San Diego family guide

Things to Do in Ramona with Kids

Ramona is a backcountry ranching town in the hills an hour inland — oak-dotted grasslands, horse property, small wineries and a working rodeo tradition. It's the closest thing San Diego County has to genuine open country, which makes it good for families who want hiking, animals and space rather than attractions.

Curated by Simir Shah

Reviewed & updated June 2026 · we check listings regularly, but hours and prices change — confirm before you go.

📍 Where Ramona is

Ramona sits in San Diego, Southern California. Nearest major airport: San Diego Intl (~28 mi / 45 km). It's roughly 106 mi (170 km) from Downtown LA and 28 mi (45 km) from San Diego — SoCal traffic can make a drive take far longer than the distance suggests, so plan around it.

Visiting? See SoCal at a glance, getting around and which airport.

💡 Local tip: Summers are seriously hot inland, so nearly everything good here is a morning activity from October through May. Dos Picos is the exception — the coast live oaks give real shade, which makes it usable on warm days when the grassland preserves aren't.

Things to do in Ramona

Parks & Hiking

Dos Picos County Park

A shaded 78-acre park under enormous coast live oaks, with a fishing pond, playground, soccer field, picnic pavilion and campground. It's the most kid-proof outdoor option in Ramona — flat, shaded, with restrooms — and the oak shade makes it usable even on warm days.

$5 day-use parking

Parks & Hiking

Ramona Grasslands County Preserve

Nearly 4,000 acres of rolling grassland and valley oaks, with an easy, mostly flat four-mile loop from the Highland Valley Road staging area. There's no shade and no water out there: go early, and skip it entirely on hot days.

Free

Day Trips

Collier County Park (Ramona)

An eight-acre in-town park with three playgrounds, a lighted enclosed soccer field, courts, restrooms and a community garden. It's a block off Main Street, so it's the natural place to burn energy before or after anything else in town.

Free

Museums & Learning

Guy B. Woodward Museum

An outdoor complex of historic Ramona buildings — ranch house, blacksmith shop, jail, print shop — that kids can actually walk through rather than read about. Saturdays only, and closed the whole of August.

$5 per person, $20 per family

Animals & Nature

Oasis Camel Dairy

A working camel dairy east of town where the open-farm day includes meeting the camels plus a bird show and other animals. Tickets are date-specific and sell out, so buy ahead — and the entrance is off Highway 78 even though the mailing address reads Old Julian Highway.

~$15 open farm tour

Parks & Hiking

Barnett Ranch Preserve

A 728-acre preserve with an easy four-mile trail system through grassland and oak, plus picnic tables under the trees at the overlook — one of the better first 'real hikes' for a family. Parking is an unpaved turnout on Deviney Lane with no restrooms, water or shade on the trail.

Free

Day Trips

Ramona Rodeo

A professionally sanctioned rodeo at the Fred Grand Arena and the town's biggest annual event. Evening performances are cooler and better for kids than the daytime heat, and the good seats go on sale in May.

Ticketed — see official site