Enjoy a relaxing exceptional cuisine on patio at DeVine Restaurant overlooking Sacramento River. After a tiramisu dessert & coffee take an evening stroll just in time to catch the sunset. A perfect day with loved ones. read more

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Wow,wow, wow! We brought our daughter and granddaughters here for a whole day adventure! It was so fun! The play ground is super cool with a mini zip-line, the outdoor auditorium was fun and informative and they brought so many fascinating animals. The aviary? A mystical MUST see! The birds land right on you and you get to feed them. I had to sneak back and go thru once more just to see these pretty birds! The sundial bridge is a beautiful walk and visually entrancing. Then the actual museum is so amazing too. Learned a lot of stuff and the girls all loved it. We will be back for sure. And its always changed up with different themes every quarter. If you're thinking of going, do it! read more

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I feel like I have to give a disclosure. My boyfriend and I had a HUGE fight at my FIRST experience here. I was SO excited because I LOVE Christmas lights and 2-because we had a big group of family and friends we went with. BUT my boyfriend disconnected us from our group. It would have been fine if I had been here before. Or if I had ANY sense of direction. But basically long story short he drank too much and I didn't accept that we were going to leave before I got to see everything. SO. I LOVED the lights. I DO have to say I'm disappointed in the limited offering of songs for the light show that goes along with songs. ALSO...WHY are there NON Christmas songs "Sky full of Stars" by Coldplay and "I'm still Standing" by Elton John in the mix??? We RUSHED through the second half of the lights. Booooooooo to my boyfriend but I really cannot wait to come back NEXT year with my kiddos to show this to them. (we WILL be back from Oregon next year!) They were with their Dad this year but I will have them next year so I can't wait to SLOWLY go through again. I LOVED the swings and the cute photo op. I totally made him take pics with me because I was NOT taking for an answer LOL Parking wasn't awful, but I was with a Redding native. And I loved all the lights. Loved them. BUT I must add can y'all PLEASE let people buy the cute light bulb drink holders WITHOUT buying the AWFUL drinks??? Lol we bought beer and the spiked hot cocoas but dang the actual beverages for these were AWFUL. So maybe $8-10 for the flashing bulb??? Anyway. I loved it and wish I had seen it ALL. Not just half. read more

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Love that this place is dog friendly. Would recommend comfy sneakers since the path is dirt. I also recommend coming to sundial bridge closer to sunset so it's not too hot. read more

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A very interesting place.. we came for the Christmas light show.. I really enjoy coming here in the summer as well. Very peaceful and a nice place to take the kids zz read more

My friend and I went for the first time this weekend. Even though it rained a bit we still had a great time! Getting the Flex tickets was the way to go as we decided to see the lights and then head to dinner after. We were able to go at an earlier time. My spiked hot chocolate was just the thing for a rainy walk. read more

Turtle Bay Exploration Park - Cool lights - Museums Near Me - Redding, California

Turtle Bay and Christmas lights, 10 acres of gorgeous lights. Throw in a festive and flickering cocktail? Winner, Winner! read more

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Our children enjoyed the outdoor playground/park areas. They were too tired to even explore the indoor portion...therefore, for the cost, it felt high. If there was an option to pay for only the outdoor half we would Love that. read more

Whether you're from Redding or just visiting, the Sundial bridge at turtle bay is the place to go. It is the most beautiful spot in Redding to go for a walk! read more

We always enjoy the special events there. My group recently went to the chocolate after dark event. My only complaint is that there should have been more chocolate and less wine. It felt more like a wine tasting with a little chocolate than a chocolate festival with a little wine pairing.... There are MANY chocolatiers in southern Oregon. I am surprised that they can't get a few of them to participate.. read more

A botanical garden, Sundial bridge, bistro, restaurant, museum and hotel all in one place. A top tourist attraction for Redding. Home to the wildly popular Sundial bridge. That glass bridge people can't stop talking about. France has the Eiffel Tower and we have the Sundial Bridge. Everybody probably already knows about that bridge but maybe people don't know about the beautiful setting that its in. Situated along the Sacramento river is this massive park. Built for you to explore - and so large you probably need a few hours to see it all. If you spend so much time here you get hungry no problem there are two places to eat. Love this park so much you don't want to leave at night? No problem there is a Sheraton Hotel that shares the same parking lot. What a scenic place to spend a night. A great place for a family outing. Maybe your on your way to the lake or up north and just want to stay a short time. read more

