in. Best of all, entry to the park is completely free! I highly recommend bringing your own food and turning it into a picnic — it’s the perfect way to spend a day by the beach.

Presque Isle was magnificent! I’m sure it’s super packed on the summer, but ours was a fall visit and while it was busy, it was not too bad! Great foot and bike paths. Lots of beach area, the water was great and the lighthouse didn’t disappoint even though it was closed. This was recommended from a friend and I’m so glad we went! Definitely worth the trip if you are within an hour or two drive.

This is seriously one of those places you visit and cznt wait to come too. Super safe, there's always rangers/ law enforcement driving around. Clean, with lots of garbage cans and restroom areas. I grew up around Lake Erie and I still get pleasantly surprised at how clear the water is at these beaches. Great place to grab Primanti Brothers and spend the afternoon.

It is absolutely beautiful here. I love view. It's nice sand to walk in, we had a great time! Free to go, and you can rent boats. I think they are pet friendly as well. I didn't go anywhere other than the beach area, so I'm not sure about restrooms, picnic areas, or playground.

Best Beach ever! It's so clean and family friendly. My preferred beach is beach 8 but all the beaches are lovely. It's only a few hrs from pittsburgh and a lovely drive. There are several light houses to explore as well. They have bike and walking trails too. A must when your in the area.

The water was very shallow at beach 7, only up to hip height on an adult. We considered bringing floats but I was glad we didn't. I don't know for sure but we saw nobody using them &after being told we couldn't pass a pool football in the water I doubt floats would be allowed. Not the lake adventure we're used to &not what we were looking for. Beautiful area &you can see through the water all the way out to the buoy perimeter.

A beautiful tower on the end of a pier with a small restaurant and gift shop at the bottom. It is in a nice location with many things to do nearby and multiple boat tours are available on the pier as well. The views are the main reason to go up to the tower and they were great, could see over as far as you could see on lake Erie and the entire bayfront. They do have an elevator so you don't have to walk up all those stairs lol. I would recommend stopping by here if you are in the Erie area.

Beautiful views!!! Definitely worth the small fee. We noticed it when we were at the maritime museum but had run out of time so we went the next day. Good for all ages. Loved the elevator after the stairs at the land lighthouse!

We came here on a Sunday afternoon in September. We bought tickets onsite and there was no wait. The cost was $6/person. A staff member took us to the observation deck in an elevator. Not sure if there are steps to walk up if you choose to or not - it didn’t seem like that was an option. The view from the observation deck was great. Looking at the website and seeing some other reviews, it’s unclear to me if there is a second observation area. If there is, no one told us about it so we missed it. I don’t remember seeing any elevator options to go up any higher. Parking was easy. There was a shared lot and there were plenty of spaces. It was a very nice day, I was surprised there weren’t more people here. We enjoyed this visit.

This was a fantastic stop on a motorcycle trip back to Ohio from Watkins Glen, New York. For a $6 fee, you can take the elevator up to the viewing deck at 136'. On a clear day, (which we had) and the use of their articulating binoculars, you can see 70 miles due north to Port Dover, Ontario.

I mean it's a tower with an elevator (thank goodness) but it did have excellent views of Lake Erie. And the staff was really nice and seemed excited for us to be there.

The Bicentennial Tower in Erie is a great place to visit. From the top, you get a beautiful view of the lake and the city. It’s definitely one of the must-see spots in Erie, PA

Ticket price was $6 per adult. The views were nice. Elevator was fast and there is an indoor section at the top of the tower for bad weather.

Absolutely beautiful park and arboretum. So many beautiful trees and nature trails. We have drove by this place a million times and I’m sad we never stopped before. Definitely a favorite stop in Erie now. Awesome place to take the dog for a walk and get some steps in!

Beautiful Park. Awesome slides! They get out in the sun. Obviously it just takes a beach towels and slide down them and it makes it even funner! Park was spotless and then walking trails were awesome!

