california citrus state historic park

Very nice tour about 45 minutes, knowledgeable tour guide, sampled juicy fruit off the trees & learned a lot. Wear a hat, sunscreen, no heels!

Everyone I've taken to the Citrus Park loves it. The tour of the orange groves is so awesome... It's free and you get free citrus of multiple varietals. The docents are all volunteers; they're quite knowledgeable of both local history and citrus in general. They do a remarkable job. I highly recommend the Citrus Park.

Took a guided tour and learned tons of facts on the cultivation of oranges - samples were a PLUS as well - who would have known there were so many different varieties! Found out where the name "grapefruit" was derived from..... A very well deserved parking fee is the only admission and more than reasonable! We enjoyed both the tour given by "Bob" (a long time employee and now volunteer) and a great chat and more samples with "Gunther"! A very peaceful and tranquil spot to be in, full of beautiful aromas, colors and fruit. The only downfall I can think of is the horrid waste of what would appear to be "perfectly good" fruit that is wasted laying on the ground to rot.....

Every now and again, you come across that special place where all the dots connect. Citrus, something so familiar, something you expect you know a lot about, especially if you are from California. A state run citrus park, how intereting could that be?A $5 parking fee, no admission fee, docent lead tours that start informally when enough people are there (and if the weather is too hot or too cold or too rainy, a very small group will do) but please check in advance to make sure you arrive on a tour day.And suddenly the entire history of where citrus first came to flourish and how it spread through the world, arrived at each continent, changed, grew, commercialized, changed again. Simple easily laid out, and all the dots of history we barely learned as school children start to connect.Then come outside please and let's look at each tree, understand a bit more about each type of citrus fruit, how to use it, how it grows, would you like to taste this fruit?Now all those odd shaped fruits at the farmers' markets (Buddha's hand, the variagated Eureka with pink flesh and sharp flavor, the Cara Cara - a pink flesh variant from Venezuela found in 1976, the 3 variants of blood oranges) begin to make sense, have a context, a history.It's really what learning history is, isn't it? Learning how to connect all the dots, from the ancient Silk Route to 2 seedless orange trees arriving in California, to casually peeling a loose skinned tangerine while you absent mindedly search for a cool attraction in Riverside.By the way, and this is just an added thing, the gift shop happens to be especially well stocked. Which brings us to the last delight, the bag of fresh citrus the docents will provide you as you complete the tour. Remarkable place. You will leave the wiser and the happier. If history were always this much fun and this tasty, we'd all of us be historians.

Paid a family visit to this park over the holidays. We spent about half an hour going through the museum depicting citrus history, then took a guided tour of the orchards. The docent gave a colorful tour, telling colorful stories about the history of different fruit species as well as that of the citrus industry in this part of the country. In between stories we were trying samples of many different types of oranges, lemons, etc., and we were given additional samples to take home as well. After the tour we spent time talking to other docents who had yet other samples and stories for us. All together, we spent about three hours there; a nice half-day activity. I would recommend going during the fall and winter months (to maximize the harvest that you can sample), as well as going during the days that docent-led tours are available (you cannot pick the fruit yourself).

This is a very nice little place to visit in Riverside. It has a little museum and a really nice place to have a picnic.

I wasn't expecting much from this park but we signed up for the tour and had a great time. The tour guide took us on a guided tour of the orchards and introduced us to scores of varieties of citrus, letting us sample any we wanted. It was lemon and grapefruit season at the time. Can't wait to go back during orange season!

Very interesting place. Just moved out here to riverside and was just checking out the area. This is def a great place to go if you are in the area but I would not plan my day around it. They say the best time to come here is feb and march when all the fruit is ripe. They have a lot of diversity which is great. Check it out...you only pay for parking $5. There is also a picnic area but I would give yourself an hour to walk around.

we drove by, didn't know that it was a park until we got on the internet. Good thing we didn't pick any oranges, it is against the law. No fences around the park

This is a great way to explore one of few remaining citrus groves in the area. There are tours available that educate on the history of citrus agriculture as well as the different citrus varieties grown here. Each plant has a sign indicating what grows there. At only $5, it’s a good bargain. We visited on a hot summer day, so there are few places to find shade. The surrounding fields of palms stretches out a long way providing a great view of the valley. We enjoyed our brief visit to California Citrus Park.

Warm and inviting! The staff here are the best as they take the time to teach and answer questions. Don't miss this gem!

Had a lovely time. Learned that the orange fruit was more like fingers and originated in China. Thankfully we have round balls with wedges inside today. So easy to eat or squeeze. History of early California agriculture and transportation. Teachers this is a great place for the kids. Late March through April is where the trees blossom. My love for oranges goes back to Germany when I had my first orange at the age of 10. So happy to live in a city that has all the history pertaining to citrus.

We were the only ones there for the tour because it was July in Riverside, and the temps were around 100 degrees. Definitely go for the docent tour; if you go on your own all you can do is walk around in the groves, and that by itself, is not very interesting. You cannot pick fruit on your own, only with a docent.Tour times are posted at the visitor center/museum/gift shop. The docent took us out to the groves and showed us the many different kinds of citrus. He cut a piece of fruit off of each tree and had us sample it. Some are very sweet and delicious, like the Valencia oranges, and the juice will be running down your chin; I had never tasted oranges so good! Others are sour, like the "sweet" limes, which aren't sweet at all. As you move through the groves, the docent will let you pick the fruit you like. We left with a whole bag of grapefruit and a whole bag of oranges. The kids really enjoyed this, and we all learned a lot about how they brought water to the area and how they shipped oranges to other parts of the country and who different immigrant groups were who worked in the groves. Simple but great lesson in agriculture and CA history.Wear good closed toe shoes. Some of the trees have large thorns on them. My kids had on flip flops, and I had on Crocs, and a I stepped on a thorn, and it went up through the bottom of my Croc into my foot--ouch!$5 entrance fee per car.

None of our CA relatives had ever even heard of this gem of an attraction that I unearthed. Located near Riverside, the park has hundreds of citrus trees of all varieties, and a free guided tour will allow you to taste many of them straight from the tree. Call ahead to ensure you have the correct tour time -- I believe they were at 10 am last spring. They also send you on your way with a huge bag of free citrus, so don't buy any at the stand on your way in. We tried many types of oranges, lemons, meyer lemons, limes, tangelos, tangerines, citron, and a funky looking thing called Buddha's hand. Fabulous!They have a nice gift shop with a gorgeous collection of antique fruit crate labels in mint condition. Also a very good interpretive center.This would be a great place to picnic. However, they do not sell food.

had a wonderful wedding experience at the park... beautiful grove for the ceremony and the indoor part great with the AC...