Nature Museum with plenty of things for both adults and kids. Large parking lot outside the museum and a short walk toward the bridge to the museum. It's possible to visit this museum, the botanical park, and the sundial Bridge all in the same day. I recommend this museum. read more

Pretty cool to check out the Sundial Bridge (acts as an actual sundial). Would've checked out the botanic garden if the weather was cooler.  Using our ASTC reciprocal membership, we checked out the science/history museum which had a Parrot aviary where you can feed various colorful lorikeets. It was 117 degrees that day so we were trying to beat the heat and some of the lorikeets laid on their sides against the rocks as they were trying to cool down. Thankfully they can fly into a room with AC and there was plenty of water and shade for them. There was a playground including water table for kids and a small zoo outside. The museum itself is much smaller than others we've been to, but I liked their interactive exhibits including their current Dino exhibit. Apparently, there's a delicious upscale modern restaurant, Mosaic, at the museum. IG: @grace.loves.socal, #grace.loves.adventures read more

Educational, kids enjoyed the outdoor play area but the animals seemed very depressed and agitated. Was very sad for them, overall the kids enjoyed and would return again. read more

First time coming in. Got a great deal because every Thursday is discount day so $10 for adults and $5 for kids. We came for the butterfly exhibit where you can go in and intermingle with real butterflies. They can land on you. Or you could buy a nectar stick so you can get an up close encounter. This is the last weekend they will have it. The parrot playground was another one that we enjoy. Come in and watch the parrot. For $2 you can get some food (came in liquid cup) so you can feed the parrot and get an up close look. Our whole family thoroughly enjoyed it. Totally worth the admission. read more

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Nice place for kids. Go on 1/2 off 1st Thursday of the month, and avoid summer months. It was fun for the kiddos, yet smaller and less animals than I expected, we finished seeing everything within 2 hours. Our favorite part was feeding the birds nectar. Least favorite was going across the sundial bridge in a hot summer day. We baked. Food options were limited and as expected overpriced. This is a good place for a one off experience. Won't be going again though. read more

Turtle Bay Exploration Park - Museums Near Me - Redding, California

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I think that people who rated Turtle Bay Exploration Park less than 4-stars are missing the point of the park. It's not a Theme Park with rides or characters. It's not a Zoo. It's not an Aquarium. Yes, they do advertise that they are on 300 acres of land. That doesn't have to mean that it's an amusement park. We found Turtle Bay Exploration Park to be a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Parts of it were entertaining for us. Other parts not so much. And that's okay. We felt that we got our money's worth and for the most part, enjoyed ourselves. It appeared to us that parents or grandparents could keep their kids under 10 easily entertained for at least four hours. And better yet, they could interact with the kids and enjoy some of the same activities. We researched and found that it was a good deal to purchase a membership. That gave us a discount of $5 each for the Garden of Light Show and also featured 10% discounts at the Sheraton Hotel and Mosaic Restaurant inside the Hotel. There was the area that featured fish from the Sacramento River. And in the same enclosure was a Beaver. There were a few Snakes, Toads and Tarantula in another building. There were various science activities to learn from. We really enjoyed the Lorikeet display. You enter through a wire door into an enclosure where there's another door. Once you use the hand sanitizer and get a 30-second instructional on what to expect, you're instructed to step onto a small rubber mat with both feet and then proceed through the second screen door. The Lorikeets are flying around and will land wherever they feel like. You have to be careful where you step to make sure it's safe to move. For $2, they will hand you a 1-oz plastic cup, show you how to hold it, and then squirt some nectar into the cup. Immediately, one or more Lorikeets will land and begin to drink. Out in the playground area, there was a small zipline, some climbing handholds and other devices for the kids to play on. In a separate playground were activities for younger kids, a teeter-tooter, tire swing with a net in the middle that two kids were riding in together with mom and dad at front and back pushing. There was an elevated wooden walkway from the museum building to the playgrounds and we spotted a fawn and three other deer just moseying around. We recommend visiting in the mornings during Spring or Summer so it isn't too hot. Also a good idea to carry a bottle of water to stay hydrated during your visit. read more

