Things To Do In Escondido, CA

San Diego Zoo Safari Park: San Diego Zoo Safari Park is a 1,800-acre zoo in San Pasqual Valley near Escondido. The zoo is home to more than 2,600 animals from over 300 species as well as over 3,500 plant species. The park is located in the semi-arid environment of Southern California. One of its most popular attractions is the Africa Tram, which takes visitors through large African exhibits. The exhibits are free-range enclosures that house animals such as antelope, giraffe, crane, buffalo, and rhinoceros. The park is engaged in the California Condor Recovery Program, breeding condors in an attempt to bring this endangered animal from the brink of extinction. San Diego Zoo functions as a quarantine center for wild animals imported into the USA and it also houses the largest veterinary hospital in the world.

San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum: Located in Escondido, California, just across the street from Grape Day Park, San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum is a cheerful indoor and outdoor museum with interactive, hands-on educational exhibits for children. The museum was created with the goal to inspire children to imagine, explore, and experiment through science, art, and exhibits from cultures of the world. There are four main areas at the museum: Imagine, Explore, Experiment, and Discover. The exhibits change frequently and include things like the Kids Global Village, Toddler Tidepool, Reading Book Nook, Discovery Sail Boat, Magnification Station, Our Town: Careers & Community, a magnetic ball wall, a wind tunnel, Floating Objects, Base Camp: Archaeology, Paleontology, and Geology, an edible garden, a chicken coop, a pollinator garden, an outdoor art studio, the Water Wise exhibit, and others.

California Center for the Arts, Escondido: The California Center for the Arts, Escondido opened in 1994 on a green 12-acre campus in downtown Escondido, next to City Hall and Grape Day Park. The center was designed by Charles Moore, in his interpretation of Southern California architecture, inspired by the area’s Spanish colonial heritage. The center’s campus includes a 1,500-seat concert hall, a contemporary art museum, a 400-seat theater, art studios, dance studios, and a conference center with facilities for weddings, corporate gatherings, and other celebrations. The center also has a rich education program and produces free community events every year, such as the WOW First Wednesdays performances, 4th of July celebration, Jazz Jam Sessions, Day of the Dead Festival, and holiday tree lighting.

Palomar Mountain State Park: Located in northern San Diego County, high on top of the west side of Palomar Mountain, Palomar Mountain State Park is a 1,862-acre forested area with massive large pines, firs, cedar trees, and patches of flowering meadows. The park, at the average altitude of 5,000 feet, has a range of hiking trails with various difficulty levels, campsites, a fishing pond full of trout, and spectacular coastal vistas, especially from Boucher Hill Summit with its historic Boucher Hill Fire Lookout. This summit is listed as one of the Sierra Club’s Hundred Peaks. The trails are open for hiking only, and neither dogs nor mountain bikes are allowed.

Queen Califia’s Magical Circle: Located in a 12-acre natural habitat within Kit Carson Park and the Iris Sankey Arboretum, Queen Califia’s Magical Circle is a sculpture garden created by French artist Niki de Saint Phalle, the only one of its kind in the US. The garden consists of nine massive scale sculptures, a 400-foot long “snake wall” of varied height, and maze at the entryway. There are also benches and native shrubs and trees in the interior plaza and along the perimeter, which are sculpturally integrated in the garden. The “snake wall” is a wall with a huge playful serpent, decorated in colorful mosaics, on top. There are nine freestanding large sculptures in the garden, and the star of the garden is the sculpture of Queen Califia on the back of a five-legged eagle.