New Albin Splash Park

Small town, but don’t let that fool you — this splash park punches well above its weight. The fully fenced enclosure is a genuine relief if you’ve got a runner, and the shade trees actually do their job, so you’re not melting on a bench while the kids go wild. It stays impressively clean, which isn’t something you can say about every free splash pad you’ll stumble across. If you’re passing through on a road trip along the Iowa-Minnesota border, this is absolutely worth the detour — your school-agers and toddlers alike will need a solid 20 minutes to be dragged back to the car.