40+ fun spots for SoCal kids we loved in 2025
One of my favorite activities at the end of each year is looking through my phone photos and seeing the adventures we took over the past 12 months. I always have forgotten some of the fun things we did, and it reminds me of the sweet memories we have together as a family.
As my children get older with busier schedules, it can be harder to get out on family adventures, so I’m grateful for any chance we get to be together!
Here are some of our favorite adventures in Southern California in 2025:
train rides at Hunter Hobby Park - We went to a birthday party at this Riverside park on a blustery day in January and it was so sweet and fun. The kids got to go around a few times and had fun riding, and playing on the train-themed playground.
Disneyland! - We took advantage of the 3 day Southern California resident tickets and enjoyed three great family days here over the course of the winter/spring. We used to be longtime annual pass holders but hadn’t been to Disneyland since 2019! I was a little concerned Disneyland would have lost its magic for us after so much time away, but thankfully, it was wonderful! (Definitely recommend getting the $35ish/person Lightning Lane multipass if you have bigger kids!)
college basketball game - a couple years ago we loved cheering on the women’s basketball team at CBU when they made it to the playoffs and we even went to UCLA to see their March Madness game! This year we didn’t make it to as many games, but still enjoyed making it to a few!
Discovery Cube OC - my children (ages 9-13) really enjoy the hands-on activities at the Discovery Cube… and my husband and I have really loved the reciprocal membership we get through our Discovery Cube annual pass, which we’ve used quite a bit while traveling!
Anaheim Coves bike path - I found out about this path from my online friend Michele’s paved tiny hikes book for Orange County and my family liked it so much we went twice last spring. We brought scooters and some kids just walked and had a lovely time on this fence trail that overlooked several ponds/reservoirs and attracts lots of beautiful birds.
Boysen Park Anaheim on one of our trips to Anaheim Cove’s. We stopped at this outerspace themed playground to play for a few minutes. It was cute!
day trip to Sacramento - not Southern California, but wanted to mention the fun day trip my husband and daughters took to Sacramento. He didn’t have much time off over spring break, so they hopped on a flight first thing out of Ontario, rented a car, toured the state capitol and explored the California State Railroad Museum, enjoyed lunch (and a stop for candy in their Old Town area!) and flew home before bedtime.
Adventure Playground in Yorba Linda this playground has been popular ever since it reopened a couple years ago. We’ve enjoyed going several times, especially on weekdays when it won’t be so crowded. I think this playground is especially good for bigger kids because they can really have fun playing in the rope, tunnels and climbing around.
Enchanted Hills Playground in Perris - we really enjoyed this fun playground with beautiful theming and plenty of space to explore!
Pioneer Park Anaheim we stopped by Pioneer Park on another one of our trips to Anaheim Coves. My children, especially enjoyed playing on the rock pile and checking out the “Angels” baseball fields.
SoCal Air Show viewing at Thundersky Park I can’t remember now what was going on that weekend, but when the SoCal Air Show rolled around, we just couldn’t muster up the energy to go to the full day event at March Field. Instead, we headed to Thundersky Park for an hour or so to catch the aerial shows. It worked out great! There were a few other people there, but tons of space to set out our camping chairs and watch the Thunderbirds.
OC Great Park the Great Park is always so fun to visit! Whether we are checking out their playgrounds or watching the big orange balloon sail into the sky it seems there is something fun to do for free! On this visit, we explored the park before going to a OC Soccer Club game.
OC Soccer Club the OC Soccer Club invited us to a game and gifted our family tickets (thanks!) We had never been to a pro soccer game before and we were so impressed by how many kid friendly activities they had from inflatable ax throwing to an AAPI presentation. The pricing seemed reasonable and we would go back again.
Discovery Cube LA - on our drive to Yosemite, we needed to make a quick bathroom break, and realized we were right next to the Discovery Cube LA. We had never been to their LA location, and since we have an annual pass, it was a quick, fun stop (much better than stopping at a gas station!) The LA location is much smaller, but had some cool exhibits - quite a few different ones from the OC museum. We would go back!
Yosemite National Park (not Southern California, but felt relevant!) On New Year’s Eve we went around sharing our favorite memories of 2025, and our trip to Yosemite in May was at the top of my list. We stayed in a beautiful vacation rental just outside the park (with a creek in the backyard!) and enjoyed several days of exploring Yosemite. Renting bikes and riding them in the shadow of Half Dome was a favorite! (On the way home our car broke down on the freeway by Six Flags and we unexpectedly had to spend the night in a hotel, which was not quite so wonderful!)
UCR Botanic Gardens - this is always a favorite for hiking or meeting up with friends. We went a few times, including for my birthday! Parking is around $2/hour, with free admission and beautiful grounds, so this is always a winner in my book!
