17 Things to Do in Macon, GA (2026): Prices, Hours and What’s Free

Every price, hour and rule below comes from the operator’s or local government’s own page (checked September 19, 2026). Where two official pages disagree, we show both. Where nothing is published, we say so.

What are the top things to do in Macon, GA?

Prices are the standard adult rate published by each operator, checked September 19, 2026. Discounts for seniors, students, military and children are in each section below.

1. Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park

The best free stop in Macon, and the one to build a day around. The National Park Service says no entrance pass is required. The grounds and trails are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and the visitor center and the Earth Lodge are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The park is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

• The Earth Lodge: a short walk from the visitor center parking lot. The Park Service says its floor is original and has been carbon dated to 1015. It publishes no capacity limit or timed entry.
• Trails: 8 miles in the park.
• Dogs: allowed on the grounds on a leash no longer than 6 feet; not in the visitor center unless they are service animals.
• Address: 1207 Emery Highway, Macon, GA 31217; (478) 752-8257.

Is it becoming a national park? Not yet. Bills to redesignate it have had hearings in Congress, most recently a House subcommittee hearing on H.R. 9416 on July 1, 2026, but none has passed either chamber as of September 19, 2026, according to the official bill-status records.

2. Hay House

An 18,000-square-foot Italian Renaissance Revival mansion on four levels, designed in 1855 and completed in 1859, according to the house. The regular guided tour lasts about an hour and covers the first three levels.

• Admission: adults $20; seniors (65+) and military $18; students (age 6 through college) $15; under 5 free; Georgia Trust members free. The Top of the House tour add-on is $10.
• Hours: Wednesday to Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.–5 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday. Last tour at 4 p.m.
• Access: the main floor is wheelchair accessible through the gift shop entrance at the rear; the upper floors are reached by stairs only.
• Parking and address: at the rear of the building, 934 Georgia Avenue; (478) 742-8155.

3. Allman Brothers Band Museum at the Big House

The house at 2321 Vineville Avenue where members of the Allman Brothers Band, their road crew, friends and families lived from January 1970 until 1973, according to the museum. Note that its official site is thebighousemuseum.com.

• Admission: $20 regular; $15 seniors, military and students; $10 children 10 and under. Paid at the door.
• Hours: Thursday to Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.–4 p.m. The gate closes 45 minutes before closing (5:15 p.m. on Thursday to Saturday).
• Parking and accessibility: not published. Phone 478-741-5551.

4. Rose Hill Cemetery

Established in 1840 and laid out like a park, Rose Hill is owned by Macon-Bibb County. Visit Macon says Duane Allman and Berry Oakley are buried side by side here, and that it is also the resting place of Gregg Allman and Butch Trucks.

• Size: 50 acres according to Visit Macon and the county; the Rose Hill Preservation nonprofit gives 63.754 acres.
• Hours: the sources disagree. Visit Macon says sunrise to sunset; the county’s 2023 kiosk announcement says 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; the preservation group says dawn to dusk.
• Cost: no admission fee appears on any official page, but none of them states that entry is free either.
• Guided walks: the Historic Macon Foundation runs Rose Hill tours, including an Allman Brothers tour; its page shows no year for the dates listed. Private tours: 478-742-5084 ext. 109.
• Address: 1071 Riverside Drive.

5. Tubman Museum

The museum calls itself the largest of its kind in the Southeast dedicated to the art, history and culture of African Americans.

• Admission: adults $10; ages 3–17 $6; seniors, AAA and AARP members, college students, educators and military $9; adult groups $8; members free.
• Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; closed Sunday and Monday. Remaining 2026 holiday closures: Nov. 26–27 and Dec. 24–25.
• Address: 310 Cherry Street, downtown; 478-743-8544.

6. Museum of Arts and Sciences

Macon’s best bad-weather stop with children. One ticket covers the galleries, planetarium shows and the museum’s Live Animal Experiences.

• Admission: adults $10; ages 3–17 $5; seniors (62+) and military $8; college students $7; under 3 and members free.
• Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Planetarium shows at 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. (children under 3 are not admitted to the planetarium). Live animal sessions Tuesday–Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.
• Parking and access: free lot on Forsyth Road; all galleries, facilities and lots are wheelchair accessible, and strollers are allowed in the main areas.
• Address: 4182 Forsyth Road, away from downtown; (478) 477-3232.

7. Mercer Music at Capricorn

Capricorn Sound Studios opened in downtown Macon in 1969 and helped shape Southern rock; it reopened in 2019 as Mercer Music at Capricorn.