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The Christmas light display was absolutely amazing! The walk to it is incredibly cool as well. We loved all the things we saw. Breathtaking! Thank you for this pre Christmas delite. read more

Putting this review here because, as out-of-towners, we were so confused by how this huge place works and their website and reviews around didn't answer our questions. The bridge is accessible for free (free parking, too) and pretty cool. Beautiful river views. From the end of that, it's a short walk to the Gardens, where there is no required fee or attendant but has a secure box to put in a recommended $5 for non-members. So it is accessible without paying for the general admission to the museum or general park. We aimed for the children's garden and aside from a large beautiful mosaic curved bench, there was very little for kids to do. I really thought I read there was a climbing structure in the gardens somewhere for the kids, but we never found any. The Branch House bistro is right by the bridge and also open to the public. We had a long line to order, but the food came out quickly enough considering how many people had ordered ahead of us. (The CA Smashburgers were nothing to write home about ((didn't taste any sauce)) but we were starving, so they did their jobs in that regard.) We plan on using our reciprocal membership from a garden elsewhere to go back and find the playgrounds in the legit park. TLDR; you can walk to and across the bridge, eat at Branch House, and explore the gardens without any sort of formal entrance ($5 suggested donation in box at garden entrance). General park, museum, animals etc. seem to be with paid admission to the Exploration Park. read more

We got here an hour before closing so they discounted our entrance fee which was nice. I should have looked more into it. I was under the impression this was just a museum. The museum itself was very underwhelming. I didn't take away much from it. They do have a water tank with otters and other animals. 10 minutes before closing, we noticed a door that goes outside. Apparently there's way more outside than inside. There's a park and playground, a garden, and an animal sanctuary. We didn't get to explore because the park was closing. Had we known, we would have spent more time outside than inside. read more

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I will never go to your October fest again & I will not tell anyone to go. Every year is the same. It doesn't feel like a fest. Do you do research on October fests in Germany ? You hear German music & polka dancing! Yours is completely BORING. read more

I really wasn't expecting much and didn't quite understand what this place was. I was just trying to find a spot to walk my dog in the evening. I was pleasantly surprised to see such a beautiful and well maintained park in Redding. There is the Sundial Bridge and a few botanical gardens and nurseries. There is a restroom and picnic tables. Great place for families and dogs. There's also a restaurant on the property. Plenty of parking as well. read more

Turtle Bay Exploration Park - Museums Near Me - Redding, California

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Well maintained areas. Lots of bunches to rest. Lots of different flowers and plants to admired. read more

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The gardens and year round access to it is appreciated by many locals and visitors. Hopefully since the Light show is over and the golf cart activity and service workers calms down they can clean all the benches in memory of past donors so people can sit on them with out soiling their clothes. The bench's are so well built and strategically laid out thru the gardens for visitor enjoyment but they are caked with dust from all the service workers blazing down the center road. Maybe some one could detour all service workers in the dust mobiles to go around the north side of the park where no one goes to get to their task in the park and go as fast as they want, chat as long as they want and kick up tons of dust. Can't be that tough. Just last week 2 workers were in 2 carts and blocked the road while they chatted, couldn't get thru, rude. Don't get me wrong, we so appreciate you allowing us locals to enter park more as you put up and take down your lights.. And yes I am a member read more

We did the online reservation and easily got a spot for 9 AM. I was glad we came early, both for parking and also for safety. No fault of the park, people are really haphazard about their mask wearing. All the staff we saw were masked, although the gift shop lady needed to pull her mask over her nose. We did the museum part first because it is inside, so we were able to see it before lots of people arrived. They had a kids camp going and they all were masked appropriately. They need to fill the hand sanitizers around the exhibits. The docents were very pleasant. We really enjoyed the lorikeets, bring dollar bills so you can pay for the nectar. It's a lovely facility, informative and fun, with a great playground, walking paths and activities. Butterfly garden is closed until Mid June. read more

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Visited during SIP the gift shop was open we were lu my enough to enjoy a nice pineapple and strawberry smoothie while we walked around turtle bay it was 102 degrees outside so we didn't stay long but we did see so many different trails we walked along some dirt a bit just to get out and enjoy nature The trails would Be great on a day that was not so hot we saw a few lizards and spiders along our hike it was snot crowded which was nice so you didn't have to worry about keeping your distance I would stop by again to enjoy more of their trails and check out the museum read more

