Day Tripping – California Citrus State Historic Park
Woman in the Middle | January 7, 2013A few weeks ago we invited some friends to go with us to the California Citrus State Historic Park. The park is located in the Arlington Heights area of Riverside, California, which was home, historically, to large groves of citrus, primarily the Washington Navel orange.
The park includes a museum that traces the history of citrus growing from ancient times to the present. It is a great place to take out-of-town guests who may not know about the citrus history of inland Southern California. The museum gift shop is chock full of anything you could possibly want with a lemon or an orange on it! But the best item in the shop was the different types of marmalade, all made from fruit grown right there in the park.
The park also has walking trails which we had a very enjoyable time strolling along. There are a couple of small hills and one set of steps, but both are avoidable if hills and steps are not your thing. However, if you don’t mind a little climb, walking to the top of the knoll right next to the museum/visitor’s center will give you the chance to see the view of palm tress and citrus groves as well as the distant mountains – it was just beautiful!
The park is home to a variety of different citrus trees, including the facinating looking Budda’s Hand, which produces a fruit that looks like it has fingers!
You can park near the entrance on Dufferin Street and stroll from there for about 3/4 of a mile to the visitor’s center and museum. There they have drinking fountains and restrooms as well. You can also follow the signs and park right by the museum. The walking trails are accessible from either spot.
The park has a series of concerts in the summer time, featuring a different type of music each week.
Like all state parks, The Citrus State Historic Park is suffering from a lack of state money, forcing the staff to do as much as possible with volunteers. This lack of funding does show in places. However, in spite of that issue, the park is very enjoyable and different, since it is the only state park focusing on the rich citrus history of Southern California.
The only cost to get into the park is a small fee for parking. The Visitor’s Center and museum is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 10-4. The park is open Friday through Monday and closed Tuesday through Thursday. Please check the park websites for hours as they change depending on the time of year.
Further information can be found at the following web sites:
The SITS Girls
I have never heard of Budda’s Hand, what does the fruit taste like they look kind of like bananas…………but bananas are not Citrus fruits so I would love to know what they taste like……
I think I’ve been to this park several years ago. I don’t remember seeing the Budda’s Hand fruit, though.