• Admission: museum $7; studio tour $10 (Friday to Sunday at 10 a.m.). Both together cost $17 per adult.
• Hours: Wednesday–Thursday 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Friday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday.
• Address: 530 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard; 478-301-7625.

8. Cannonball House

Built in 1853 by Judge Asa Holt. During the 1864 Battle of Dunlap Hill, a shell struck the house and came to rest in the hallway without exploding, according to the house museum.

• Admission: adults $12; seniors and military $10; students (K5 through college) $5; under 4 free.
• Hours and tours: Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m.–3:30 p.m., except major holidays; 45-minute guided tours every half hour, covering the main house, the brick kitchen and the servants’ quarters.
• Parking: free, behind the house on Mulberry Street Lane. Address: 856 Mulberry Street; 478-745-5982.

9. Otis Redding statue and museum

The Otis Redding statue is no longer in Gateway Park. Visit Macon says it was repositioned in 2025 to stand in front of the Zelma Redding Amphitheater at the Otis Redding Center for the Arts, 436 Cotton Avenue. The Otis Redding Foundation says the center itself is not open to the public.

• Otis Redding Museum: 339 Cotton Avenue. Open Monday to Friday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., closed weekends. Admission $8 for regular visitors, according to the foundation.

10. Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

• Admission: adults (17+) $8; seniors (55+), college students and military $6; children 16 and under $3.50.
• Hours: Tuesday to Friday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday is 10 a.m.–3 p.m. on the homepage and 11 a.m.–3 p.m. on its About page, so arrive after 11 on a Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday.
• Address: 301 Cherry Street; (478) 752-1585.

11. Amerson River Park

A 180-acre park on the Ocmulgee River with seven miles of trails, a handicap-accessible playground, a canoe launch and a 2-mile tubing float from the Jay Hall Memorial Canoe Launch, according to Visit Macon, which lists it as free.

• Hours: 7 a.m.–8 p.m. March to October and 7 a.m.–6 p.m. November to February, per the county’s park rules. (Visit Macon gives a 7:30 a.m. opening.)
• Dogs: on a leash at all times; owners must clean up.
• Address: 2551 North Pierce Drive.

12. Ocmulgee Heritage Trail

More than 13 miles of path along both sides of the Ocmulgee River, according to NewTown Macon. Access points include Jackson Springs Park, Spring Street Landing, the Otis Redding Bridge, Carolyn Crayton Park, Gateway Park, Rotary Park, Riverside Cemetery and Rose Hill Cemetery, with a connection toward Ocmulgee Mounds. Hours are not published.

13. Terminal Station

Built in 1916 as the union station for the 15 railroads then serving Macon, according to Visit Macon. It is now an event venue and transit hub run by the Macon-Bibb County Transit Authority, and tours are by appointment on (478) 803-2520. Building hours are not published. Address: 200 Cherry Street.

14. Douglass Theatre and 15. Piedmont Grand Opera House

• Douglass Theatre, 355 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard: built in 1921 by Charles Douglass and reopened in 1997. Tickets are sold per event; 478-742-2000.
• Piedmont Grand Opera House, 651 Mulberry Street: box office Tuesday and Thursday noon–4 p.m. and Friday noon–6 p.m.; (478) 301-5470. Children 3 and under who sit on a lap for the whole show don’t need a ticket. Its FAQ says street meters run 8 a.m.–8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and county lots are free after 5 p.m. on weekdays and all weekend.

16. Carolyn Crayton Park and the Cherry Blossom Festival

A 250-acre park with playgrounds, picnic areas, athletic fields and a skate park, at 115 Willie Smokie Glover Drive. It is the main site of the International Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs March 19–28, 2027, according to the festival.

Park admission during the festival is $10 a day for everyone 11 and older, and children 10 and under are free. Note that the festival’s own pages disagree on unaccompanied minors (under 15 on one page, under 16 on another). Full details are in our Macon Cherry Blossom Festival guide.

Next door, Luther Williams Field, built in 1929, is home to the Macon Bacon summer-league team. The 2026 season is over, and the 2027 schedule has not been released.

17. Lake Tobesofkee

Three county parks share the lake: Claystone (6600 Moseley Dixon Road), Sandy Beach (6880 Moseley Dixon Road) and Arrowhead (2800 Arrowhead Drive, Lizella), with three white-sand beaches between them. Arrowhead and Claystone are open for camping all year.

