Things to Do in Melbourne, FL

Melbourne's public options center on more than 232 acres of city parks (City of Melbourne parks page), with two city golf courses, river piers and launches, a county beach park on A1A, a federal wildlife refuge visitor center and a county branch library alongside.

The City of Melbourne describes its park system as community parks, athletic fields and special use facilities with picnic areas, pavilions, gazebos, playgrounds and hike and bike trails, and it takes park questions at Parks Maintenance, 321-608-7470. The table covers places a public agency lists; the sections below give the details for each, with the source for every figure. Separate Digital Towns guides cover Wickham Park, Claude Edge Front Street Park, the Crane Creek Reserve golf course and the Melbourne events calendar in more depth.

Melbourne's city fishing piers are at Claude Edge Front St. Park and the Eau Gallie Pier, with boat launches at the parks in the table below (Melbourne parks: piers and launches).

The piers are for use during park hours, so evening fishing in Melbourne ends when the park closes. Riverview Park, at 2400 Riverview Drive in the 32901 ZIP code, sits along the Indian River Lagoon with a large playground, picnic areas, a pavilion and its non-motorized launch, and it is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (City of Melbourne Riverview Park page). Of the two parks the city marks for non-motorized launches, Riverview is the one that also appears on its playground list.

Ballard Park is one of the two launch sites the city does not mark as non-motorized. The city places it on the Eau Gallie River at 924 Thomas Barbour Drive, 32935, and its facility snapshot lists a boat ramp, pavilion, grill, playground, basketball court and picnic tables, with hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. (City of Melbourne Ballard Park page). Ballard also holds a tennis facility with 2 hard courts and a practice wall. The Claude Edge Front Street Park guide covers the downtown launch and pier.

The City of Melbourne's parks page names every city park with a playground and every park with an outdoor basketball court, and marks which courts are lighted (Melbourne playground and court lists).

The lighted courts are at Ballard Park, Brothers Park, Carver, the Eddie Lee Taylor, Sr. Community Complex and the Tim Wakefield Sports Complex, which the city notes was formerly Crane Field Park. Unlighted courts are listed at Grandview Shores Park, Joe Mullins Park (Crown Heights Park), Oxford Ridge Park, the Southwest Recreation Complex and Tradewinds Park. For a game after dark in Melbourne, the lighted list is the one to use.

Playgrounds on the city list include Ballard Park, Fee Avenue Park, Grandview Shores Park, Jimmy Moore Park, Pineapple Park, Riverview Park, Sherwood Park, Sunset Park, Tradewinds Park, Wells Park and the Southwest Recreation Complex, among others. The parks page does not post hours for every site, but the individual Melbourne park pages do: Riverview closes at 7 p.m. and Ballard at 9 p.m., as listed above.

Three city pools, Sherwood, Fee and Eddie Lee Taylor, Sr., share one pools page that shows which of them is open in the current season. Open swim and lap swim at each cost $2 for residents 17 and under and $3 for residents 18 and older, cash only, with Sherwood at 2479 Post Road listing weekend open swim from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. (City of Melbourne pools page). The Melbourne public swimming pools guide carries the full fee and lesson schedule.

A round with a cart costs $42 for 18 holes at either city course, Crane Creek Reserve on West New Haven Avenue or Harbor City on Lake Washington Road (City of Melbourne golf page).

Both Melbourne courses keep the same seasonal hours on the city page: 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. from March 8 to October 31 and 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November 1 to March 7, subject to change for weather. Range balls run $10 for a large bucket of 60, and the Crane Creek range shuts at 5 p.m. on Mondays for maintenance. Tee times are booked through the Crane Creek pro shop at 321-608-7430 or the Harbor City pro shop at 321-608-7480.

FootGolf is the less obvious option. The 18 hole FootGolf layout at Harbor City carries American FootGolf League accreditation, and the game uses a regulation size 5 soccer ball and 21-inch cups on shortened holes. Open play runs every day after 2 p.m., ball rental is $4, and the city page also advertises league play, birthday parties and team building there. The Crane Creek Reserve golf course guide on Digital Towns covers that course's layout and history.

Brevard County's Futch Memorial Park at Paradise Beach, on Highway A1A with a Melbourne 32903 address, is a 12.39-acre beach park with seasonal lifeguards, volleyball courts, pavilions and free parking (Brevard County Futch Park page).

The county's full name for it is Howard E. Futch Memorial Park, at 2301 N. Highway A1A, Melbourne. The county lists 3 dune crossovers, beach access with one ADA accessible point, 4 volleyball courts, a playground, restrooms, outside showers and surf fishing. Picnic groups can reserve an 80 foot round pavilion with 25 tables and seating for up to 200, or one of two 20 by 40 foot pavilions with 6 tables each; parking stays open to the public and cannot be reserved. The county credits Parks Referendum Project renovations with dune revegetation, dune crossover replacement and the playground. Reservations and questions go to South Area Operations at (321) 255-4400.

Farther south on A1A, the visit page for Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge sends newcomers first to its Barrier Island Center, 8385 S Hwy A1A in Melbourne Beach (USFWS Archie Carr visitor page). The center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Mondays, with exhibits on sea turtles and the barrier island, orientation movies and a lagoon kayak launch. Its Barrier Island Sanctuary Trail, 0.75 mile and open year round, runs through maritime hammock and dune to the beach. The Digital Towns guides to the Barrier Island Center and the Archie Carr refuge go further on both.

The City of Melbourne's special events calendar is the official list of the city's own family events, several of them held indoors at the Melbourne Auditorium (City of Melbourne special events).

The Auditorium events on that calendar are a Halloween Spooktacular indoor trick or treat where 40+ local businesses, organizations and city departments hand out candy, a Holiday Market with local makers, photos with Santa and cookie decorating, and Touch a Truck, with big rigs, emergency vehicles and an indoor ride-through course. Breakfast with Santa is listed at the Wickham Park Community Center, 2815 Leisure Way. The calendar posts each date and does not list admission prices.

The Auditorium itself is at 625 E. Hibiscus Blvd., Melbourne, 32901, and the city venue page repeats its event listings (Melbourne Auditorium page). The Melbourne Auditorium guide covers renting the hall.

On a rainy day the Melbourne Public Library at 540 E. Fee Ave. is the indoor fallback, open every day: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday (Brevard County Melbourne Public Library page). The branch page lists a Master Gardener Plant Clinic every Thursday from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, a buy one get one book sale every Saturday run by the Friends of the Melbourne Library, and a Saturday morning preschool playdate, and it states that all Youth Services programs are free. The branch phone is (321) 952-4514.

Last verified: October 21, 2026, with fresh reads of the city's parks list, Riverview and Ballard listings, golf, pools and special events pages, the Auditorium page, the county's Futch Park and Melbourne library pages and the refuge's visit page.