Museums
Ages: 0 and up
Modesto's most recognizable historical landmark is the McHenry Mansion, located at the north end of downtown, on the corner of 15th and I Streets. The mansion was built in 1883 by prominent Modesto rancher and banker Robert McHenry. The McHenry family resided in the beautiful Victorian home for only 23 years before selling, at which point the mansion was converted into apartments. In the 1970's, the Julio R. Gallo Foundation purch...
more»Ages: 6 and up
The McHenry Museum began it's life as Modesto's library, but has since become a living, breathing visual archive of Modesto's rich history. The curators have collected a vast array of early photographs and documents, but have also constructed a replica of a turn-of-the-century Modesto street, complete with dentist office, blacksmith shop and general store. Yet another permanent exhibit features paintings by Virgil W. "Bill" West, w...
more»Ages: 6 and up
The Chabot Space & Science Center is located high on the tops of the Oakland Hills, a perfect spot to take advantage of the Center's telescopes, which are the largest research-quality telescopes open to the public west of the Mississippi.
The 86,000 square foot center features interactive space and science exhibits, digital dome planetarium shows and MegaDome shows. For a list of the center's current exhibits, click here, and for a ...
more»Ages: 0 and up
The Great Valley Museum of Natural History is a non-profit educational treasure trove of activities and exhibits for nature lovers. Exotic animals from around the world are showcased in The Great Animal Hall, while the In Your Backyard exhibit features the ever-present but often unseen animals all around. The museum offers tours that concentrate on specific topics, like the Central Valley habitat displays of the Yokut and Miwok Ind...
more»Ages: 4 and up
Park admission is listed above, but train excursion tickets are priced differently. For train excursion tickets, expect to pay $15 for adults, $8 for youths ages 6-17, ages 5 and under ride free. If purchasing train tickets, the park admission is included in this fee.
more»Ages: 6 and up
The Tech Museum sits in the heart of Silicon Valley, the tech-based business mecca of California. With over 250 hands-on exhibits in five themed galleries, The Tech Museum's goal is to inspire the innovator within each visitor. Exhibits include piloting a robotic dog, floating in a space-age jet pack, designing roller coasters, producing movies, creating webpages, controlling computer-generated avatars, understanding power as gener...
more»Ages: 0 and up
It's not hard to picture Yosemite National Park in your mind's eye. It's easy to imagine a place of thundering waterfalls, granite crags, towering trees and beautiful wildlife, hundreds of acres wide thanks to the millions of photos taken of this beautiful place; however, it's not until you find yourself there, in the valley or on a trail, taking it all in, that you can really experience Yosemite.
From Modesto, Yosemite is only...
more»Ages: 3 and up
Columbia State Historic Park — once a bustling, brawling gold rush town — sits at an elevation of 2,100 feet amongst the oaks of the Sierra Nevada foothills. In the mid 1800's, the town of Columbia was one of the largest cities in California, attracting people from other US states as well as other countries with promises of gold. In fact, between 1850 and the early 1900s, as much as $150 million in gold was mined in Columbia.
As dep...
more»Ages: 3 and up
Formerly known as Zeum, the Children's Creativity Museum uses multimedia technologies to nurture creativity and communication in children.
Interactive exhibits explore animation, digital arts and music videos, among other things, and nearly each of those hands-on activities can be captured and kept for prosperity. The super helpful employees of the museum will help visitors burn a copy of a stop-animation sequence to DVD, or email ...
more»Ages: 0 and up
Imaginative children will beg to stay longer -- and even longer still! -- at the Stockton Children's Museum. Climbing, exploring and hands-on play is entirely encouraged throughout this 22,000 square foot facility. Play areas include a bank, post office, doctor office and grocery store; a firetruck, police car, ambulance and helicopter; art studio for painting and creating; and a news desk where children can be the star of their ow...
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