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I've been trying to find positive things to come from the pandemic. One of the positive things I've found is places are less crowded. On our drive up to Eugene, OR we stopped to explore Turtle Bay Exploration Park. I had previously purchased tickets and we walked right in on a Friday afternoon with out any issues getting in. Masks, of course, were required to be inside. I didn't bring kids with me. It was just myself and my boyfriend. We had such a great time. We walked around with such child like wonder. Its a small little museum. I loved the Native Californian Exhibits. It was so interesting. The other exhibit is the walk through California Nature. While the animals were stuffed and sad you get the idea of what its like in California. Outside the grounds are beautiful. We strolled slowly over little bridges and water ways. They have an area that is dedicated to the mining that happened on that very site in the past. Some old mining equipment is still there. The buildings were great to walk around and take photos with. They have animal exhibits with living animals. Which, of course were my favorite. I adored the raven. I really wanted him to come home with me. Also, if you have never seen a Golden Eagle in person you need to come here. You have never seen anything so magnificent. The red tailed hawk was fun to watch. The best one yet was the Kookaburra. To hear a Kookaburra in real life is crazy. We loved seeing it make its signature call. It really did bring us joy to hear. It was a very fun experience. I would really like to come back with the kids this time to enjoy through their eyes. read more

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Animal neglect, over priced and rude employees! Do not support this business until they make changes. The facility has tons of property yet the animal enclosures are tiny, with nothing for the animals to do and no companionship. All the animals look very depressed and many were pacing their cages. It was heartbreaking!!! I'm not sure where the name Turtle Bay comes from but don't expect to see many turtles. Inside of venue is tiny. Dogs and cats was the "special" exhibit during our visited. Go support your local pet shelter and visit the animals. The exhibit was boring and the few interactive activities where broken. To top it off a large majority of interaction with employees was negative. These people need to get out and learn some customer service skills. They speak to the guests as if they are idiots and in a demeaning manner. I realize there is not much to do in Redding but don't waste your time here or support their animal neglect. Take a walk across the bridge, hit some golf balls in the water or find something else to do. The only positive about this place is their playground for the kids. If you have little ones it's actually pretty cool! This place has potential to be great but Turtle Bay needs to make some SERIOUS changes and upgrades. read more

This place was great to stop. The Sheraton hotel and Mosaic Restaurant is next door. Lots of things to do here. Museum, playground, animal show, butterfly pavilion, and parrots. Bring some cash to get nectars for the butterflies and parrots. Will worth to spend a few hours here. If you have a family of 5 or more, definitely get the annual pass. It more than pays for itself on the first visit. With a promo code when you sign up via E-mail, it comes out to $81! You also get 10% off the hotel and restaurant. read more

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5 stars for the exhibit itself but the staff at the front is very rude. You'll have lots of fun here a lot to learn and see my family of 4 had a great time seeing all the different sections we spent hours here after a looooong day of hiking read more

Had an amazing time at the museum! Thank you Sharon for educating us and giving us the opportunity to see Whisper the Raccoon in training. Her and her team were all soo kind and knowledgeable, you can tell that their care and love for these rescued animals are above and beyond. read more

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Saturday, 3/20/2021 - Checked out "Turtle Bay Exploration Museum". Our 1st time there. Upon arrival: Pros: 1) plenty of parking. They have a couple of lots to park in. No fee for parking. 2) they had a few rooms to see different things in the building. Such as a little fish area so little ones can see the fishes swimming. It's a large tank, a tipi (if that isn't what it is or called correctly, my apologies), 3 tables with crafts for kids to enjoy, an oak tree in the middle of the room where to is fake boy the roots are real, King Tuts room, etc. King Tuts room, the stuff were all replica items except for 3 beautiful jewelries. No photo or videos in this room. But the replica items were all beautiful. 3) then there's a little park outside that gotta go the Mosiac Cafe and play ground area. Kids love it! There's a play ground for bigger kids and a little one for smaller kids. 4) there was a bird section where you can go in and the birds may land on you. It's a dollar if you want to feed the birds. 5) there was an old dead train there. Pretty cool. 6) there was a small section all the way in the back towards the animal recovery center, some animals in cages bring card for. The kids had a great time. 7) my little one found a beautiful butterfly laying on the ground still alive but tired. My little one was so gentle with it. 8) there was a Mills something roo. Where kids can see reptiles and play puppet show. 9) as of March 2022, pricing is $18 for adults and $14 for kids. 10) the staffs were so nice and informative. Cons: 1) the cafe/gift shop. The shop was pretty pricey. One stuff animal was $18, a grilled p/j sandwich was $10, a lollipop with a little stuffie holding it was like $8, etc. But... you're on vacation. So... you get things to makes the kids happy. Conclusion: We liked this place. Great for the kids. Kids loved it. That's all that matters. We didn't make it to the botanical garden on this visit. I recommend this place if you haven't been here yet. read more

