Good Place to Meet for Family Big Groups With Kids Orange County

My friend, Jill, over at The Popsicle Web log challenged me to write a 101 Outdoor Places to Visit for Kids in Orange Canton in the tradition of her popular101 Things to Do with Kids post.

I encourage yous to visit her site. She loves to notice outdoor places to visit every bit much as I do and she has an crawly resource and calendar pages.

If you're visiting my blog for the first fourth dimension, I hope you lot find some new places to play outdoors in Orange Canton, California!

I'grand a mom and writer who loves to go on adventures with my family. I started this blog in 2008 and built this free online customs resource to empower families to prioritize nature and play time .

I believe play is essential to healthy development — and a happy adulthood for that affair!

My suggestion for all of these outdoor places to visit for kids is:

Schedule it on your calendar — Just like any other important family activeness – these astonishing outdoor places deserve time on your calendar. Outings similar this volition make your kids happier, healthier and smarter — so it's worth the effort.

Give yourself time – Don't rush. Rushing isn't fun. It's stressful to both you and your niggling i. Requite yourself enough of time to Savor being outdoors.

Let the kids atomic number 82 – How often practice the kids get to be in charge? They learn from experience. If you ready out on a mile hike and they are entranced by a bug in the parking lot, so perhaps you spend an hour with the bug in the parking lot. Unproblematic as that.

Be prepared – Make sure you're prepared so it's enjoyable. Make yourself a backpack that'due south set up to become with snacks, sippy cups, h2o, dominicus protection, first aid (basically anything you'll need when y'all're out and about). If my postal service or the website doesn't give you enough info, so option upwards the telephone!

Bones Resources

Park and Playground Map – lists parks on the map with links dorsum to web log posts. Likewise has markers for public libraries and Farmer's Markets so you can combine park trips with the library or shopping.
What to Bring to the Beach

Okay, at present that you're all prepared, I call up we can go ahead with the list of over 101 Outdoor Places to Visit for Kids in Orange County.

Orange County Parks by Theme

These are random themes that readers have asked near over the years. Sometimes there are sensory or developmental considerations that make parks with fences or parks without sand desirable.

Sometimes the parks are simply for train lovers or dinosaur enthusiasts.

I've written posts for themes based on seasons with summertime splash parks or shade covers and for events like homeschooling groups and birthday parties.

one. Paleontology at Clark Regional Park
two. Fenced Parks
iii. Sand Gratis Parks
4. All-time Parks for Birthday Parties in South Canton
five. Splash Parks and Water Play
6. Top 3 Train Trips for Orange County Locals
7. Play Places for Railroad train Lovers
viii. Patriotic OC Playgrounds
9. Peak x Parks with Shade Covers
10. Parks for Homeschooling Groups

Family unit-Friendly Beaches in Orangish County

I like to use Heal the Bay's Beach Written report Card to check sea water quality – and NOAA's Tide Predictions before heading out to beaches. Or just ask the lifeguard when you get there.

xi. Baby Beach in Dana Point Harbor
12. Heisler Park(Laguna Beach)
13. Picnic Beach (Laguna Beach)
14. Beaches About Laguna Beach Montage
xv. Strands Beach and Strand Vista Park(Dana Betoken)
xvi. Crystal Cove and El Moro
17. Trestles – Beach Walking for Families(San Clemente)
18. 3 All-time Toddler Beaches with No Waves

Playgrounds at the Embankment

Orange County benefits from a high number of playgrounds right on the sand. Yous can visit the private posts, but I've also gathered them in a list, too.

19. Laguna Primary Embankment Playground(Laguna Beach)
twenty. Aliso Beach Park(Laguna Beach)
21. Balboa Pier and Peninsula Park(Newport Beach)
22. Seal Embankment Pier and Eisenhower Park (Seal Beach)
23. North Beach Playground (San Clemente)
24. Encounter my list of seven Embankment Playgrounds Correct on the Sand

Family-Friendly Gardens & Farms

Farms and gardens are my favorite! If you can, endeavor to visit as many of the public gardens Southern California has to offer. Los Angeles and San Diego counties also have some amazing gardens.

25. Coastkeeper Garden
26. Niguel Botanical Preserve
27. Centennial Subcontract
28. Subcontract & Nutrient Lab at the OC Corking Park
29. Tanaka Farms
xxx. Fullerton Arboretum
31. Sherman Library and Gardens (Corona del Mar)

Whale Watching from Land

32. San Onofre Country Embankment
33. San Clemente Beaches
34. Calafiaat San Clemente State Beach
35. Capo Embankment orPines Parkbenches
36. Dana Point Headlands
37. Strands Beach and Strands Vista Park
38. Salt Creek Trailand Beach
39. Aliso Beach Parkplayground andtidepooling
twoscore. Crystal Cove State Park for anature ramble ortidepooling
41.Corona Del Mar

Outdoor Classes and Nature Outings

These non-profits offer outdoor activities and/or outdoor places to visit for families in Orange County.