Great park, especially on a very hot day. All the trees gave a perfect shade to allow us to walk our little dogs! The labeling of trees was a great help in wandering and learning about all the types of trees. The bubbling brook was a really nice feature to make us feel cool! We'll come again next year!

Hidden gem with tons to do and those slides are epic! We walked the entire park in less than an hour. Will definitely be going back there. My 3 kids couldn't get enough of those long slides. But FYI those slides can be very very fast if your kid is new to slides you may want to go with them or at least give some brief instructions on slowing themselves down.

Stopped and walked about the park to stretch our legs after being in the car for several hours. It was nice and green, clean, with children playing and having fun.

Good place to park/ride bikes to water front- pretty park

Frontier Park is a well-maintained community space that provides a variety of amenities for both relaxation and recreation. The grounds feature open green areas ideal for walking or gathering, along with picnic tables that make it a pleasant spot for families and groups to enjoy time outdoors. The tennis court offers an accessible option for casual play, while the availability of public restrooms adds to the park’s convenience. Shaded areas and pathways give it a welcoming feel, and it is often used for neighborhood events and seasonal activities. While parking can sometimes be limited during busier times, the park overall serves as a reliable and enjoyable place for leisure within Erie

Visiting from out of town and stopped in for lunch, great nostalgic diner, good food and reasonable prices. It was a warm day when we stopped in so there were a lot of people eating also. Staff kept up on cleanliness for how busy it was. Would recommend if you are in the area.

It's an old time charm kind of place. Fast food at reasonable prices. Great for after the beach or park. Very touristy spot. One thing that was confusing is the separate lines for pick up. If you and your party order different types of food then you will need to find your line.

I love Sara's restaurant. Now to be fair I've only ever gotten ice cream here I only get their soft serve chocolate and vanilla twist cone with twinkle coat or I'll get their orange and vanilla twist cone with sprinkles. But every season you come here there are new faces but they always do a wonderful job so they are well trained and they're very friendly and fast as well. This place also has a very unique decorating style it's like a '50s diner but with a bunch of other stuff thrown in from probably everywhere. I think this is a pretty unique location and the ice cream is cheap so it's worth it to stop by just to see how this place is decorated and how quick the surface is.

The hotdogs naked are fabulous but the chili is odd. It’s definitely not what you expect for flavor for chili. However the not necessarily a bad thing but my kids wouldn’t eat their meal because of it. The burgers reminded me of a meatloaf in its texture; and flavor a bit. The up charge for the milkshake is worth it but it’s a soft serve ice-cream not hand dipped. It’s definitely worth trying especially for the vibe it gives and proximity to amusement park and beaches. It’s not cheap it cost 70+ dollars for 2 adults and 3 kids. So if you’re on a budget maybe only get shakes. Also kids meal fry portion is the same as an adults meal portion 😬.

Fun burger place. Make sure to walk around and look at the different toys. Food is good and fast. We grabbed a table and sat down. I went up to check and they had already called my number. Price is very reasonable for a burger fries and drink.

This is such a fun place to visit. The food is tasty but nothing crazy. It’s the old school, fun, eclectic vibe the place has. Plenty of seating outdoors and you can listen to laughs and screams from Waldameer.

I’d come here for the milkshake because that was the only thing that was good. The strawberry milkshake was made with real strawberries. The cheeseburger and smith hot dog with chili and curly fries were average at best.

Beautiful lighthouse and easy climb. Because its not super rall I didnt expect the view to be great. I was wrong! Beautiful view!! We bought the tickets as part of a combo with the Presque Isle lighthouse.

It was a beautiful experience and the staff were very knowledgeable about the history of the lighthouse and surrounding area. We enjoyed ourselves even if we were a bit nervous going up and walking around the top outside! Would recommend this lighthouse as a starter if you are a bit uncomfortable with heights! Other than that it is truly beautiful!