• Fees: the boat launch is $5 per vessel. The only official day-use fee on the county site is a 2020 resolution ($3 per person over 6), and no current fee page exists, so call (478) 803-4556 first.
• The water park: the Sandy Beach water park closed in 2023, according to local news (13WMAZ), though a county page still mentions it.
• Dogs: leashed outside RVs, and not allowed on the beaches, in bathhouses or on playgrounds.

How far is Macon, and where do you park?

Visit Macon’s distance chart puts Atlanta 84 miles away, via I-75 South. No official source publishes a drive time. The Macon visitor center is at 450 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, open Monday to Friday 9 a.m.–4 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Downtown parking is run by Park Macon through the ParkMobile app. Park Macon’s site lists street parking at $1 an hour with a $6 daily maximum on weekdays and free on weekends and city holidays; the 440 Mulberry Street garage charges $1 an hour with a $6 daily maximum, and other garages $6 for 24 hours.

A 2023 county release gave $1.25 an hour, and the opera house says meters run through Saturday, so check the meter or app before you pay.

Beyond Macon: things to do in Middle Georgia

• Museum of Aviation, Warner Robins: free admission and free parking, Monday to Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday 1–5 p.m., with 85 historic aircraft, missiles, cockpits and exhibits. It sits next to Robins Air Force Base, just south of the Russell Gate, off I-75 at exit 144 or 146.
• Perry and the Georgia National Fair: the fair runs October 8–18, 2026 at 401 Larry Walker Parkway, 10 a.m.–9 p.m. daily (3 p.m. on opening day). Adults are $14 plus a $1 fee online before October 8, or $15 by card and $20 cash at the gate; children 3–10 are $5; parking is free. See our Georgia National Fair guide.
• Juliette: 20 minutes north of Macon, according to Explore Georgia. The Whistle Stop Cafe (443 McCrackin Street) is open 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Thursday to Monday and takes no reservations. Nearby, Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site is open Thursday to Sunday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; adults $7, seniors $5.25, ages 6–17 $4.50, under 6 $1.50, plus tax.
• Milledgeville: Andalusia, Flannery O’Connor’s farm, is $7 for adults and open Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sunday 2–4 p.m.; 30-minute tours of the house start on the hour, and it is not ADA accessible. The Old Governor’s Mansion is $10 for adults, with 50-minute tours, Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sunday 2–4 p.m.
• Forsyth and High Falls: High Falls State Park has what Georgia State Parks calls the tallest cascading waterfall south of Atlanta; the park is open 7 a.m.–10 p.m. and a ParkPass is required. In Forsyth, the Monroe County History Museum in the 1899 brick train depot is open Wednesday to Friday 9 a.m.–4 p.m. and the first Saturday of the month 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

For another Middle Georgia day trip, see our Madison day-trip guide, and for what else is on this autumn, Georgia fall festivals, weekend by weekend.

What should you do in your situation?

• Only a couple of hours: Ocmulgee Mounds. It is free, open daily, and the Earth Lodge is a short walk from the parking lot.
• On a Monday or Tuesday: Hay House, the Big House, Capricorn, the Tubman Museum and the Museum of Arts and Sciences are all closed on at least one of these days. Build the day around Ocmulgee Mounds, Amerson River Park and the Heritage Trail. On weekdays the Otis Redding Museum is open, and the Museum of Aviation is open every day.
• Music fans: the Big House (Thursday to Sunday), Capricorn with the 10 a.m. studio tour (Friday to Sunday), the Otis Redding statue and museum on Cotton Avenue (museum weekdays only), then Rose Hill Cemetery.
• With kids: the Museum of Arts and Sciences for the planetarium and animals, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame ($3.50 for 16 and under), and the playgrounds at Amerson River Park or Carolyn Crayton Park.
• With a dog: Ocmulgee Mounds grounds (6-foot leash) and Amerson River Park. Luther Williams Field admits service animals only.
• On a budget: Ocmulgee Mounds, Amerson River Park, the Heritage Trail and the Museum of Aviation are all free; Capricorn at $7 is the cheapest paid ticket.
• Hungry: our best BBQ in Georgia list covers barbecue worth the drive.

Pairing Macon with other trips? See weekend getaways from Atlanta, things to do in Athens and small towns in Georgia.

Heading east instead? Our things to do in Augusta guide covers the canal boat tours, the Riverwalk and the Masters ticket facts.

FAQ

What is Macon, GA best known for?

