Oh my goodness literally one of the most amazing experience gems in Petaluma. If you have a child…read moreand are looking for a wonderful way to spend quality time for a couple to several hours on a Saturday, you simply need to go visit the Petaluma Wildlife Museum. This beautiful space is run by high school students who are in animal husbandry or communications-type classes and each, and almost every one, of them are wonderfully informative, kind, engaging, and helpful. Whoever is training these students is doing an outstanding job! The minute you walk through the door they are there to guide you through this fun Petaluma experience. They have thousands of dollars (likely hundreds of thousands) in quality and unique taxidermy animals that are thoughtfully displayed, and where the children can get up close and personal with creatures from all over the planet. We particularly love the room that focuses on the national parks (as our favorite states are represented)! We have taken our grandson here three times at six months intervals and every time he discovered something new. They have a fabulous dinosaur room as well and the students we've encountered are highly educated and love to share tidbits of information. They also have a charming compact outdoor area where kids love to roam and they also have an arts space where kids can draw and explore. It's $5 per person as of 2026 (and I want to say that our almost 3 year-old grandson was free each time). GO! Check out this phenomenal community asset on any given Saturday and you'll be so glad you did! Five giant stars!

This is such a wonderful place to visit on Saturdays! It's donated by a local business man and the…read morehigh school students volunteer on Saturdays to help visitors understand the wild life displayed in the museum. Every high school student volunteers have extensive knowledge of the wild life. We were amazed by all the stories and information told. They even let us touch some of the animals there. It's not just for kids. Adults will definitely enjoy it too.

The Petaluma Historical Library and Museum is a majestic building on 4th Street built in 1904. It…read moreis one of the few remaining Carnegie libraries in California. We came upon the museum as we were enjoying a stroll in the quaint downtown of Petaluma. The museum is free but accepts donations. The is a tremendous amount of historical artifacts from the city and area. When we visited there was a Black History moth exhibit. There was a corner dedicated to the 1970's movie 'American Graffiti' which was filmed in Petaluma.

I feel lucky to have a local museum in Petaluma that provides tours and preserve the history of the…read moretown. The walking tour is hosted during certainly months probably from May to November. We joined the last walking tour for the year and it was so interesting. The tour guides are volunteers and they are vivid story tellers. I will have to come back again to learn more about the town and visit often!

This is a NICE library. They have free charging stations for your phone, which I benefited from…read morewhen I arrived and noticed my phone was at 1% charge. The library has a special room within the library to research Petaluma history, complete with a few artifacts on display. I recommend this huge library!

Yes, the library has been completely renovated with more computers and workstations. They also have…read moreenclosed privacy glass rooms and private conference rooms. They also have 3D printing machine for students.

My husband and I did the Napa City Ghosts & Legends Walking Tour last night as a Christmas gift,…read moreand I absolutely loved it. The tour guides (aka very accomplished paranormal investigators) were engaging, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about Napa's history and the paranormal. It was the perfect mix of spooky, fun, and fascinating -- we learned so much about downtown Napa along the way. We can't wait to do their Sonoma tour next and to watch the documentaries the tour leads are part of. Highly recommend!

We participated in the Napa Downtown Walk, Ghosts of the Redlight District & Main St. with Devin as…read moreour tour guide. I think he did a pretty good job keeping it casual and interesting. Attendees become paranormal investigators during the tour, given several tools to track paranormal activity (spiritual dowsing rods, and a ghost hunting meter that measures electric signals (as ghosts give off electric signals). We made about 4-5 different stops that are either haunted or have affiliation with death, and Devin helped the group communicate with ghosts during some of the stops, combining storytelling with interesting historical events in Napa. We had a combination of skeptics and believers in our group, including at least one witch. I, of course, came for the entertainment, getting to talk about serial killers, learn a bit about history, and also get in a few laughs as Devin brings the humor as well. I did learn some new things, such as the difference between a ghost and a spirit, possible origins of the terms "lobbying" and "pulling my leg", and that Cole's Chop House (where my bf and I had dinner earlier that day) was formerly a mortuary. We ended at the courthouse, not where we started the tour, with the story of the last public execution in California which took place here in Napa. Overall, we had a fun time, and it's an unconventional way to tour the streets of Napa, and definitely enjoyable if you like ghost stories.

