Nevada City Kid Friendly Activities

Summer vacation is days away and Nevada City offers so many great activities for things to do for kids.  So regardless of what your family likes to do, here’s a list of all sorts of ideas of things to do.  And scroll down to the bottom for our great kid-centric giveaway!

Things to do with Kids:

• Summer Movies at the Del Oro for kids or the family friendly outdoor screening of Movies Under the Pines at Pioneer Park: The Great Outdoors (June 16th), The Karate Kid (July 28th), Best in Show (August 18th) organized by the Nevada City Film Festival
• Take a tour of the mine at Empire Mine State Historic Park
• Go gold panning at the South Yuba State Park at Bridgeport (weekends 12-2).
• Visit the Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum and check out the new Railbus train ride.
• Check out the Points of Historical Interest walking tour map of Nevada City, the tree tour or garden tour
• Grab an ice cream cone at Treats
• Grab a kite from Mountain Pastimes and have a picnic in the park
• Food Love Project U Picks veggies (6/5-10/23 from 4:30-6:30) or Riverhill Farm  U Pick berries
• Go geo-caching
• Visit 49er Fun Park and play mini golf, go karts, batting cages or the arcades.
• Go bowling, try archery, learn to ride a horse, play disc golf at Condon Park.
• Nevada County Libraries have their Summer Learning Kickoff party at Grass Valley library, with a performance by Mad Science Sacramento which will include science experiments using real fire and ice, Saturday, June 9th from 1-4.  Check out the local library reading programs and activities, mark your calendars for next week’s Musical Monday program with InConcert Sierra.

Water Activities:

• Paddle Boarding on Scotts Flat Lake
• A few great South Yuba River swimming holes: Mountain Dog Swimming Hole, Edwards Crossing, Purdons Crossing, Hoyt’s Crossing, Mothers Beach, 49 Crossing.  The most accessible for small children is definitely Bridgeport.  Please note that the South Yuba River is still too high for swimming, so please make sure to check water levels before you take your family to the river.
• Pioneer Park Pool or Memorial Park Pool
• Go for a swim in one of the local lakes
• Take a guided fishing trip with Reel Angler’s Fly Shop
• White Water Rafting with H20 Adventures

Outdoor Adventures: 

Great kid friendly hikes include: Independence Trail, Buttermilk Bend and Deer Creek Tribute Trail.  Or take the kids for a mountain bike ride at Hirschman Pond.  Or maybe you and your family want to try the Bear Yuba Land Trust Junior Conservationists Program.  If you want some rock climbing practice check out the kids session at Gold Crush Climbing Gym on Friday afternoons.

Perhaps you’re looking for a summer camp, there are still lots of great programs happening, click here for a post from earlier this spring on the Summer Camp Fair, still time to check out the Food Love Project day camps, The Center for the Arts camps, Fox Walkers or Kuk Sool Adventure Camp.  Perhaps you want to be creative, try stopping by The Artist Workshop, either for a class or their drop in open session and leave with a new art project.

There are a lot of great kid friendly events during the summer season: Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival (June 14th–17th), California WorldFest: July 12 – 15th, The Children’s Festival (Friday, July 27th), The Sierra Storytelling Festival  (July 20th-22nd), Family Appreciation Day (August 4th) or the Nevada County Fair (August 8-12th). The Miners Picnic at Empire Mine (August 25th), a family picnic, gold mining demonstrations, live music and games.

Otherwise take your kids to one of the many local farmers markets, First Friday Art Walks (July 6th and August 3rd) or Nevada City Summer Nights (July 11th, 18th and 25th).  Perhaps you want to get tickets for the PAG performance of The Jungle Book (July 19th-29th) or the Sierra Stages production of James and the Giant Peach (July 12-August 4)?  Don’t forget the free Nevada County Concert Band concerts at Pioneer Park, it’s a great free family friendly outing (June 24th, July 22nd and August 26th).

And since we’re obviously huge fans of the Inn Town Campground, we think you should come camping, book a staycation, if you join us on a weekend you can join the outdoor movie screening, the outdoor themed kid craft project and jump in the pool!

And if you’ve made it this far, I’ve got tons of giveaways to help get you into the spirit of summer.  Post a comment on your favorite summer activity and throw your name into the hat for $350 worth of local prizes.  Summer Kid Activities Giveaway: a family pass to one of the Movies Under the Pines outdoor screenings ($50), 4 tickets to The Children’s Festival ($12), 4 pack to Music in the Mountains SummerFest ($99), 2 movie passes to the Del Oro Children’s movie screenings ($20), $10 gift certificate to Mountain Pastimes, $10 gift certificate to Treats, a family pack of tickets to the Nevada County Fair (2 adults and 2 children’s admission tickets and a parking pass, $34), $10 gift certificate to The Artist Workshop, a family pass to “Encounter Nature” to a BYLT Junior Conservationist outing ($10), two SUP rental gift certificate from Mountain Recreation ($40).  And last, but definitely not least, a free night of camping at the Inn Town Campground ($55 value).  Winners will be announced on Friday, June 15th.  Edited to say the winners are: Sarah Regan, Debra Brown, Chelsea, Emily Gravenstein, Debbie Campbell, Terry Elm, Thomas Breiter, Rachel, Shauna, Rachel Umphress   and MaryAnne Andersen.

© 2018 InnSide Nevada City, Photos © by Erin Thiem, Kathryn White Photography and Lenkaland Photography and Camp Del Oro