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My husband and I visited the park for the first time on May 29th. We really enjoyed the park. We started at the museum and the hit the gift shop. Both the employees working that morning were very friendly and helpful. The bathrooms were very clean. We then crossed over the Sundial Bridge to explore the rest of the park. We visited the animals living outside and we really liked their location in the trees and shade and their enclosures/habitats looked very well attended to. We next visited the Butterfly Garden and really enjoyed that. The highlight of our visit was definitely the Parrot Playhouse where we were so warmly greeted by Ashley. Ashley was so awesome - so friendly and very knowledgeable. I purchased a nectar cup (way worth the $2) and immediately 3 parrots came and landed on my arm! Pluto, the hierarchical male, enjoyed the whole cup! I was a little dismayed that he wouldn't share, but Ashley explained everything. Even after all the nectar was gone, Pluto stayed on my arm and kept making all these wonderful noises. My husband got it all on video too. So BIG KUDOS to Ashley for enriching our experience. This is a great place for kids and adults too! Highly recommend! read more

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What a great place to take a walk and take in the beautiful sights of the Sacramento River. We have ridden our bikes along the river trail and it's a nice trail to ride, people are friendly, highly recommended read more

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I finally got the chance to go here yesterday for the first time, luckily had the day off work. There's some positives but not too many sadly. The drive from the East Bay was not too bad. Yes it is far, but it goes by fast enough. The animals were really neat, as well as the sundial bridge. Other than that, i definitely would not be going back here for a while. Due to the distance and the wide amount of children's museums in the SF Bay Area, Turtle Bay just does not stand out enough, to make a return visit read more

I'm giving a 1 star because of the new roped off benches during the animal show. They do not allow for families with more than 2 children to sit together. We all sat together and were at least 40 feet from the next set of people and they wouldn't let us sit in the ropes off bench. It's clear that social distancing is not the objective but rather non sense rules. The guy who made us move was nice but nonetheless we are split up between 2.5 benches now. Please consider actually having a social distancing rule that allows for families to sit together. Thank you. read more

Turtle Bay Exploration Park - Museums Near Me - Redding, California

While checking out the Sundial walk bridge, I soon discovered that there is a lot more here than meets the eye! The beauty of the Sacramento River is of course one of the main attractions, but as you reach the other side of the bridge, nature is all around to greet us! If you turn left from the bridge you will encounter the Turtle Bay Exploration Park. There are many nature trails throughout the park as you discover the preserve and botanical gardens featuring the native plants, flowers and grasses of the area. I found the varieties of plant life very fascinating and pleasing to the eye. At the same time, the occasional bird, butterfly, dragonfly and honeybee hover around as they continue their daily chores. All the while, the Sundial can be spotted from above during your explorations. Also located within the park is a museum, aquarium, works of art from local artists and gift shop. There is plenty to see and do for both young and old! I didn't have time to see it all, but hope to return and make a full day of it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUypnUvSN0U read more

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Not what I expect to see, it's a small place , over advertised as gigantic fun Probably good for toddlers and kids below 5 years old read more

Great experience with the kiddos. We cannot believe we didn't know about this hidden gem. There's something for all ages. Our favorite part of the museum was feeding the birds and looking at the animals. We will definitely be back read more

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Terrific place to visit while in Redding. We came to see the Sundial Bridge. While we were here, we strolled along the trails. There is a Museum, but it was already closed by the time we arrived. There is also a store, an arboretum, botanical gardens, forestry and wildlife center. Lots for a family to do and explore. Worth a visit if you are spending time in the Redding area. read more

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