California Official Visitor's Guide 2018 - 43

Hands-on

Museums
Got a youngster who can't stop asking "Why?"
Then add Santa Barbara's Wolf Museum of
Exploration + Innovation (a.k.a. MOXI) to your
itinerary. Step inside a 24-foot-long working guitar, build a race car, or design a masterpiece with
a massive Light Brite set.
San Francisco's Exploratorium is all about
hands-on ways to understand the laws of physics (playing with pendulums) and the principles
of perception. (Drinking from a toilet-shaped
water fountain, gross or not gross? You be the
judge!) While you're in the Bay Area, don't miss
the California Academy of Sciences, where
kids can choose their favorite environment-an
aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum,
and rainforest all sit under its living roof.
If you're fielding mostly questions about
Mother Nature, consider Turtle Bay Exploration
Park in Shasta County. The nature park's museum
has exhibits dedicated to the local wildlife and
its Native American and mining histories. Take a
moment to peek inside the Wintu bark house, and
view the aquarium stocked with native fish. Then
do a walk-through of the rotating environmentalart exhibits before heading to Paul Bunyan's
Forest Camp, where visitors can meet and learn
about animal rescues like Loki, the red fox.

THIS SPREAD, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF GILROY GARDENS, COURTESY
OF MOXI, BUYENLARGE/GETTY IMAGES, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD

MOXI

Outdoor Fun
Untouched coastline teeming
with wildlife, majestic peaks
covered with shimmering snow,
lush forest canopies-California's varied ecosystems make
it the most biodiverse state in
the United States. And the many
ways to enjoy nature's bounty
are equally diverse.
At Ten Mile Beach on the
North Coast, family members
can saddle up at Ricochet Ridge
Ranch for one-hour horseback
rides along a breathtaking
stretch of sand, spying breaching whales, sunbathing seals,

and some of the 90 bird species.
You'll want to bring binoculars on your aerial trek at Tahoe
Treetop Adventure Park,
where family members ages
five and older take a 2½-hour
excursion through the treetops
of towering pines via raised
bridges and zip lines.
Parents with really wiggly
little ones may want the flora
and fauna, but with an extra
serving of fun. The 52-acre Wild
Water Adventure Park in Clovis
has 38 different water slides
and a 32,000-square-foot wave

pool, but it also boasts three
completely natural ponds where
guests can sunbathe, swim, fish,
and barbecue. It's also one of the
few amusement parks that allows outside food and beverages.
During winter, visitors flock
to the Inland Empire's Big Bear
region for its 435 skiable acres.
But you may want to skip the ski
lifts for one of its two downhill
tubing areas instead. Perk for
parents: The Magic Carpet
conveyor belts carry your little
one and her gear back up the hill
so you don't have to.
Ten Mile Beach

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of California Official Visitor's Guide 2018