What an absolute fun, educational, hands on experience. We were a group of 10 adults and every…read moresingle one of us felt giddy like kids again. The instructors are A+. Great giving directions, checking on you and helping you along the way. Allowing you to be a little creative too. They were so patient with us. We really appreciated the professional training from top US instructors and certified Blacksmiths.

Folsom Pioneer Village is the small outdoor museum right next to Old Folsom near the old…read moreroundhouse. It is a mix of live action and historic buildings and artifacts detailing the history of the area. Hours are limited for the facility, but weekends are generally open with volunteers dressed and acting the part. Parking is generous with the large free garage next door. The facility has a live blacksmith workshop which is a fun option for viewing and purchases. There is also an old caboose which is nice for the kids to climb around in. You can easily walk around the exhibits and see the mining and pioneer artifacts. The volunteers also are there to answer questions and provide additional insight into the exhibits. Several downsides to this place. It is all outdoor so you will be exposed to the elements. The place is rather small and may be a little boring to the kids due to the lack of interactive exhibits. Hours are very limited, but admission is free. Keeping the past alive is a great thing to do, and I am glad there is a small piece of history in the middle of Old Folsom. Make sure to check the hours so you get the best experience and watch the weather. Plus there are tons of other things to do in the area!

Really neat museum run by volunteers who used to be prison guards at the Folsom Prison right next…read moredoor. Park in the same parking lot as the prison visitors, walk towards the gate where the guards are and they will ppint you towards the museum right behind them. As you walk through/towards the gate, you'll see the actual prison straight ahead and the museum is to the right as you walk through. The prison guards have tons of stories from their experience. There's a large display of collect shivs on the wall. Various photos, articles, crafts made by prisoners, and even a secrion dedicated to Johnny Cash. Everything there has quite a story to tell.

Owner messaged this morning Sept 2nd 2023 and said the museum is reopening!…read more So excited to get back up there for the tour!

Next to the Chamber of Commerce…read more http://www.yelp.com/biz/folsom-chamber-of-commerce-and-visitors-center-folsom Bummed it was closed on Friday. Open on the weekends only.

Display of original train history. A Lot of facts and pictures. Worth the visit. It will take you…read moreabout 20-30+ mins

PSA: Tiny Tot Tuesdays, toddlers that are 23 months and younger are free! Woo-hoo!…read more Sacramento Children's Museum found in Rancho, lol - is a fun spot for kiddos. There are different themed rooms that create an environment of imaginary play for kiddos of all ages. You can easily spend an hour+ here expanding the energy of our kiddos. I would highly recommend this spot if you have kiddos!

We were here with 3 adults + 3 kids. It was $10 per person. It adds up a lot even if the adult is…read morenot participating in the kids activities. There's a lot of things for kids to do so my kids had a great time. However, there were a lot of toys and stuff everywhere. I'm not sure how often the staff cleans up. There were some kids that were not supervised at all. I don't know where their parents were but they were making lots of noise and borderline fighting with each other, lol. I'll probably would not take my kids back here.

We visited NORCAL Aquarium & Wildlife (same location, new ownership and name) and had such a great…read moreexperience! It's an awesome spot for kids and all ages, interactive, engaging, and full of unique and exotic animals you don't see everywhere. The exhibits are fun and up close, and the whole place feels welcoming and family-friendly. Such a fun outing, and we'll definitely be back!

The Folsom Aquarium was a fun time. The price wasn't bad and that is good for a large family. The…read morekids like that you could feed the fish in the designated tanks that allow that. It is not a large aquarium, but we went around multiple times and nobody seemed to care we did that. We went during the work week so it wasn't crowded at all. My only complaint is some of the tanks looked dirty.

