Just outside Atlanta’s lively downtown areas, DeKalb County combines bucolic wooded landscapes with history, ethnic foods and a kid-pleasing fun park.
Attractions for kids of all ages are handily grouped in Stone Mountain Park, 30 minutes from Atlanta. You can climb or ride the Summit Skyride, a high-speed cable car, to the 825-foot summit of Stone Mountain, best known for the Confederate Memorial carved on its face. The Scenic Railroad, a 1940s locomotive with open cars, will take you on a five-mile loop through the park, or you can head straight to its several age-themed features.

Stone Mountain, Atlanta. Photo: Alex Grichenko | Dreamstime.com
Camp Highland Outpost is a challenging endurance course of rock wall climbing, suspended rope walks and bridges, while SkyHike has rope bridges through the trees, high above the ground. Different courses are designed for youngsters and teens. At the Farmyard young children ages 4 to 7 have a chance to get close to and pet goats, which will do rodeo tricks for them, jumping over barrels and fences and weaving in and out of cones. Ride The Ducks takes you from land into Stone Mountain Lake on a 1940-era Army DUKW as you learn a bit about local history. You can find out more at the Stone Mountain Museum at Memorial Hall, which shows artifacts from the ancient civilizations that lived here. Children between 5 and 12 will enjoy learning about dinosaurs at the Dinotorium, through its four floors of interactive games, slides, trampolines and things to climb on.

Nature park near Atlanta, Georgia. Photo: Cia Pix | Dreamstime.com
For quiet moments and a fascinating bit of natural history, stretch your legs with the short climb to the bare granite summit of Arabia Mountain, a monadnock left when the glaciers scraped away the surface. Rare plants grow on this lunar-like landscape, changing the color of the surface with the seasons, and the views cover a full 360 degrees. Arabia Mountain offers a fascinating ecosystem and a mountaintop reward for a short, gentle climb. The Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area includes miles of bike paths, and on weekend afternoons you can meet wild animals at AWARE, the Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort. There are more walking and bike trails, as well as a bonsai garden at the nearby 2,000-acre preserve of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers. Stop in the shop for some fudge while you’re there.
While you might not expect children to be fascinated by a museum of ancient art, the Michael C. Carlos Museum, at Emory University right on the outskirts of Atlanta, will immerse them in the wonders of ancient Egypt, complete with a real mummy. Frequent children’s and family workshops explore the arts through stories and hands-on experiences.
For more hands-on interactive experiences, take the kids to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, where the permanent NatureQuest exhibit can turn them into scientists. Along with exploring different ecosystems, kids can meet live animals and explore a multilevel treehouse equipped with microscopes and a variety of activities.
A good place to introduce your kids to some new flavors is just outside the city in the many family-friendly ethnic restaurants that gave Buford Highway (State Road 13) the nickname of Atlanta’s International Corridor. Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Indian, Cuban and Mexican cuisines line this road as it leaves the city and runs through the DeKalb County towns of Chamblee, Brookhaven, Doraville and Norcross. It’s an around-the-world adventure through small, authentic, family-owned restaurants.
Kids especially love the noodle dishes at Food Terminal, a lively restaurant on the Buford Highway in Chamblee that features a wide variety of Asian street foods. Teens will like the story of owner Amy, who began her culinary career selling noodles from a street-side kiosk in Malaysia when she was 15. Be sure to stop for crazy ice cream at Roll It Up on Buford Highway in Doraville, where kids can watch their own custom flavor mixed and frozen while they wait.
Read This Next
#WhereverFamily
Insta FeedDestinations / North America
Apr 17, 2025Road Trips to Make Resurgence This Summer
This summer, take your family travel to the open road! According to Google Trends, no-passport vacations are the top trending vacation type in 2025 so far. In fact, a survey from Club Wyndham and Talker found twice as many participants would rather drive to a vacation than fly and 60 percent believe they have not seen enough cities or attractions in the United States.
Sponsored Content
Madrid: A Destination for All Ages
However one is traveling, what matters is having fun and creating unforgettable memories. Among many ways to travel, multigenerational trips — on which grandparents, parents and children get to spend quality time together — are gaining popularity. Setting out on this sort of adventure? Madrid has something to offer everyone!
Hotels
Apr 17, 2025Orlando World Center Marriott Announces New Family-Focused Offerings
Family travelers, these recent announcements from Orlando World Center Marriott are designed with you in mind. Following its success in 2024, the hotel continues its partnership with Mermaid Elle and her friends to host a Mermaid & Glow Party on select nights at Falls Pool. Here, mermaids splash and swim around the lagoon for meet-and-greets alongside live music, glowing pool inflatables, bubble machines and dance activities — all led by the resort’s recreation team.
Slideshow
Apr 17, 20256 Egyptian Tomb Sites for Family Travel
It’s time to start dreaming of your next family trip. Here’s some destination inspiration for you. Take a visual journey through these Egyptian tomb sites with us.
Destinations / North America
Apr 16, 20254 Interactive Wildlife Conservation Experiences for Earth Day
Calling all animal-loving family travelers! This Earth Day, consider a visit to one of these destinations offering interactive wildlife conservation experiences.
Destinations
Apr 16, 20255 Places Around the World to See Holy Week Observances
Holy Week, the period between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, is observed in a variety of ways throughout the world, often with colorful pageantry mixed with solemn reminders of the week before Christ’s crucifixion. Tourists are welcome at most observances, some of which take on a festival air, especially on Easter Sunday. Here are some places family travelers might consider traveling.
ShareThis