Music and history. Macon was home to the Allman Brothers Band, whose house is now the Big House museum, to Otis Redding, and to Capricorn Sound Studios. It also has Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park and the International Cherry Blossom Festival each March.

How far is Macon from Atlanta?

84 miles, according to Visit Macon’s distance chart, via I-75 South. No official source publishes a drive time.

Is Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park free?

Yes. The National Park Service says no entrance pass is required. The grounds are open 8 a.m.–5 p.m. daily and the visitor center and Earth Lodge 9 a.m.–5 p.m., except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Is Ocmulgee Mounds a national park now?

No. Redesignation bills have had congressional hearings, most recently in July 2026, but none has passed the House or Senate as of September 19, 2026.

How much is Hay House?

$20 for adults, $18 for seniors (65+) and military, $15 for students, and free under 5 (checked September 19, 2026). It is open Wednesday to Sunday, with the last tour at 4 p.m.

When is the Allman Brothers museum open?

The Big House is open Thursday to Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.–4 p.m.; the gate closes 45 minutes before closing. Admission is $20 for adults and $10 for children 10 and under.

Where is the Otis Redding statue now?

In front of the Zelma Redding Amphitheater at the Otis Redding Center for the Arts, 436 Cotton Avenue. It was moved there from Gateway Park in 2025, according to Visit Macon.

What is there to do in Macon on a Monday?

The free outdoor stops: Ocmulgee Mounds, Amerson River Park and the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail, plus the Otis Redding Museum (weekdays) and the free Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins. Most of Macon’s paid house and music museums are closed on Mondays.

Is parking free in downtown Macon?

On weekends, according to Park Macon, which lists weekday street parking at $1 an hour with a $6 daily maximum. Other official pages give $1.25 an hour and Saturday enforcement, so check the meter or the ParkMobile app.

How we checked this guide: Dates, hours, admission and parking prices, and access details were verified against the official sources listed below on September 23, 2026. Operators change schedules and raise prices without notice, so confirm anything time-sensitive before you drive. The figures in this guide also feed our Georgia Attraction Transparency Index and Family Day-Out Cost Index.

Sources

• NPS — Ocmulgee Mounds fees
• NPS — Ocmulgee Mounds hours
• NPS — Ocmulgee Mounds pets
• NPS — Ocmulgee Mounds home (Earth Lodge, trails)
• GovInfo — H.R. 9416 bill status
• GovInfo — S. 1131 bill status
• Hay House — Guided tours (admission)
• Hay House — Visit (hours, parking, access)
• Hay House — History
• The Big House Museum
• The Big House Museum — Museum tour (hours)
• Visit Macon — Rose Hill Cemetery
• Macon-Bibb County — Rose Hill kiosk (2023)
• Historic Macon Foundation — Rose Hill
• Visit Macon — Allman Brothers
• Tubman Museum — Hours and ticket cost
• Museum of Arts and Sciences — Visitor information
• Mercer Music at Capricorn — Museum
• Cannonball House — Plan your visit
• Cannonball House — History
• Visit Macon — Otis Redding statue
• Otis Redding Foundation — Museum
• Georgia Sports Hall of Fame — About
• Macon-Bibb County — Amerson River Park rules
• Visit Macon — Amerson River Park
• NewTown Macon — Ocmulgee Heritage Trail
• Visit Macon — Terminal Station
• Terminal Station Macon
• Douglass Theatre — About
• Piedmont Grand Opera House — FAQ
• Visit Macon — Carolyn Crayton Park
• International Cherry Blossom Festival
• Cherry Blossom Festival — Carolyn Crayton Park
• Macon Bacon — The stadium
• Lake Tobesofkee (Macon-Bibb County)
• Lake Tobesofkee — Boating
• Lake Tobesofkee — Camping
• Park Macon — Permits and rates
• Park Macon — Parking options
• Visit Macon — Distance chart
• Visit Macon — Visitor centers
• Museum of Aviation — Hours and guidelines
• Georgia National Fair — Pricing
• Explore Georgia — Juliette
• The Whistle Stop Cafe
• Georgia State Parks — Jarrell Plantation
• Georgia College — Andalusia
• Georgia College — Old Governor’s Mansion tours
• Georgia State Parks — High Falls
• Visit Forsyth — Monroe County History Museum

About Hank Whitlock

Hank Whitlock is the pen name of the It's Georgia editor. Every guide is built around the questions a busy family actually asks before a trip: how long is the drive, what does parking cost, can the stroller make it, are dogs allowed. Details are checked against official park, city, and venue sources, and each guide shows the date it was last updated.