A LOT OF WALKING!!! If your kids cry, whine, scream carry me, yell I'm tired, I'm bored easily as normal kids do then don't go or go for a couple of hours. There's a lot to do and see but walking, hiking, jogging, biking and people watching is most of it. Sometimes you will see the turtles but the view is not like a foot away its mostly further so your kids might say I can't see! Take them binoculars to save the headache. Not much seating, water fountains or compfy break stops on trails or bathrooms so again think kids!! Hahaha... Its a nice place but take a map, plan accordingly, take a stroller, sweaters and water just incase weather changes quickly, there's steep edges so watch your child. The area near pool seems to be reserved, bathrooms are clean, pool is open to public at random times and there's a fee, haven't used so I'm sure about cleanliness of pool/area. Playground is gated, not much shade, near clean bathrooms, picnic tables but might be reserved. Soccer fields, basketball, there's a lot to do and see....again some areas are reserved with no signs so check before starting a game of b.ball, family party, etc. There's a big cost just to go inside bldg. Which isn't worth it, enjoy the free things the park has to offer. There's kayaking, fishing,etc. Too. I did see clothes, shoes, condoms, underware, poop (dog and human) along the trails,lol so be advised. read more

Love that there are so many different paths to take to walk. Park was clean and safe. Very crowded every time that I have gone.

Way too expensive $14/per person. Not really worth it. The parrot playhouse was fun tough.It is not included in the admission, you goto pay an additional $1 per person if you want to enter the playhouse.Not many animal exhibits and a lot of walking for kids as well as for adults i would say. read more

Really? People like this place? I was expecting something great based on the reviews, but this place was not that great. I think it is pretty dumb that once you pay for general admission there are more things inside that you have to pay for like to feed the birds. I also thought it was lame that the big flower garden place was an additional entrance fee. And since this place is called "Turtle Bay" I think there should have been more turtles! Save your money! read more

I'm so proud that Redding has such a great museum that the whole family can enjoy. The exhibitions change all the time, keeping it interesting for regular visitors. Turtle Bay is also located right next to the Sundial Bridge, which is FREE and very beautiful. You cannot visit Redding without seeing. read more

Enjoyed the visit. Nice facility! Did not expect it to be as nice as it is and ended up spending a good part of the day looking at the exhibits and walking the grounds. Pleasantly surprised by the aquarium; you can see the fish very well. read more

We've been here a few times now and love it! It is a peaceful place with lots of parking and friendly staff. It is a small museum, small aquarium, small playground, and small zoo all in one. I have never seen the place be busy and I would never have known it existed if it had not been on the reciprocity list for our local zoo. Because of our zoo membership, we get to go to Turtle Bay for free, but I'd be inclined to stop there even if I had to pay, because it is a fun detour when on long trips down I-5 with the kids. My kids are 4 and 1 and a half right now and had a blast there yesterday. 2 hours there was not enough and we wished we could have stayed longer. read more

If you have small kids I could see where you might want to go. The part where you can feed the birds nectar for $1 is super fun for them. For like $15.00 per person I felt this place was a total rip off. No animal shows. No cool exhibits. My boys and I went here like five years ago and I swear it all was the same stuff. They are currently doing construction and this is really a great place to be right now if you enjoy the sound of jackhammers etc. All that said my reason for NEVER returning is the animals. It is one thing when an animal cannot live in the wild because of injury etc. It's entirely something else to keep prisoners. You can feel the sadness and it's just heartbreaking. An eagle that is so beautiful and it just listens and looks and the sky. The bird wants to be free people. Although the cages are well kept they are too damn small. There is a sign in front of the crow saying if it looks hurt ( an actual pic of how it pretends to be hurt) just know he's fine he's trying get out. If an animal is this intelligent it should be released. I felt sick watching it because it obviously is stressed and desperate to be free, it just bounces around from branch to branch ( no space to actually fly) . Pretty sure all of these would rather have one day of freedom than a life of being a prisoner. So I have to wonder as I watch them... what would it be like for perfectly healthy humans to be put in there? Any volunteers? I think not. My advice is go check out the sundial bridge. It's free and so are the birds. read more

Great museum for Redding, wish this place would of existed when I was a child. Son loved the fish exhibit, got to see staff feed the fish which was cool. Beautiful location and with nearby Sundial bridge, a great day outing with the family. Bring a picnic lunch rather than go to the cafe! read more