Did you know you can go look at petroglyphs in Roseville, California? I certainly did not until…read morevisiting the Maidu museum. You cannot get up close and personal with them like you can in Sweden, but we know why this is and why we cannot have nice things. The museum has kindly set up visual maps that help visitors make out the glyphs along the nicely maintained nature trail. If you are visiting in summer please stay hydrated as the trail is only partially shaded. It's about a 1.5 mile loop, but there's a longer bike trail that it is connected to. All is well-marked. $7 admission will get you access to the walking trail (there's probably a way for local cyclists to access the trail without paying but idk man, I'm from out of town.) and the museum, which does have restrooms and a water fountain inside. My friend and I enjoyed the museum and art exhibits indoors, then our nice nature walk outside to view the petroglyphs, mortars, and grinding rocks. We saw raptors, turkeys, lizards, turtles, deer, rabbits, and probably other creatures I am forgetting by now. Definitely stay on the trail as there are these lovely things called ground hornets (stingers up) we were warned about by the friendly staff. The weather was blessedly fair for July (Pocki brought Swedish summer over here and then left with it when she went back home) so we only had to suffer high 80s on the trail. I highly recommend visiting with walking shoes and water bottles. We spent a good two hours here. One could bring a picnic as there are benches outside, but we didn't bring more than a few snacks. Parking is available wherever you can find it along the suburban street. There is not a dedicated lot, but there are a few disabled parking spaces in the front. Hours: Monday: Closed Tuesday - Sunday: 9AM-4PM

We came on a Saturday during Sacramento Free Museum Weekend and we had a great time. The staff…read moregreeted us and gave us a trail map. The museum has artifacts and displays about the Maidu people. Some are interactive with buttons fun for the kids to press. There was even a small gift section with various trinkets and books. We especially loved the trail outside. We were followed the map and walked part of the trial. There were different spots to stop with signs explaining what was there. It was cool learning about how the land, seeing the bedrock mortars, and petroglyphs. It was also very peaceful for being in the middle of Roseville. Although it wasn't very big, we had a fun time and plan to come back!

Beautiful! Lovely little slice of history! Highly suggest the historic downtown area in general,…read moreand then heading toward San Jose and taking a tour of the ever-elusive Sarah Winchester House!

Historic Murer House and Gardens is an Italian cultural museum in Historic Folsom. It is on the…read moreNational Register of Historic Places. Recently, they have begun offering free tours the first Saturday of every month (that's tomorrow!) from 10am to 2pm. Also this Saturday, May 7, from 10-2, Murer House is hosting an Italian cultural event, Italy on Wheels, featuring new and vintage Italian cars. Beer, Italian soda, and slices of pizza will be available for purchase, and admission is free. Murer House is the former residence of Giuseppe Murer, an Italian immigrant and businessman who played a major role in the development of Historic Folsom. He was responsible for the building of several local landmark buildings, including Folsom Hotel. Like Giuseppe's other buildings, Murer House is known for it's Italian architecture, as well as its beautiful outdoor gardens, which include lemon and chestnut trees. Being adjacent to historic gold dredging sites, the gardens also feature a multitude of rocks from the American River. Currently, the gardens are being partially renovated to accommodate bigger and better outdoor events in the future. There is a huge pile of rocks in the yard. Located in the garage of Murer House is a free museum about the life and work of Giuseppe Murer. As the museum explains, he immigrated from Crespano del Grappa, Italy, which is now Folsom's sister city. The museum is open on Saturdays from 10-2. Murer House Foundation offers cooking, bocce ball, and Italian language classes at the house to help raise money for preservation. Details about these classes, as well as the many other upcoming events at Murer House, are available on their website.

We enjoyed visiting this really neat, fun, educational, & free experience in a lovely nature area…read more We found ample parking in the lot on a Sunday morning. Park at the far end from the lot entrance to be situated closer to the Visitor Center. The Visitor Center is small, but clean, organized, & packed with lots of facts & information. Some areas offered hands-on experiences. They also had coloring sheets for kids. Giant fish heads offer a listening experience teaching about the Chinook Salmon & Steelhead Trout. We enjoyed wandering around. Restrooms are available & were maintained. Just watch out for some spiders on the ceiling above. We went out to the hatchery early enough to get to scoop up some free fish food by the gate with available containers. It ran out while we were still there. It was a very cool experience to see the fish go into a feeding frenzy! Do keep the gate closed, which is posted on a sign. Some people weren't being attentive. There are observation points & a lovely trail to walk along the river with some informative signs here & there. It was so pleasant to take in the pretty, peaceful scenery & watch birds. We hope to return to see more action with the salmon & trout from November to February. Do check their website for up-to-date visitor information as they close the facility to the public after Memorial Day until Labor Day & times may be subject to change.

