Whitnall Park's trails and gardens, two public golf courses, a ballpark with a 57-bay range next door, and the quieter places in between.
Franklin is a Milwaukee County suburb with a lot of county parkland and one big sports-and-entertainment district along Ballpark Drive. Most of the things to do in Franklin fall into three clusters: Whitnall Park and its nature center in the northwest, Ballpark Commons off South 76th Street and Rawson Avenue, and the county sports fields and shopping strips to the east and south. Plan a day by cluster and you spend it outside rather than in the car.
Islands, writing in December 2025, put Franklin about 20 minutes south of Milwaukee and about the same from Mitchell International Airport. That makes it an easy add-on to a Milwaukee trip, or a base for someone who wants trails and tee times more than nightlife.
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Whitnall Park and Wehr Nature Center
Start in Whitnall Park, the largest park in Milwaukee County at more than 600 acres, with a Franklin street address on South 92nd Street. Wehr Nature Center and the golf course inside it have Franklin addresses too, while Boerner Botanical Gardens, at the park's north end, has a Hales Corners one.
About 0.8 miles north of Wehr, Boerner Botanical Gardens is the formal side of the park, with a rose garden, an herb garden, a peony garden and a bog walk. The county lists adult day admission from May through October at $9 for Milwaukee County residents and $10 for everyone else.
If you would rather keep moving, Islands describes a paved 3.5-mile Oak Leaf Trail loop through the park that is free to use and passes Boerner, the picnic areas and a playground. In winter the same park has a sledding hill and groomed cross-country ski trails, with skis and snowshoes for rent at the clubhouse. Beyond Whitnall, the parks in Franklin add pickleball courts, heated pavilions and an accessible playground.
Golf at Whitnall, Oakwood and Tuckaway
Franklin has two public 18-hole county courses and one private club, plus a driving range with bays at Ballpark Commons.
Down in the southeast corner, Oakwood Park Golf Course is the long one: par 72 and 7,074 yards from the tips, with a driving range and the same $44 standard 18-hole rate. MKE Golf gives 1971 as its founding year, and it sits about 5.2 miles southeast of Whitnall.
Between the two, Tuckaway Country Club on Drexel Avenue calls itself a private club and has been around since 1926, so expect to need a member's invitation to play; check its guest policy. Islands notes that it hosted the Greater Milwaukee tournament from 1972 to 1993. With three more courses within about 7 miles, there is enough golf in Franklin and next door for a week of different rounds.
Ballpark Commons: baseball, golf bays and a ski hill
BizTimes described Ballpark Commons in 2022 as ROC Ventures' development near South 76th Street, Rawson Avenue and Loomis Road, taking in Franklin Field, The Rock Sports Complex and Luxe Golf Bays. Its anchor is Franklin Field, a 4,000-seat ballpark that opened in June 2019 on a former landfill. The Milwaukee Milkmen of the independent American Association play there, and so does the UW-Milwaukee baseball team.
Islands, writing in December 2025, calls The Rock a venue for sports and entertainment and quotes Business View Magazine calling it the center of the Franklin community. Its winter side, Crystal Ridge, was part of The Rock as the Rock Snowpark until a 2024 renaming, and it offers skiing, snowboarding and tubing with rentals and lessons. Islands also mentions the Kegel Alpha mountain bike trail, about 4 miles for beginner and intermediate riders.
The Milkmen post their home schedule and promotion nights on the team's site, so check it before you plan an evening around a game.
Milwaukee County Sports Complex and pickleball
For an active morning in the colder months, the county's sports complex on Ryan Road is the place to know.
In summer the play moves outdoors to the Lions Legend courts off Legend Drive, which our listing describes as 10 outdoor hard courts for drop-in play. More pickleball courts, at Vernon Barg Park, are about 0.2 miles east, close enough to walk between if one set is full.
Quieter outdoors: a chapel in the woods and a working farm
Not every outdoor stop in Franklin is a county park. Behind 7410 W Rawson Avenue, the Conservancy for Healing and Heritage has nature trails, a healing garden and the Reiman Healing Chapel in the Woods, with views of Kopmeier Lake in winter. Its site lists the garden and trails as open sunrise to sunset and the chapel as open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
On South 68th Street, the Hunger Task Force Farm grows fresh food for families in need on 208 acres leased from Milwaukee County Parks. It grows more than 70 varieties of 28 crops, and Hunger Task Force says nearly 6,000 volunteers help during a growing season, so a volunteer shift is the clearest way to see it; Hunger Task Force's volunteer page has sign-ups.
Families should know about Kayla's Playground at Franklin Woods Nature Center on Puetz Road, which the city's 2023 park map describes as an all-accessible play structure at a park that also has a pavilion and a walking trail. And for a bit of local history, Paynesville Chapel is an 1852 meeting hall that our listing says was built by German Freethinkers.
Thrift shopping on the east side
Three donation stores sit within about three-quarters of a mile of each other along South 27th Street and Riverwood Boulevard.
The Goodwill on Riverwood Boulevard lists hours of 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
The Habitat for Humanity ReStore next door sells building supplies, furniture and appliances, and the Salvation Army Family Store is up 27th Street.
The thrift stores in Franklin are close enough together to shop all three in one afternoon; check the ReStore's hours before you go.
Eating and drinking around Franklin
Ballpark Commons is the easy place to eat on the way to or from a game. At Luxe Golf Bays, our listing recommends the chicken street tacos.
For a proper supper club night, the nearest listed choices are just over the line. Joey Gerard's in Greendale, about 2 miles northeast of Luxe Golf Bays, is the Bartolotta group's polished, Hollywood-style take on a supper club, with leather booths and vintage lighting. Clifford's in Hales Corners, about a mile northwest of Wehr, has served an all-you-can-eat cod fish fry since 1959.
Both are among the Milwaukee supper clubs worth a reservation on a Friday.
In summer, Islands points to two beer gardens: the Whitnall Beer Garden in the park, with 24 taps and closed in winter, and the Croatian Park beer garden, open on Thursday evenings in season.
Events through the year
Franklin's calendar runs on a few fixed dates. Croatian Park hosts an annual festival every July, run by the local Croatian community. Apartment List describes a Franklin Civic Celebration starting July 3 with carnival rides, a parade and fireworks, and the St. Martins Fair on St. Martins Road on the first Monday of each month and over Labor Day weekend, but its page is undated, so check the city's calendar for this year's dates.
In winter, Crystal Ridge and Whitnall Park's ski and sledding trails carry the season, and from mid-October the fieldhouse open play gives you somewhere to go on a weekday morning.
Where to stay and what is nearby
For a place to stay near Whitnall Park, there is a motel on South 100th Street.
Neighboring Greenfield has its own list of things to do in Greenfield, from Konkel Park to Kopp's custard.
And for the lakefront, breweries and museums, start with things to do in Milwaukee, which Islands puts about 20 minutes north.
Frequently asked questions
Published September 28, 2026