This place was amazing! Plus the little store next to it serves yummy pre-made up sandwiches. The area is very busy but fun to explore. Great biking area too! read more

I can't believe Redding has something this awesome. My family has a membership, and we love going to see the new exhibits. We go, at least, once a month. Everytime our extended family comes to visit, we show this place off to them. We love the bridge, gardens and the trails, too. read more

We just moved to Redding from the coast and my kids (ages 8 and 5) love Turtle Bay. We bought a family membership for $80, which includes two named adults and any four kids. We go there often and my kids still really enjoy it. I think if you bring other people not named on your membership, they get in for half off. My kids really enjoy the wooden building blocks and the brain teaser puzzles inside and they love the water area and the playground outside. We all enjoyed the butterfly exhibit and the birds you can feed. Overall I think it's a wonderful place and I'm really glad I got the membership so I can take my kids there often. read more

Before you pay for your ticket ask the desk if any animals or exhibits in the outside are open. Paid full admission only to find most of the park was under construction or animals not to be seen. Was very disappointing. read more

Nice pit stop in Redding to occupy the kids and get the road wiggles out. Great location next to the Sundial Bridge (neat bridge). Highlight was the Lorakeets. You go in and they give you nectar cups and the lorakeets land on you. They are loud, colorful and playful. It was a fun side trip. read more

did not go inside museums- suspected nothing new to see. Nice bridge - was windy and it was shaking! nice feelings! we had our launch on picnic table by the river - nice view! some kind of festival was held at parking lot - lots of food and entertainment! read more

I enjoyed my visit to Turtle Bay Exploration Park. I found everything about the facility to be impressive from the museum to the convenient parking area. The layout of the park is also very practical. The whole place was well maintained and the employees were nice. I saw the Lego exhibit when I was there and thought that it was fantastic! I'm also a big fan of botanical gardens, so I had a good time looking at all of the different display gardens. Sundial Bridge was beautiful and more modern looking than I had expected. I think that this place is enjoyable for visitors of all ages. read more

What attracted me here was the sun dial bridge, by Calatrava. Since this place is kind of new, there were too many exhibits. I did like what was there. My family and I enjoyed the fish feeding, the GPS exhibit and our favorites was when my daughter got to release a monarch butterfly. Seeing the joy on her face was priceless. read more

This place is great for little kids. They have a wonderful parrot party that my kids loved. The sun bridge is really fun too. There isn't a lot of animals to see but it's definitely worth a half a day visit. read more

I am impressed that Turtle Bay exists in Redding! There is nothing to not like about Turtle Bay. The gardens and the trails are so wonderful to walk on! It's a great place to take family and friends when they come to visit! read more

Great place! Our kids loved the animal show and all the little fish tanks! There is a fun playground in the park as well as a water play area. The identity exhibit was really cool. Pack a lunch and leave it in a cooler in the car, the little cafe only has premade roast beef or turkey sandwiches, they have onions, tomatoes, pepperchinnis, and lettuce, so not super little kid friendly! And it's pricey! So definitely bring a lunch! read more

Beautiful place to learn about the area and the local wildlife. The museum is not big, but holds many things to see and do, especially for youngsters. The garden is beautiful and has great art pieces and mosaics throughout. The sundial bridge is a work of art and a great place to get a view of the Sacramento River. read more

Beautiful place!!! All my kids loved it, ages 1-14! Garden was beautiful, river, and bridge were awesome! Forgot our waters but they have a snack place with ice cream, souvenirs, and drinks. read more

We come to town a couple times a year and always come here. Affordable, educational, and super fun for the family. Great indoors and outdoors and always take a trip across the bridge and on trail nearby after. Great time always. read more

the animals are kept in awful conditions..this place is like a prison. the raven (who's plaque notes that it is considered the most intelligent bird species) has no room to fly and a filthy bowl of water in 100 degree heat. the poor bird was panting like a dog because of the heat. it was a very sad experience to witness these poor animals being exploited at this place and i would not recommend it to anyone read more

My family and I just got back from visiting Turtle Bay Exploration Park and we were very impressed! From reading other reviews, I must agree that the admission prices were a little steep for the over all experience, but it's for a good cause.. preservation and education for nature so I'm cool with that. Luckily, we packed our lunches, lots of water & sunblock. We'd love to visit again next year and perhaps take our bikes as we saw many other people riding bikes in and out of the park. I would also like to look into what their dog policies are since we saw many dogs there with their owners. If you happen to be in the Redding/Shasta area, I would recomend this place for nature lovers and families. read more

Great place to spend a couple of hours. A little pricey for some if you have a large family but a nice experience.