San Diego County Fair I did a partnership with the county fair this summer, which gave us the perfect opportunity to go to the fair as a family for the first time! My husband and I used to go when we were dating and lived in San Diego. We had fun riding rides playing games, checking out their pet themed exhibit and of course, eating fair food!
My 9 year old fell in love with sports this year, and spent his birthday at an Angels baseball game. They had a great time - and thankfully the Angels won!
Flight Path Museum LAX My husband loves aviation so we had an awesome airplane-themed day trip around LAX for his birthday! We toured the Flight Path Museum, which is small but has plenty of info for aviation enthusiasts. It’s not meant specifically for kids, but mine enjoyed it - especially the room where you can watch fun in-flight safety videos (the Lego-movie-themed one was obviously a favorite!) Then we went to lunch at the Proud Bird, a local restaurant/food hall with a playground right next to the runways at LAX. An evening on the beach in Playa Del Rey finished off a lovely day!
Playa Del Rey - after we went to the Flightpath museum on my husband‘s birthday, we headed over to Playa Del Rey for a fun afternoon at the beach. One of my favorite things about living in Southern California is that you can just be going about your regular day and then suddenly you’re staring at the Pacific Ocean in the sunshine with pelicans flying above you! It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon, especially with some snacks from nearby Playa Provision, which I’ve been a big fan of since it’s run by Brooke, my favorite Top Chef.
Central Park Playground in Huntington Beach My family spent a full day here last year and went to the wonderful library and “secret garden” nearby. So this summer when we had dear friends visiting from out of state who were staying near Huntington Beach, this was the perfect spot to meet up! This time around, we stuck to the epic rope-ladder playground structure for a fun day with friends.
This summer we made a quick trip to Santa Barbara! Some highlights were the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the MOXI Museum (especially since our membership to the LA/OC Discovery Cube got us free admission to both!) We also loved getting McConnell’s ice cream on State Street, and playing at the beach! On the drive up there, we stopped at the Channel Islands Visitor Center (on the mainland) which was also neat, especially for my younger two kids who haven’t been to the actual islands yet. Unfortunately one of my children got sick so we had to cut our trip short :( but we hope to head back there again soon!
Skirball Museum in LA - We kicked off the school year with a visit to the Skirball Cultural Center. It’s free on Thursdays! We loved their Noah’s Ark exhibit, which is super interactive for kids and makes use of recycled materials in the coolest ways (it’s pretty non-religious, fyi). Their outdoor archeological dig was so fun, and is what my kids are talking about weeks later, and we had fun exploring their temporary exhibit on Jack Kirby, who helped create the Avengers.
San Diego Zoo we’ve been members of the San Diego Zoo for many years and I always love having a chance to see the animals and spend a family day together this year. We were especially excited to visit the pandas!
photos at Egypt Building we’ve been studying ancient history in our homeschool this fall so we went to take photos at the Egypt building in Chino Hills. It’s a random façade on a building that was supposed to be a restaurant but never opened. Our family has always loved Soup plantation, which closed in 2020, but there is a Soup and Fresh here which is essentially the same thing so after taking some pictures we headed to the restaurant to enjoy their buffet.
Rancho Jurupa Regional Park Splash Pad this regional park has a huge splash pad that pulls you with water and dump it from buckets overhead. We met up with a friend here on a hot summer day and had fun cooling off!
San Bernardino County Museum this museum in Redlands focuses on science, nature, and history of the area, with plenty of hands-on activities for children. Best of all, it’s air conditioned and mostly indoors, making it a favorite of ours on hot or rainy days! We have a membership, which is pretty inexpensive (around $50) and feels well worth it (especially since parking is free)
Turtle Rock Nature Center, Irvine We went to this nature center twice the past couple years after dropping someone off at John Wayne Airport. This is pretty close by. It’s always been chill and uncrowded and we enjoy hiking the little trail visiting the nature center indoors and playing at the playground.
OC Art Museum we stumbled upon the California habitat exhibit at the OC Art Museum completely by accident. We were looking for coffee in the area and Press and Mokka looked good. Not only did they have a mini golf course and free beanbag toss outside for free, but the small art exhibit featured habitats to California. It was like it was designed for our family to enjoy. They even had a mini nature journal craft for children and a display of some of my favorite children’s nature books
Old Town San Diego we always enjoy walking around old town, San Diego stopping into the stores and viewing their historical displays. It’s a quick peek into the past.
Wizarding tea at Britannia TeaRoom San Diego a family member treated us to tea at the Britannia tea room. They do the sweetest themed teas! This year’s was Harry Potter themed, and last year we went to one based on the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Both times there has been trivia a themed menu. It was really cute for this family of Harry Potter lovers!