The Nimbus Fish Hatchery is a great family friendly place and it's all free! It's a nice place to…read moreenjoy some nature and fish. There's free fish feeding which is my favorite activity here. The feeding area closes before the visitor center so plan to do that first. Be sure to check their Facebook page for the latest updates on hours and closuresThe visitor center is also worth a stop, with educational displays about fish spawning. There's restrooms available inside as well.

Adj: Impressive, Informational, Innovative, and Incredibly Interesting!…read more Another visit to the RUEC, which is the Roseville Utility Exploration Center. It is located next to Martha Riley Library, one of 3 City of Roseville libraries and the newest one. The RUEC is pretty cool and admission is free. We like to come by every once in awhile because they have changing exhibits, but their permanent displays are informative and interesting too. As an environmentally minded person, I try to conserve, but how do you know what to do and what is worth your effort and what doesn't make much of a difference? The RUEC has quite a few exhibits on how to conserve energy, water, and how to minimize our impact on the planet including garbage disposal (that often end up in landfill more than anywhere else), recycling, being conscientious in our resource usage by setting our thermostats properly, cycling our ACs, replace or clean air filters regularly, install a programmable thermostat, and properly insulating and weatherizing your house down to HVAC ducts! There's even information on where our stormwater and runoffs go (which affect our fish and other wildlife), how much energy different specific kitchen appliances use, not putting grease/oil down the drain, vacuum the coils on our fridge 2x's a year to keep our fridges efficient, thinking about the temp and weather when considering what to cook (don't run your oven on hot days), installing energy efficient fixtures/bulbs, and only doing laundry and dishes with full loads so as to maximize efficient when washers and dishwashers. These are things many people don't know or haven't thought about. Overall, the RUEC does a great job at educating the community and especially kids on environmental and resource conservation and also provides info about how we can practically make a difference just by being more aware of how we use energy and other natural resources.

Located next to the Martha Riley Library, the Roseville Utility Exploration Center is a community…read moreeducation center that's free to visit anytime it's open. I think that's pretty cool. We took our kids here since we like fun educational activities and free is always the right price. We went on a Saturday and it was not too busy. The staff is friendly who greeted us, then we just wandered around a bit. They have interactive utility exhibits about how the City of Roseville provides utility services to their residents. They have their own power plants and substations, etc. to generate their own energy, so their residents pay less than even SMUD customers, I was kind of jealous about that. At least I'm not paying PG&E electricity, but maybe I should've looked into living in Roseville. Anyhow, they also have their own sewage and water facilities of course, and their services are focused on saving water and sustainability and being resource conscious and eco-friendly, which all make sense. My kids enjoyed the interactive activities about using less electricity and water, but what they really liked was the Utility Truck Experience where they got to go on a Recycling truck and pretend play. It was pretty cool. There are also tons of education displays on shopping smart to get things that last and not disposable items that end up in the landfill. In addition to permanent exhibits, they also offer kids educational classes. My kids took a few over the years, one of them was on urban planning and it was quite interesting for them to learn how to design and layout infrastructure for a pretend city that makes sense for where to put the power plant, the landfill, the sewage system, etc. relative to locations of homes, roads, nature places like rivers and lakes, and public places like parks, schools, and fire stations, etc. All in all, RUEC (as they call it) is a really nice little museum that kids and adults alike where we can learn a lot about utilities and resource conservation, it's great that it's open 6 days a week and it's free and everyone's welcome, not just Roseville residents, and they even offer free educational classes (w/advance RSVP) for kids. Worth checking out if you've not been.