Nice side trip as we wanted to complete our visit to all 3 lighthouses. Such a beautiful view from the top! Well worth it. Staff was informative and very pleasant. Well worth the small fee! Not a lot of parking but there is parking. A park for the kiddos too.

This was the last of the 3 lighthouses we stopped to see on our way home from Mass. We didn't make it during business hours, but we still enjoyed the info boards and the proximity of the lighthouse to a kids' park. It's a cool little lighthouse, and we do plan on coming back to possibly see the inside. We learned a lot at this one and are glad we stopped.

Very well run by the volunteers explaining the history for how Lighthouses aid navigation for those entering the Bay.

Awesome stop in Erie. You can climb to the top on certain days. They have free days also. Check their website.

Amazing views highly recommend checking out

This tour was stunning. We just so happened to perfect weather for the first day of August. Some choppy waters but the Captain got us in smoothly with no issues. Dakota was our MC who was very informative on the history which was very interesting as you're headed out to watch the sunset. Great jokes as well while you're making your way out to Lake Erie. I've done Lake Michigan sunset tour and this was informative enough to keep your head turning for photo after photo. If you're looking for your own thing, sit up front, want more details sit in the back but no matter where you sit there is plenty to photograph. Hope you enjoy some of mine. Safe travels friends 🤘✌️💙

The boat is stable and does not sway, so don't worry about seasickness. The boarding dock is very easy to find, the parking lot is convenient, and there is a bathroom just next to it. The tour guide is very detailed and the price was very reasonable. I recommend it.

The Lady Kate is a great boat, and the narrator was funny and super nice. Captain was great too. Highly recommend. I have some pictures on here from some of the tours I have been on. It is a really cool experience.

First time I've been on a boat like that in the middle of a lake... It was the sunset tour and it was amazing... it's a shame I had to see it Alone

Highly recommend the sunset tour absolutely gorgeous, the boat tour guide was amazing! I mean for $20.00 a person for 1.5 hour boat ride on Lake Erie don’t think about it just do it!

Love that this tour is available! We went on the 11am tour and it wasn't too crowded. Beautiful day and plenty of other watercraft out in the bay to see. The narrator was great and we had the better view sitting up front. Although the sound system does tend to cut out. Didn't bother us much. Definitely would go again on the sunset tour.

We had a wonderful time on the sunset cruise on the Lady Kate. The weather was absolutely perfect and the sunset was stunning to say the least! With good weather, this 90 minute ride out into Lake Erie is well worth the 20$ each. This is also kid friendly! The boat was made in Erie around 1952. It’s plenty spacious and lots of room so not right up against the next person. The captain was enjoyable to talk to and the fellow giving the talk about Presque Isle bay did a really good job. He talks a lot about the history of the area from the war of 1812 in the bay. Really informative! We both really enjoyed the boat ride! The seats are a little uncomfortable so I would suggest bringing a stadium pillow for comfort. There are no refreshments onboard, but there is a pop machine at ticket booth. You can bring bottled water on the boat if you want to. They also sell other amenities too including sunglasses and sweatshirts. Bring your sunglasses! You will need them to see sunset across the water. It gets bright if clear day. We also got to see a freighter coming in from the lake. We passed it going into the channel. That was also neat to see. I would highly recommend this boat ride. It was really nice, peaceful and well worth it!

Great amphitheatre plenty of lawn space. There is a playground right next to amphitheatre to entertain the kids. Wonderful view of the bay

Ridiculous that in the middle of July that you come down here and there's 11 porta potties and not one of them are unlocked. It's rude. People with disabilities in elderly people should not have to walk a football field to get to very disappointed. Every other year they have had one open. Sad .

Liberty Park and the surrounding marina are very clean and well taken care of. The playground is nice and the equipment seems like it's on the newer side.

Another beautiful eight great Tuesdays. Playground, food trucks, good music, great company. Playground, face painting... Couldn't ask for a better summer evening.

