Turtle Bay Exploration Park & McConnell Arboretum
Turtle Bay Exploration Park
A natural history museum, animal area and botanical garden on either side of the Sundial Bridge, suitable for a half-day family outing.
Turtle Bay Exploration Park sits on the Sacramento River. It includes a museum on the watersheds of Northern California and Native American cultures, small animal exhibits featuring otters and birds of prey, and the roughly 20-hectare McConnell Arboretum across the river, which can be reached on foot by the Sundial Bridge in either direction. The butterfly house and parrot feeding area open in summer. Admission to the museum and animal area costs about $20 for adults, while parts of the arboretum are free. Visit together with the Sundial Bridge and allow 2–3 hours.
Opening hours
About 09:00–17:00 (varies by season)
Nearby sights
- Sundial Bridge
- Cascade Theatre
- Sacramento River Trail
- Shasta State Historic Park
- Shasta Dam
- Shasta Lake
- Whiskeytown Lake (Whiskeytown NRA)
- Lake Shasta Caverns