Unique & Hidden Gem Activities for Families
Explore the best unique & hidden gem activities for families options for kids and families in Santa Clara
Mission Gardens
Historic mission's landscaped grounds. Tranquil garden park surrounding the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asis at Santa Clara University.
The Escape Game San Jose
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Winchester Mystery House
Quirky mansion with odd design details. Sprawling landmark with a staircase leading nowhere & other odd features designed to confuse ghosts.
Rosicrucian Park
Unique architecture, gardens & fountains. Park drawing visitors with rose gardens, statues & fountains, plus Egyptian & Moorish architecture.
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
Exhibits featuring mummies & artifacts. Museum with displays on Egyptian burial practices, plus artifacts including jewelry & bronze tools.
Rotary PlayGarden
Accessible children's playground. Interactive & accessible children's playground with slides, climbing equipment & seating areas.
California's Great America
Thrill rides & waterslides. Family-friendly theme park with thrill rides, water attractions, live entertainment & food options.
Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum
Center promoting local history & culture. Local-history museum with rotating exhibits in a replica home of the area's founding family.
Ulistac Natural Area
Rustic park with native plantings. Rustic riverside park boasting trails, bird-watching & a range of native plants on 40 acres.
Monopoly in the Park
Green space with a giant monopoly board. Tiny park featuring a larger-than-life monopoly board, plus animal statues & benches.
Discovery Meadow
Children's museum & sizable green space. Children's museum situated atop a sprawling green lawn used for summer festivals.
Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose
Shows, workshops & interactive exhibits. Children of all ages explore more than 150 interactive exhibits including a full-size fire truck.
Bill's Backyard
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Seven Seas Park
Family-friendly recreation & a dog park. Neighborhood gathering place offering a dog park & lots of kid activities including a spray pool.
De Anza College Planetarium
Venue for astronomy & laser shows. This large planetarium offers educational astronomy shows & entertaining laser displays.
LEGOLAND Discovery Center Bay Area
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Japanese Friendship Garden
Spacious & tranquil traditional garden. Covering 5.5 acres, this serene Japanese garden features a koi pond & a quaint red arch bridge.
McClellan Ranch Preserve
Former horse ranch with a nature museum. Former horse ranch from the 1930s featuring a nature museum, community garden & historic buildings.
Emma Prusch Farm Park
Community farm with orchards & gardens. Compact community farm features heirloom vegetable gardens, orchards, chickens & a fair.
Fremont Older Open Space Preserve
Year-round hiking & biking with vistas. Scenic spread on 739 acres with rolling views & trails for hiking, biking & horseback riding.
Pioneer Memorial Park
Quaint green space with benches & paths. Small, serene park located next to the library featuring ample benches, walkways & shaded areas.
Alum Rock Park
Large park with mineral springs & trails. Spacious park featuring hiking & biking trails, mineral springs & several picnic areas.
Lost Worlds Funtropolous
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Redwood Grove Nature Preserve
Redwood forest with a boardwalk. This 6-acre Redwood forest features a boardwalk, observation decks, picnic tables & a rose garden.
Hellyer County Park
Urban park with a multi-use, paved trail. Green space featuring a 15-mile paved trail, plus picnicking, disc golf, a dog park & a velodrome.
Magical Bridge Playground
Play structures around a grassy mound. Slides, swings & climbing frames around an artificial hill, plus a treehouse & bridge.
The Lace Museum
Modest showcase of lace & lace history. Stalwart museum exhibiting lace, and describing its historical use & the art of lacemaking.
Barron Park Donkeys
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Baylands Nature Preserve
Marshland with trails & bird-watching. Vast marshland with 15 mi. of trails for walking, running & biking, plus bird-watching & kayaking.
Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Hidden Villa
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Mission Peak Regional Preserve
3,000 mountain acres for recreation. Vast mountain preserve popular for biking, hiking, horseback riding, R/C flying and hang-gliding.
Foothills Nature Preserve
1,400-acre nature preserve with trails. Miles of trails guide visitors through woodlands & fields, past streams & lakes in this vast park.
Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo
Hands-on science & nature exhibits. Child-oriented venue with animals like birds & turtles, plus interactive educational exhibits.
Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden
Public garden & historic home. A 2.5-acre plot encompassing herb & rose gardens, a historic home, a carriage house & a tearoom.
Monte Bello Open Space Preserve
Destination for scenic views & trails. Large area with views of Santa Clara Valley & trails, including one for biking & horseback riding.
The Museum of American Heritage
Exhibitions on inventions & technology. Charming museum in a 1907 home showcasing technology & inventions from the 1750s to the 1950s.
Washington Township Museum of Local History
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Rodin Sculpture Garden
Famed sculptor's work in outdoor setting. Garden at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center showing 20 statues by famed sculptor Rodin (open all hours).
Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
Fine art museum with a sculpture garden. Classic & contemporary art museum with an outdoor sculpture garden featuring Rodin bronzes.
Arizona Garden
Stanford University's cacti garden. Historical cacti garden with artful views & unusual plants on Stanford University grounds.
Aqua Adventure Water Park
Family-friendly waterslides & pools. Recreational facility featuring waterslides, pools, swimming lessons & an on-site eatery.
Children in Tree Sculpture
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Central Park
Land & water activities in a scenic spot. Lakeside park with a golf course, 4 playgrounds, boat rentals, a fishing area, picnic sites & paths.
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Habitat for native & migrating animals. Large nature preserve housing various migrating birds, as well as native flora & fauna.
Dream Time Sculpture
Visit this great place for kids and families!
New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Shinn Historical Park and Arboretum
Park with gardens & a historic house. Small green space featuring scenic gardens & a 19th-century house open for occasional group tours.
Windy Hill Open Space Preserve
Forested fields for hiking & picnicking. Open grasslands & forest area with 12 miles of trails for hiking, bicycling & horseback-riding.
Ardenwood Historic Farm
Living museum with horse-powered farming. A working farm with a train & crops grown using historic methods, plus volunteers in period attire.
Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
Silent film museum with movie screenings. Museum in an historic former cinema devoted to silent pictures, with guided tours & a film series.
Train of Lights
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Coyote Hills Vista Point
Visit this great place for kids and families!
California Nursery Historical Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Secret Sidewalk
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Niles Canyon Railway
Vintage train rides & history exhibits. Living history museum providing rides on vintage trains (1910-1960) & exhibits on railroad history.
Loch Lomond Recreation Area
Reservoir park for fishing & boating. Scenic 175-acre reservoir park for fishing, boating & hiking (seasonal & can be closed by drought).
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