If you just want to take advantage of the great outdoors, there are a number of big playgrounds, including Maplewood Park on Maplewood Drive near Route 104 in the city, Perinton Town Park on Route 31F at the Erie Canal in Fairport, and Parma Town Park on Route 259 next to the Town Hall. Many families enjoy hiking or biking along the towpath by the Erie Canal. Schoen Place in Pittsford is a popular stop among those who like to fish or feed the ducks. It has a bathhouse, volleyball courts, an antique carousel and a new playground. At North Ponds Park in Webster, you can swim or paddle a rented boat around a small, manmade lake.
All public beaches have lifeguards.
If you prefer to swim in a pool, Rochester has 20 at its recreation centers that are open in the summer, and some suburbs and school districts have pools available. If it's chills and thrills you seek, check out the water slides at Seabreeze Park in Irondequoit, or the Six Flags Darien Lake Resort, Route 77 in Darien Center, Genesee County. It has a restored carousel, magic and puppet shows and rides such as the Screamin' Eagle, in which your legs dangle as you are turned upside down, backward and up to 70 feet in the air. New features this year will be an expanded water park, expected to include more kiddie water slides, and an all-ages water play area with a tower that dumps water on people below. Also, performing dogs and a magic show will regularly take the renovated stage.