A reader's guide for the full Huntsville experience

If you're a local, newcomer or visitor to Huntsville, here's what you gotta hit:

🚀 Top stops

U.S. Space and Rocket Center: At the top of this list has got to be the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, home of Space Camp. Check out full-size rockets, including a complete Space Shuttle stack, as well as rides, museums and a planetarium. A general admission ticket gets you access to Saturn V Hall, Moon Crater, Military Park, Rocket Park, Shuttle Park, Spark!Lab and ISS: Science on Orbit.

• Go like a local: Time it right, (Fridays, 7 pm, May 30-Aug. 15) and you can catch the rotating Cocktails & Cosmos event for an extra $17 ticket. The roughly hour-long presentations are curated by expert staff inside the INTUITIVE Planetarium, a 67-ft, 8K digital dome. Plus space-themed cocktails!

🌳 Get natural

Huntsville Botanical Garden: Offering the nation's largest open-air butterfly house, the Botanical Garden offers 118 acres of diverse ecosystems criss-crossed in walking trails. New this spring is Mama Zelda, the star of the Mother Earth Troll Garden and the latest giant troll sculpture from international recycling artist Thomas Dambo.

Burritt on the Mountain: Celebrating 70 years in business this year, Huntsville's first museum offers a 1930s mansion, historic cabins and barnyard and hiking trails on the bluff. The summer concert series brings eight live concerts between May and September. On Wednesdays, check out Cocktails at The View, an overlook that looks down on the city.

• Bring the kiddos, too: Between March and September, Burritt offers Backpack Explorers to kids 4-12, with five unique scavenger hunt adventures through the property explorable at your own pace.

Hays Nature Preserve: 10-plus miles of hiking and greenway trails following the Flint River and its related oxbow lakes as it flows through a golf course and surrounding fields. Dog-friendly but leashes required.

Monte Sano State Park: Just 15 minutes from downtown, the 2,140-acre park offers 20 miles of hiking, 14 miles of biking, disc golf, Japanese Garden, planetarium and an easy escape into quintessential North Alabama woodlands.

• Hot tip: Monte Sano rents rustic stone cabins, complete with working fireplaces, which were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

🍗 Eat, drink, shop

Stovehouse: Catch live music at this repurposed stove factory that can make everybody in your group happy with its varied selection of counter-service restaurants at the family-friendly food court. Barbecue, taqueria, ramen, Korean fried chicken, crepes and Co-Op Brewery are all on the list.

• Derek's order: Hit Seoul Good for some kimchi wings with a side of the pickled cucumbers. Pair it with a Main Channel Mexican-style lager. You're welcome.

Campus No. 805: this former public school campus hosts two breweries: Yellowhammer Brewing and Straight to Ale; seven restaurants including pizza and sushi, and plenty to keep you busy like an 80s-themed arcade bar and ballroom dancing. If you're feeling extra, you can even get a tattoo.

• Local beer geek? Check out the Downtown Huntsville Craft Beer Trail, featuring other local breweries like Innerspace Brewing Company and Green Bus Brewing.

MidCity District: Do a whole day in one stop at MidCity, which offers a dozen restaurants and spots to grab a drink. You can also hit some balls at Top Golf, catch some live music and rotating seasonal menus at The Camp or check out the rocket-shaped rock wall at High Point Climbing and Fitness.

Bridge Street Town Center: Get a little retail therapy at Bridge Street, home to Anthropologie, Apple Store, Athleta, Lululemon, Sephora, H&M and much more, alongside restaurants and other offerings like a movie theater, bowling alley, laser tag and even immersive virtual reality experiences.

🖼️ Craving culture?

Huntsville Museum of Art: Though closed until this summer for an HVAC upgrade, the Huntsville Museum of Art's permanent collection focuses on 19th- and 20th-century American art, particularly from the Southeast, and has hosted everything from medieval armor to contemporary artists.

• Early Works Children's Museum is also nearby, close to City Hall downtown.

Lowe Mills ARTS & Entertainment: Home to seven galleries, four performance venues and more than 150 working art studios, the former textile mill also houses a meadery, distillery, tea spot, pizza place and cafe.

The Orion Amphitheater: Also at MidCity, the Orion is just a few years old, but the stunning outdoor venue has pulled acts like Dave Matthews, The Black Keys and Widespread Panic, and up on the slate this summer and fall are a No Limit Soldiers Reunion and Billy Strings.

Downtown Huntsville Secret Art Trail: Located in downtown's Quigley Arts & Entertainment District, (meaning you can carry your drink with you in a purple cup), the Secret Art Trail is a walking tour of 21 murals clustered around the intersection of Jefferson St. and Clinton Ave. downtown.

🏞️ Parks & Pandas

The other flying saucer: Huntsville is something of a disc golf destination, with more than a dozen courses, per disc golf scoring app UDisc. Among the best: John Hunt Park and Tom Monroe Disc Golf Course at Brahan Springs Park, designed by and named for the Huntsville native dubbed the "Johnny Appleseed of Disc Golf," who died in early 2024.

John Hunt Park: Speaking of John Hunt Park, the 450-acre public park offers cross-country and mountain bike trails, a 52,000-square-foot skatepark, a playground with a ropes course and sky bridge (and shaded seating for parents!), a year-round ice rink, multi-purpose fields, sand volleyball courts, tennis courts and more.

• Go like a local: stop at Edgar's Bakery on the way in for a slice of strawberry cake (their specialty) or a smoothie. Afterward, swing by Back Forty Beer Company's Huntsville location. Both are right outside the gate.

Big Spring Park: Huntsville's crown jewel of a park, constructed around the spring that drew the area's earliest settlers, is the home of marquee events like the Panoply Arts Festival and Concerts in the Park, and offers a nice nature break right in the middle of downtown.

• Plus, with the park expanding into the lot of the old city administration building, it's about to get even better.
• Huntsville also has many other public parks, as well as 300-plus miles of trails and greenways.

Rocket City Trash Pandas: Grab your John Oliver-approved merch and head to Toyota Field to cheer on the home team. Check the schedule to see who the Trash Pandas are playing and what extras are happening, like beverage belt giveaways, superhero night and fireworks after the game.

Questions about Huntsville? Did I miss something? Let me know: [email protected].