Southern California
Things to do with kids in Southern California.
I'm Simir. I moved my family here from Chicago and started keeping a list. It's 4,200+ spots now, sorted by how far they are from your door.
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All seasonal →Prices shown are per person unless the listing says otherwise.
Just for parents
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All guides →351 family spots across Southern California — add your zipto sort by what's closest
Mesa Linda Park
Rancho Santa Margarita · Parks & Hiking
A shady SAMLARC park at 29546 Via Ladera with a covered picnic shelter, playground, half basketball court, volleyball court and tennis courts. The…
Free
RSM Dog Park at Cañada Vista Park
Rancho Santa Margarita · Animals & Nature
The city dog park has separate large- and small-dog areas, agility equipment, shaded seating and water, and it's free and open to the public. There's…
Free
RSM Skate Park at Cañada Vista Park
Rancho Santa Margarita · Parks & Hiking
The city-owned concrete skate park at Cañada Vista Park (24328 Antonio Pkwy), about a mile north of Oso Parkway, is free and open to the public with…
Free
Arroyo Vista Park
Rancho Santa Margarita · Parks & Hiking
This SAMLARC park at 29661 Avenida de las Banderas has athletic fields and courts, a playground, a covered picnic shelter and an easy winding paved…
Free (the adjacent pool is residents-only)
Beebe Park & Mission Viejo Skate Park
Mission Viejo · Parks & Hiking
Beebe Park has playgrounds for ages 2-5 and 5-12, restrooms and a 9,000 sq ft city skatepark with a bowl, vert wall, spine, rails and ramps. Skaters…
Free
Pavion Park
Mission Viejo · Parks & Hiking
Playgrounds for ages 2-5 and 5-12, nine picnic tables and a walking trail, on 5 acres. It is a trailhead for the Oso Creek Trail, so you can pair the…
Free
Cal Elite Kids Open Gym
Rancho Santa Margarita · Indoor Play
A gymnastics and tumbling center at 22982 Avenida Empresa that offers drop-in open gym on top of its classes, and it's open to anyone, not just…
$8 weekend Open Gym; $6 weekday Quick Play
Tijeras Creek Park & Bluff Top Trail
Rancho Santa Margarita · Parks & Hiking
This SAMLARC park at 23082 Avenida Empresa has shaded playground structures, a picnic shelter and views of the foothills. The 0.86-mile dirt Bluff…
Free
Gilleran Park
Mission Viejo · Parks & Hiking
A 15-acre sports park with lighted baseball and soccer fields, batting cages, a playground for ages 5-12, restrooms and two picnic structures.…
Free
Florence Joyner Olympiad Park
Mission Viejo · Parks & Hiking
A 20-acre park with playgrounds for ages 2-5 and 5-12, restrooms, a picnic structure, 25 picnic tables and BBQs. It's the city's trailhead for the…
Free
Vista Verde Park
Rancho Santa Margarita · Parks & Hiking
A SAMLARC park at 22576 Alma Aldea with green lawns, a small playground and fields used by local youth-sports leagues. RSM parks are privately owned…
Free
Marguerite Aquatics Complex (Mission Viejo Nadadores)
Mission Viejo · Museums & Learning
This is the home pool of the Mission Viejo Nadadores, a club founded in 1968, with three pools (50 m, 25 m and a shallow training pool). Families…
Lesson pricing: check site
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From our family to yours
A real family figuring out SoCal — and sharing what we find
We moved here from Chicago with our two girls, and somewhere between the winters we left and the ocean we found, this became home. I can count the weekends we still have all under one roof — so we built this to spend fewer of them deciding what to do, and more of them actually out exploring. Locals or brand-new, it's for you.
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