Went for beer on the bay. The venue was nice and well planned. Parking wasn't to bad for this event.

Beautiful views all around. Must make time to visit this place more often!

Nice getaway if you like to be by the water & go fishing

This place is an Erie gem. First time I came here, the owner noticed a new face and came over and introduced herself. Upon departure, she personally checked to make sure everything was good. The gyros and Greek fries are excellent and not much more than a fast food lunch. Food comes quick and gave me enough time to eat on a 30 minute lunch break.

The food here is pretty good. I got a 2 patty burger with fries and a big peanut butter milkshake. The service is also very friendly and helpful. We received refills often and had fast service. The atmosphere here is unique all the photos of the history of eerie and the older buildings around.

I'd like to preface my review by saying that I did order my food via DoorDash, so I'm reviewing ONLY the food. I ordered a lamb gyro (with everything on it) and sides of small onion rings and small greek fries. The gyro was pretty good, especially the tzatziki sauce that comes in it, and it came with plain fries on the side. The onion rings were alright (could've been crispier) and the greek fries as well as the fries that came as a side to my gyro were soft and needed salt. The softness may be due to the fact that my order wasn't necessarily fresh (as is the nature of DoorDash). Additionally, I don't think I actually received greek fries because these seemed like chili cheese fries to me and they were a bit spicy, so I wasn't a fan of them at all. Maybe I received the wrong side. If I ordered from here again, I'd just stick with a gyro, because I did enjoy that!

When I was a kid I lived on 2nd & Hess for a couple of years and would ride my bike over to East Ave to eat Greek burgers. Many a newspaper tip went to this place. Home visiting and brought my wife and son to this jewel and we enjoyed every bite. I had three Greek burgers and Greek tots, my wife just had some cheese sticks (we had a dinner to go to a couple of hours away), and our little guy had chicken tenders with onion rings. All of our food was delicious! This place IS Erie! Our city has the absolute best little places to eat and this is a staple of the East Side. The owner will chat with you and the staff are all wonderful. Eating here today brought me back to being a kid and reminded me just how good a New York Lunch Greek burger is.

Great service and friendly staff! There is allot of memorabilia on the walls to give you something to look at while waiting for your food. We ordered a Yeero, Philly Steak on Pita and a Greek Dog. The food was good and fairly priced. They have breakfast as well!

Coming back to Erie for a wedding. The only thing I care about is eating Greek burgs and Greek fries. Haven't been here in almost 5 years, will be bringing some sauce home too.

The food here is so delicious the Greek Dogs are the bomb. I wish they still had the 1980's prices unfortunately inflation causes that not the restaurant. Thank you guys for being here in Erie.

Our Alumni Groups bought 33 tickets in the first 4 rows on the third baseline. Beautiful evening. Temperature dissipated as shade reduced sun before it set from our seats. SeaWolves did well but loss by 1 run. Great evening!

Great older minor league stadium. Despite it being unseasonably cold we had a good time. Concessions and tickets reasonably priced. Parking was $5.00 across the street from the stadium.

On June 19th, HBO’s John Oliver rebranded the Erie SeaWolves to the Moon Mammoths and it was a sell out event. The stadium doesn’t have a bad seat in the house. And any game you go to is fun and engaging and entertaining for the whole family.

We always go to a game when we are in town. So much fun for all ages! We have 2 younger kids that enjoy the kidzone.

Took a 90 minute road trip East and had a GREAT time! Beautiful park, fantastic views from the seats, and friendly staff/fans. DO NOT MISS THE PEPPERONI BALLS! Wow they lived up to their reputation. Really large selection of fun items in the Team Shop. Had not been here in years, but already working on another trip this season and will DEFINITELY go next. Highly recommend a visit or ten!

