Destination Ardenwood Farm, Fremont
Explore Ardenwood Farm, Hike Coyote Hills, And Visit The Children's Natural History Museum
This is part of a series of family-oriented day trip outings around the San Francisco Bay Area I look forward to enjoying with my kids once social distancing and shelter in place isn’t the norm any longer.
By User: (WT-shared) Mistoffeles at wts wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22790376
Social Isolation — Day 29
I took a ride today around Redwood Shores and saw a surprising amount of people out. About half the people were wearing masks, which is a good sign in our current status, but I wish it were more. People were giving ample room passing each other on the trail though, and it was nice to see people out. Having less crowds is nice, but I do miss seeing people around.
Destination: Ardenwood Farm, Fremont
Explore Ardenwood Farm
Hike the Coyote Hills
Visit The Children’s Natural History Museum
Explore Ardenwood Farm
By Osalpekar — Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21575493
A visit to Ardenwood Farm is a delightful step back in time. My two favorite times of year to visit are the Harvest Festival in October and when the monarch butterflies migrate through the area in January. Fun can be found all year long though.
The Harvest Festival can get busy, so get there early. From train rides to singalongs and ice cream churning, harvest some corn, and take a tour of the Patterson house dating back to 1850. The monarch migration is really cool to see too, butterflies flock here on their migration back to the Sierra’s to eat the eucalyptus and enjoy the sunshine.
Meet the January butterflies at Ardenwood Farm by Cody Tolmasoff
Hike the Coyote Hills
If you’ve driven over the Dumbarton Bridge to the east bay and seen some low hills to your left, this is Coyote Hills Park. I’ve had this on my to-visit list for some time, the low hill so close to the bay seems like a really good hike. I would imagine you can get a really interesting view of the bay from here also.
Visit the Children's Natural History Museum
Most time’s that we have gone to visit Ardenwood Farm, we’ve just done the farm and gone home. I’ve been curious to visit this little museum. They seem to have a variety of hands-on exhibits. The museum isn’t huge, but they seem to have a passion for what they do. I look forward to visiting soon.
Cody Tolmasoff is an author and publisher for Adventuring.in. He is a recovering programmer and a San Francisco native, raising two daughters, and regularly finding new adventures around the SF Bay Area. This article is an excerpt from an upcoming book, 52 San Francisco Bay Area Weekend Adventures, Day Trips With Your Kids!
Find him on Twitter @codyo, and read his most recent title Adventures in Getting Out on Amazon, filled with advice on successfully getting your family out for day trip adventures.
Originally published on Medium on 11 April 2020