Gage Canal Hike, Riverside- we went on several strolls here this fall! The Gage Canal was built in the 1880s and still functions today! There is a walking path along the canal that runs throughout much of Riverside that we’e enjoyed - but make sure you keep your children far away from the canal, which is open water and can sometimes be deep. I wouldn’t bring a toddler or preschooler, or any child who elopes, without containing them in stroller. I also would NOT bring bikes or scooters. (If you want a walk without water nearby, just walking along Victoria Ave is lovely too).
San Joaquin Marsh, Irvine Our nature group recently visited San Juan wildlife sanctuary, and we had a lovely day seeing birds, walking the kid, friendly trails and enjoying a picnic lunch together. I even picked up a new hat at their gift shop!
Land Use Learning Center, Riverside this sweet little garden is free, open 7 days a week, and a lovely place to bring your family. It’s located right next to Mt. Rubidoux, but I feel like most people don’t know about it! We enjoyed a morning of nature journaling here… this is much easier to access than UCR Botanic Gardens or Citrus State Park (free parking, open more hours) and much smaller.
NASA Jet Propulsion Lab tour - Going on a tour of JPL was one of my very favorite adventures of the year and I think my kids would agree. It’s very hard to get access to JPL. They do offer free tours but they fill up very quickly. We went on a trip through our homeschool charter and really enjoyed getting a better overview of the planets and of the role that JPL plays with NASA. On the tour we got to see the clean room where NASA JPL assemble spacecraft that go to space and we also saw the mission control room where they handle launches and landings of spacecraft like the Mars Rovers! The tour through our school was only for children third grade and up and I think that’s probably a good age guideline. If you have a child who loves space or is interested in engineering it’s worth trying to get free tickets for a tour. Hopefully the Explore JPL event where they open the campus everyone for the weekend finally comes back in 2026!
Mt. Rubidoux Hike - We’re slowly training to hike the Trans Catalina Trail (that goes across Catalina Island), and Mt. Rubidoux is one of the best hikes near our home in Riverside for gaining elevation. It’s so lovely on a clear day when you can see out across the Inland Empire!
Collier Park - We have family in La Mesa (right next to San Diego) and always love stopping at the nature-inspired playground at Collier Park. Most recently, we made it in time to get lattes from Dark Horse Coffee across the street, which made it extra delightful!
Oak Glen Preserve - we just got back from a festive Christmas gift exchange with friends at Oak Glen Preserve, and I was reminded why we love visiting here so much, and feel it’s worth the 45+ minute drive from Riverside. It’s free, with lots of open space for kids to run around and play. If you’ve only ever visited Oak Glen during apple picking season or on a snowy day, I encourage you to consider coming to Oak Glen Preserve sometime in the “off season.” It’s really lovely!
Universal Studios - in December, a family member gave my children tickets to Universal Studios. I went a lot as a teenager, but hadn’t been since. We are big Harry Potter fans, and spent hours in “Hogsmeade,” which was incredible! The Studio Tour was also a hit! I’m glad we waited till my children were older to come (it’s not super toddler friendly). The only negative was the food - overpriced and hard to access, especially their convoluted mobile order system.
San Diego Natural History Museum we took advantage of our Bell Park Explorer passes to visit the Natural History Museum before heading to a Christmas dinner with family. We will definitely have to come back to explore more. I’ve wanted to visit the Coast to Cactus exhibit for years because it plays a role in my homeschool SoCal Nature Kids science curriculum when we learn about ecosystems. We loved the hands-on exhibits here and especially the reptiles and insects area.
Hotel Del Coronado for Christmas + Miguel’s we’re headed to the hotel Del‘s Wizard of Oz themed Christmas displays along with 10,000 of our closest friends. We know it would be crowded because it was a Saturday before Christmas, but boy was it crowded! Thankfully we got a spot for an early dinner at Miguel‘s, one of our favorite San Diego Mexican restaurants. While everyone else enjoyed chips and free, queso and waited for our food to arrive, my son and I enjoy digging at the beach. (I wouldn’t go into the water there due to bacteria issues until that gets resolved.) Then we got to view the trees, themed on the Wizard of Oz. I felt the term “holiday light spectacular” was a bit of an oversell for the light show (just music and some lights that changed color occasionally) But I always appreciate places putting on free shows and activities for anyone to enjoy and you can’t beat walking around in the hotel and crossing the bridge over the San Diego Bay. It’s so beautiful!
Santa Ana Zoo - we wrapped up the year with a post-Christmas visit to the Santa Ana Zoo in Orange County. It’s smaller than the San Diego or LA Zoos, but bigger than the OC Zoo, and we enjoyed a couple hours here observing the many monkeys they have (and riding the ferris wheel!)
Here’s to another year of adventures! Where did you enjoy exploring this year?