It is great! I had a fun time! My only complaint would be that I heard the 50/50 raffle worker, Jack, making inappropriate jokes, which doesn't seem great in a workplace. However, the gift shop worker, Kendall, was super helpful and made up for that 👌 She answered the questions I had and had a great sense of humor. Made shopping at the pretty expensive gift shop into a positive experience. The game was fun to watch too! I got strawberry cheesecake ice cream, and even though the game didn’t go how I wanted it to, it was still a good time and a positive experience in the end. I'd give it 4 stars because of the 50/50 worker, but it gets 5 stars because the giftshop worker was a lot of help and made up for that 👍

Wow! What an experience. Drove down from Canada and we were not disappointed. The game event staff went above and beyond to make my family feel welcomed and included. Definitely going to be a yearly trip if not more :)

A very nice playground that is off the beaten path. If you're looking for a quiet one-on-one time with your child on a playground, there's a good chance there are only a couple people here.

I used to live around the corner from Gridley Park back in the early 1960s! I've been walking around the park for exercise and because two times around is exactly 1 mile! I am pleasantly surprised how lovely the park has become. In Spring, flowering trees are gorgeous. People have planted red, yellow, purple, and orange flowers in pots, in flower beds, and everywhere! There's a well-used and fun playground with swings, slides, climbing trees for children and families. A small theater with a blackboard and wood benches could host a storytime or poetry reading or education lecture. Plenty of neat black benches invite strollers to sit and read, eat lunch, daydream. Dog walkers abound and are very respectful to tidy up after their charges. The vast variety of pooches reminds me of the original 101 Dalmatians! In Autumn the leaf colors are astonishing in variety and brightness. All the homes surrounding the park have historical value and the owners show pride of ownership by their care of lawn, trees, flowers. The elegant historical marker binds Erie's past ever present and reminds me how proud I am to be a lifelong Erie citizen. Gridley Park squirrels will entertain you with their antics that is if they can stop eating acorns for five minutes! Thank you to all who help keep Gridley Park the lovely asset that it is! 🧡

I love this park. Absolutely fantastic place. I’ve been here several times usually during the summer some of the churches get together and throw events here. Well maintain the flowers are nice. Play down. Equipment is great very pleased with this park.

The trees seem to dance at 5his park...clean and not overcrowded. School across from it so there is a nice kid friendly playground and right in town:)

Beautiful traditional park with gorgeous flowers and trees. Playground looked good!

It's decent, nothing too special about it. I personally really like the side with no slides, swings, etc. because I find it a whole lot more calming/relaxing.

It was meet your neighbor night first night they had many booths for children and adults, it was a wonderful day. They also were giving out hot dogs chips and water for those that wanted it. I belong to the our West bay front which had a tent and help them with the surveys for gridley Park and the surrounding areas.

The park is huge. Baseball field, basketball court, playground, picnic tables, grills, and a field large enough for football. You also have some good hills that would be great for sledding in the winter. My only issue is that it's old. The playground is a bit beat up. Be nice if the playground was updated a bit with new not broken equipment. Still a nice place to enjoy time with the family.

ALOT of activities that don't belong in a park, could be a very nice park with a little love put into it. Would love to see some effort put on to make this a really nice place for kids and families to enjoy. Lots of potential.

So nice the city upgraded this park and the playground part. Now for the basketball court to get a repave job.

Nice park, wonderful view of Lake Erie, gets a little riff raff in the evenings which can cut our stay short.

Beautiful view and nice playground, but there's a litter problem.

Beautiful Park with a view where you can see the Eastern side of Erie ending with the Lake itself. Nice playground for kids and a baseball field

So many memories here a huge park we used in Winter and summer definitely recommend for a family there's no restrooms though I now live in Florida to look after my mom but an awesome view and park good for dog walking too

Home to ball field , community swimming pool and large parking area that is frequent hangout and lunch spot , the city will sometimes distribute soil and such from the parking area it fills the entire right hand corner of Downing Ave and Buffalo Road . Occasionally there is a young painter that sells paintings and art in the parking lot .Been awhile since I went to pool , they used to have a wheelchair ramp into pool .