42. Within the Outdoors (full disclosure: I work every bit their Content Strategist & Social Media Manager)
43. Big Oak Coulee and Earthroots Field School
44. Joel Robinson and Naturalist-for-You
45. OC Coastkeeper
46. LetsGoOutside.org and the Irvine Ranch Conservancy
47. Environmental Nature Heart
48. The Ecology Eye
49. Laguna Canyon Foundation
50. Ocean Plant
51. Newport Bay Conservancy
52. Crystal Cove Conservancy
53. Ocean & Sage Audubon Society
54. Huntington Beach Tree Society
55. Ultimate Guide to Metropolis Recreation Programs and Calendars in OC – Did you know your kids can take community classes in a neighboring city? All y'all have to exercise is find the community services page or parks & recreation folio to register. The but catch is that you'll probably have to pay a slightly higher registration fee than residents.

Bird Watching and Nature Walks

Many of these spots have nature centers that are a pleasure to visit when they are open.

56. San Joaquin Wild animals Sanctuary
57. Dana Point Headlands – also skilful for whale watching.
58. Oak Canyon Nature Centre
59. Tucker Wild fauna Sanctuary (official) – And here's my review of the nature middle and grounds.
sixty. Bolsa Chica Wetlands – PCH archway doesn't accept the nature center, only it'due south a great place for bird-watching.
61. Bolsa Chica Wetlands Nature Centre
62. Shipley Nature Center (official) – love this identify! Read about one of our trips to Shipley.
63. Turtle Stone Nature Center (official) – another favorite place to ramble around the grounds with my kids.
64. Nix Nature Center
65. Crystal Cove Nature Ramble

Parks for Fitness

I'm ever in the process of updating these and open to your additions to my lists. Honestly, yous can exist active at ANY park or outdoor space.

66. Local Parks with Outdoor Fettle Equipment
67. Rent a Bike at Irvine Regional Park
68. five Family Walks in Orange Canton
69. Parks with Outdoor Handball and Racquetball Courts
70. 15+ Stroller-Friendly Walks effectually Lakes in OC

Attainable Parks

Y'all'll find a list of Accessible Parks right upward in the drop-downward carte du jour under Park Map. New parks are being added to my listing every twelvemonth.

71.Courtney's SandCastle and Sensory Garden in San Clemente
72. Box Coulee Park in Yorba Linda
73. Pavion Park in Mission Viejo
74. Affections's Playground in TeWinkle Park in Costa Mesa
75. Cherry Park in Lake Forest
76. Northwood Community Park in Irvine (accessible features)
77.All-Inclusive Beach Playground in Huntington Beach

Outdoor Places for Almanac Passes

These are but the bare minimum and there is are other places on this list, like under Farms & Gardens.

78. Mission San Juan Capistrano
79. OCParks.com — is the official site for Orangish County regional parks, wilderness areas and beaches. Their website is a consummate resources and I highly recommend buying an annual pass which is $80 and allows you to park at beaches and parks all year long!
80.California State Parks — read how to buy an Annual Pass
81.Forest Service Run a risk Pass

OC Regional Parks (Fee to park)

If you can swing the yearly investment, I actually think this is a peachy deal for getting into some of the all-time parks in the county. Plus, the parks thrive when we put our dollars into supporting them. It tells our local government that we value our parks.

82. Capistrano Beach Park (Capo Embankment)
83. Carbon Canyon Regional Park(Brea)
84. Caspers Wilderness Park (San Juan Capistrano)
85. Clark Regional Park (Buena Park)
86. Craig Regional Park (Fullerton)
87. Irvine Regional Park (Orangish)
88. Laguna Niguel Regional Park (Master Playground and Laguna Niguel Lake Walk)
89. Mile Square Regional Park (Fountain Valley)
90. Mason Regional Park (Irvine)
91. O'Neill Regional Park(Trabuco Canyon)
92. Riley Wilderness Park(Coto de Caza)
93. Santiago Oaks Regional Park (Orange)
94. Yorba Regional Park(Anaheim)

California State Beaches and Parks (Fee to park)

California Land Park annual passes price considerably more than than regional park passes, mostly because the 24-hour interval use rate is considerably more. I still think it is worth the investment, just only if you are going to go at to the lowest degree once a month.

95. Bolsa Chica Land Beach
96. Chino Hills Land Park
97. Crystal Cove and El Moro
98. Huntington State Beach
99. Doheny Land Beach (Dana Point)
100. Calafia Land Embankment (San Clemente)
101. San Onofre(North SD County)

Thank you for exploring all 101 Places on this list. In reality, I accept over 350 parks and over 900 total posts about ways to get outdoors in Orange Canton or reach nearby family travel destinations.

And then I invite you to stick around and keep exploring! You tin hit the "back" button to go back to the home page. Follow my on Instagram @ocplayparks or subscribe to my weekly email with lots of park tips and playground trip ideas.

Originally published in October 2013.

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