Unique & Hidden Gem Activities for Families
Explore the best unique & hidden gem activities for families options for kids and families in Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History
Hands-on exhibitions & special programs. Expansive venue with hands-on art & history exhibitions, plus special programs good for all ages.
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center
Theater & interactive exhibit gallery. Educational multimedia exhibits include theater, touch pools & a remotely operated underwater robot.
Neary Lagoon Pier
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Ocean View Park
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Neary Lagoon Park
Wildlife habitat with floating walkways. Wildlife refuge with trails & floating walkways, bird-watching areas, tennis courts & a playground.
Westlake Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
Wildlife, plant & archaeology exhibits. Galleries & interactive programs exploring flora, fauna, geology & peoples native to the Bay Area.
Steamer Lane
Iconic surf spot with a surfing museum. Famous cliffside surfing spot since the 1930s, featuring a surfing museum inside a lighthouse.
Santa Cruz Surfing Museum
Exhibits exploring wave-riding culture. Rotating exhibits on surfing culture & local history housed in a historic, preserved lighthouse.
Lighthouse Point
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Walton Lighthouse
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Pogonip Open Space
Scenic sloped park with hiking & biking. Scenic open space offering a hiking & biking trail network amid redwood & oak forests & slopes.
UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden
Rare plants & a butterfly garden. Vast collection of rare plants with a succulent garden, a butterfly area & a eucalyptus grove.
Chanticleer Ave County Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Seymour Marine Discovery Center
Aquarium & interactive science museum. Interactive marine science museum & aquarium, with hands-on exhibits, a touch pool & a gift shop.
Blue Whale Skeleton
Visit this great place for kids and families!
The Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery
Visit this great place for kids and families!
The Mystery Spot
Iconic gravity hill offering tours. Opened in 1941, this roadside landmark is a tilt-induced visual illusion with tours & a gift shop.
Roaring Camp
Train rides & all-ages special events. Family-friendly park offers train rides amid natural landscapes, seasonal routes & special events.
Haven Play Lounge and Events
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Highlands County Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Loch Lomond Recreation Area
Reservoir park for fishing & boating. Scenic 175-acre reservoir park for fishing, boating & hiking (seasonal & can be closed by drought).
New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Lost Worlds Funtropolous
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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.
Handcar Tours
Visit this great place for kids and families!
McClellan Ranch Preserve
Former horse ranch with a nature museum. Former horse ranch from the 1930s featuring a nature museum, community garden & historic buildings.
De Anza College Planetarium
Venue for astronomy & laser shows. This large planetarium offers educational astronomy shows & entertaining laser displays.
Point Pinos Lighthouse (1855)
Historic light tower from 1850s. Oldest continually operating lighthouse on the Pacific, offering tours of Victorian-era building.
Winchester Mystery House
Quirky mansion with odd design details. Sprawling landmark with a staircase leading nowhere & other odd features designed to confuse ghosts.
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.
Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary
Nature reserve for seasonal butterflies. Preserve with pine, cypress & eucalyptus trees sheltering thousands of monarch butterflies Oct–Mar.
The Escape Game San Jose
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Lovers Point Park
Small beachside recreation spot. Petite beach park with swimming, surfing & other water recreation, plus kayak & bike rentals & more.
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History
Free exhibitions on regional wildlife. Nature museum offering exhibits on birds, insects, plants & other wildlife, plus free admission.
Point Joe Vista Point
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Bill's Backyard
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
Exhibits featuring mummies & artifacts. Museum with displays on Egyptian burial practices, plus artifacts including jewelry & bronze tools.
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.
Rosicrucian Park
Unique architecture, gardens & fountains. Park drawing visitors with rose gardens, statues & fountains, plus Egyptian & Moorish architecture.
Discovery Meadow
Children's museum & sizable green space. Children's museum situated atop a sprawling green lawn used for summer festivals.
Monterey Mirror Maze and Laser Challenge
Mirror maze with a vibrant setup. Walk-through mirror maze with a psychedelic vibe & activities for team-building & parties.
Monopoly in the Park
Green space with a giant monopoly board. Tiny park featuring a larger-than-life monopoly board, plus animal statues & benches.
Treasure Hunt: The Ride
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Oscar's Playground
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McAbee Beach
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Japanese Friendship Garden
Spacious & tranquil traditional garden. Covering 5.5 acres, this serene Japanese garden features a koi pond & a quaint red arch bridge.
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.
Rotary PlayGarden
Accessible children's playground. Interactive & accessible children's playground with slides, climbing equipment & seating areas.
Mission Gardens
Historic mission's landscaped grounds. Tranquil garden park surrounding the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asis at Santa Clara University.
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.
Monterey County Youth Museum
Children's museum with hands-on exhibits. This colorful museum for toddlers & bigger kids features interactive exhibits with a local theme.
Colton Hall Museum and Jail
Exhibits dedicated to California history. Built 1847–1849, this museum in an old government building has exhibits on the history of Monterey.
Monterey Moon Tree
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Cooper-Molera Adobe
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Dennis The Menace Playground
Sizable kids' playground & park. Spacious kids' playground & park featuring activities such as a maze & a rock climbing wall.
Hidden Villa
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Emma Prusch Farm Park
Community farm with orchards & gardens. Compact community farm features heirloom vegetable gardens, orchards, chickens & a fair.
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.
Cypress Point Lookout
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.
Pioneer Memorial Park
Quaint green space with benches & paths. Small, serene park located next to the library featuring ample benches, walkways & shaded areas.
Windy Hill Open Space Preserve
Forested fields for hiking & picnicking. Open grasslands & forest area with 12 miles of trails for hiking, bicycling & horseback-riding.
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