This place has a special place in my heart. It's been a highlight of my time here in Redding and my parents are members. We love to feed the parrots and watch the animals, especially the Beaver. I have seen the animal show once and it was a really fun first date with my now fiancé. The only thing I haven't been totally stoked about is the exhibits... I've liked many of them but some I haven't had the desire to see and they stay too long without changing to new topics. read more

Fantastic museum to learn about the Sacramento River Valley, its ecosystems, and habitats. So close to the Sundial Bridge, which is a must-see. Such a wonderful collection of exhibits and activities (my kids are 5 and 8). We enjoyed all of the indoor exhibits, including an area challenging kids (and adults!) to all sorts of brain teasers and puzzles. Kept the kids busy for a couple hours while the missus ran a couple of errands. It was really hot outside, so we didn't visit Paul Bunyan's Forest Camp. Kids brought scooters, which were really helpful as we wandered along the river, but ultimately we sought refuge in the air conditioned museum. If I lived in the area, I would absolutely be a member. read more

Super hot area. Not many places to hid from the heat. The Museum and the Sundial bridge are the main attractions. Kinda pricey for a museum but prob because it's in no mans land. read more

easy parking, great, well maintained and wonderful park. sundial bridge, cafe, and gardens were as good as in large cities. incredible setting. easy access of highway. lots of local businesses nearby to enjoy as well. read more

This place is awesome. My kids love to play in their playground and watch the animal show. We can spent the entire day there visiting the garden, walk the Sundial Bridge, check out the museum, watch the bird show and play in their playground. So many things to do in one place. Pretty much the only fun place for kids in Redding. read more

This place is great for kids or parents with kids. They have a lot of interactive learning displays. Being that my fiance and I don't have kids, we found that it was a bit childish for us. read more

Great place to take children of all ages. All kinds of nature to enjoy. It was fun and educational. Place is pretty and has a lot of parking. But there was quite a bit of homeless men hanging around that made me, a woman alone with 3 kids a little nervous. But turned out to be not a problem. read more

We used our science pass here that let us in for free. Great things were the water mill that the kids could splash around and play with. We also enjoyed the playground even thought it was H-O-T! Our favorite part and the thing I would tell any future visitor to do was the parrot playhouse area. It was an extra charge I think maybe $2-3 a person but you are given a small cup of nectar and the birds fly up and land on your arms and hands and eat. It was super cool! I would stop here again just for that experience. read more

We went there this past weekend for free day and it was great! My son had a blast checking out everything. There are plenty of activities to keep you coming back because there just isn't enough time to do it all in one day. We might have to look into a family pass to justify the cost because otherwise it's too expensive for a family to visit. Overall I look forward to going back. They should do something like they do down in San Diego at the Balboa Park museums and have one day a month where it is free for residents. read more

Great place to stop and struck your legs on a long road trip. I'm kind of bummed this park isn't closer to home, we'd love to hang here all the time. read more

A gem in Redding: gorgeous bridge, well kept grounds, and a sweet little museum store. We did not go into the museum itself, but only stopped for coffee and to stretch our legs after a long drive. This place is more than a stopover - it's a destination! I am looking forward to returning for a real visit next time. read more

I love turtle bay! I think it-- is a wonderful attraction! Along with the sundial bridge! They have so much to offer there! Next time your in town make sure you make a stop to Turtle Bay and The Sundial Bridge! Where memories are made : ) read more

This place is cool and all. So you see birds and butterflies and fish and the walking trails. Hohhot can't forget the learning things for the kids to do. That's all fine and dandy but after awhile it gets boring. My idea would be build a zoo on the land that borders market street and land in the middle of the walking trail. Build man build read more

The beautiful weather had us wanting the afternoon out and about. We had not yet explored Turtle Bay, as I thought it was most likely more of a family activity.... Turns out it's quite fun for the kidless as well. Plenty to look at, and the river is absolutely gorgeous right now. Only $16/adult, so it's quite affordable to boot. Highly reccomend! read more