For many people Fremont, California does not come to mind as a top tourist destination in San Francisco Bay Area. But it actually works for your benefit: there are some cool attractions in town but they won’t be overcrowded as many places are on the other side of the Bay. Two great places in Fremont to spend a day are Coyote Hills Regional Park and Ardenwood Historic Farm, which are located very close to each other so you can easily do both in 1 day.
Unlike many regional parks Coyote Hills has several distinct points of interest which make you feel that you have visited many different places instead of just one:
- Visitor’s Center which depicts the life of local Indian tribes and the actual Indian village site. While the Visitor’s Center is open every day you cannot see the village site without a guided tour which you need to schedule in advance.
- Nectarium – a garden featuring a beautiful landscaping of plants that are “butterfly magnets” and fountains;
- Hiking trails in 2 different types of terrain: up the hills and down near the waterways.
Coyote Hills is a great place to observe butterflies, shoreline birds and wildflowers. The best time to visit the park is in spring so that you can see the flowers in bloom. In summer it can be rather hot since there isn’t much shade here and in winter it can be windy. Entry fee is $6 per vehicle.
My personal goal is to make every trip an educational experience for us so we always go prepared. Once we moved to California we bought National Audubon Society Field Guide to California
which we take on all our field trips so that we can identify plants and wildlife and learn more about them. It is small enough to carry in a pocket but it has lots of useful information. Another book my kids usually take with them is Backyard Birds (Field Guides for Young Naturalists)
. They love to make each hike a birds scavenger hunt to see how many birds they can find from this little guide.
Another must have on such a trip is a good binocular
. Amazingly, these days you can buy a high powered one for under $30 (and you can get more use out of it for sporting events and concerts). For more resources you might mind helpful for this trip check my Travel Resources page.
Ardenwood Historic Farm is a working farm which can be visited any time of the year but I suggest you tie your visit to one of their educational program days or special events. Educational programs, for instance, include ice cream making, sheep sheering, toy making, etc. Special events,like Harvest Festival, take place 6 times a year – you can confirm their yearly schedule on their website. The entry fee is $6 for adults and $4 for kids ages 4-17 (free for toddlers under 4).
The Farm also has a number of fun attractions:
- a working farm railroad – younger kids will enjoy a ride on an small train, which turns haunted in October;
- occasionally, the Farm opens historic Patterson House for tours that is located on the premises (which I highly recommend);
- From December to mid-February monarch butterflies overwinter here.
Both the Park and the Farm have picnic areas for your use during the visit. I hope you will enjoy your visit to Fremont and then come back for more.
If you found this family road trip itinerary useful, please do me a little favor and share this trip with others, for there’s a good chance that it will help them with their travel plans. 🙂