Two of my friends and I experienced the Russian River Railbikes in Cloverdale, Saturday, May 30 and…read morehad a great time. Weather was perfect, we took the 11:00AM ride, the staff/volunteers at the Railbike adventure were wonderful. The 6 mile round trip was great exercise plus gave a nice opportunity to take some fun photos. We all agreed that we recommend this adventure for all ages.

We had a blast on the Russian River Railbikes. This was something that I have been wanting to do…read moreand we were so glad that we went this weekend! The railbikes seat up to 4 people. Russian River Railbikes is part of the Golden Gate Railroad Museum, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to maintain, restore and run historically significant railroad equipment from the San Francisco Bay area. The guides are all volunteers from the Golden Gate Railroad Museum. The guides were friendly, helpful, and informative. You will get somewhat of a workout, although this is not strenuous. This is an activity that you can really do at any age and they are kid friendly. One of the guides stated that they have had someone in a car seat before (they have seat belts on them similar to a car) and a couple in their 80's has gone multiple times and they arrange ahead of time to have two guides on the railbike to help with pedaling. This truly is a great adventure for all ages! It's about 1 1/2 or two hours total and you will pass by a vineyard and farm. You will also go through a tunnel and stop half way where you will get out and stretch your legs. You can relax at a shaded table, dip your toes in the Russian River, or view a collapsed tunnel at this half way point. You will also have the option when you book this to purchase lunch ahead of time that you can enjoy at the half way point if you would like. It's recommended that you wear comfortable clothes, wear sunscreen, and bring any water and snacks with you on the railbike. We each brought a water bottle that came in very handy. You will have plenty of time afterwards to explore Cloverdale. An all around great experience that I highly recommend!

Lots of details about this interesting corner of the Bay Area provided by our guide Dan G. He was a…read morewealth of information, pretty funny and as a local was able to share a lot of perspective on the islands changes. Great day trip and I wish we had more time to poke around.

Wonderful tour led by Jim. History + nature! A great morning spent on the island…read more For people who are looking to visit the Naval Museum on the island, it is no longer open, but this tour is operative and you get to see the naval chapel and walk around the area. I was originally looking for information about the museum and arrived at this page: https://www.mihpf.org/tours. I hope this will help you find their tour options and dates! All digitalized, no fuss. And it turns out I was the only who signed up for today's tour, and they did not cancel on me because of that. I really really appreciated it. One last thing, the money you spend on the tour goes into helping this foundation : ) Yay!

This review is just about the Dia de Los Muertos Festival and Parade on November 1, 2015…read more Petaluma celebrates Dia de los Muertos for the entire month of October with many many events and workshops. This was our first time attending Petaluma's Dia de Los Muertos festivities. We were blown away! A small town feel but a HUGE celebratory mood. Many people painted their faces and wore costumes. The parade through town was fun and festive. Costumed people, a large ofrenda, Large puppets, bands, dancers, drummers and citizens marching! There were many vendors selling home cooked tacos ($2 each) and pupusas ($3) also flautas, drinks ad more. Vendors also sold festival tee-shirts, clothing, crafts and more. There were colorful and enthusiastic dancers and musician including mariachi bands. The closely Petaluma museum had an exhibit featuring large, colorful and heartfelt ofrendas (altars). We usually have gone to the Dia de los Muertos celebration in Fruitvale--but it has grown so huge and it gets so crowded. Petaluma's festivities were smaller but the energy and enjoyment was huge! We will absolutely return to Petaluma's 2016 events! Thanks Petaluma for all your hard work---it was a fantastic event!