Great park to bring the kids and have a little cook out.

Good place to sit down and watch the kids suit up and play different football teams. Outdoor barbecues picnic areas kids playground swimming pool only for kids. Softball and baseball fields. A lot of room in this park for everyone and anyone!!! All race of people join here to just chill and have a very very very good time!!!

Decent park the football field needs to be filled in. This is the same location the city drops huge amounts of dirt every year so I'm not sure why whoever runs this park didn't or wouldn't take some of it and fill the holes in so the kids and leauges who play sports on their field don't sprain their ankles and fall into them (I watched it happen week after week entire games being blown by those holes . Other then the constant gambling in the basketball courts it's a decent park

This park is a gem on the east side of Erie. Right off the Bayfront Connector, a right turn off old Route 20 onto 18th and you'll be in a park with a great all-purpise sports field and an incredible inground pool. Also, there's an added bonus.. free, dark, rich compost in the parking lot, compliments of the City of Erie.

It is a great little Park good to take the kids or family out for a hike or having a picnic also it has a lot of little educational post scattered out through the park with fun facts about nature kids enjoy it out of the way it's always just you there barely ever see others

Great park I grew up coming to this park.. and it's still there and kids love it. I just think they need to add on to it and add more stuff

Wheelchair accesible ,paved side walking paths , park benches seating ,water pump fountain , playground equipment located on corner of East Avenue and East Avenue . No Wi-Fi or services , trash cans with its proximity to school and other business seems a pretty safe area .

Nice park, when you don't have the young thugs using it as the local meetup spot to show off their stolen bikes to one another amongst other illicit activities. But that's every inner-city park everywhere anymore, I'd assume. Lower East Side 4 life!

Would be nice if it had porta potties for children and adults that are there within the park.

Could use some cleaning up after grass being cut due to leaves covering almost everything. But super quiet place to sit and enjoy a book or some quiet time for the exception of traffic noise from the main road!

Nice place for kids to play and even see some outdoor creatures.

I grew up in this neighborhood. This is not the best place to go if you're not familiar with the ghetto. As long as you mind your business and take care of your kids you can have a great day. It's right across from East School where I went to high school for one year. This is also situated caddy corner from Wayne School in which I went to middle school. Now the Wayne Middle School was turned into medical offices and they tore down the original East High School and built the new one. Then they turned it into a middle school. anyway, if you want to go there and have a good day watch your surroundings and kids.

It's staying clean and well kept.i walked my dogs there last week.fun for kids ...they have a playground.

The park needs some uplifting work. It consists of two playgrounds, one with a bigger set of activities and a smaller one for toddlers. When I visited, it had trash spread out in some corners and the grass already taking over some parts of the park.

June tenth wonderful day beautiful people lots of kids lots to do

Nice place to hang out with friends and family; lots of sporting events.

It would be much appreciated if they would put trash cans on both sides of the park. I also think it's super rude of the pickleballers to constantly park all haphazardly and block the entrances.

Very clean courts. Nice shade trees. Restrooms. Playground. Hillside for game viewing. Parking off street.

Very nice pickle ball courts. Portable toilets. Small playground for children. Basketball courts are also there.

Great place for kids & family!! Perfect w basketball court & pickeball/tennis court & a playground. All that is need a to keep kiddos occupied 😁

Ehh ok kinda run down

If you like pickleball then this is a great out of the way place!

Most days everyone is chill here just be cool it’s all we got.

Great place to play basketball

Always a fun place to take the kiddos

My favorite park to swing :)

Jeff is a great representative for Leaf Home. He is friendly, caring, trustworthy and dedicated to his work. He clearly loves the company and serving people and helping them with their homes.

Has netting and fences to retain balls, is wheelchair Accesible , has porta potties ,bleacher style seating as well as lights for night games , the parks department was there maintaining it this afternoon Sept 10 2022.has water fountain