SoCal Field Trips

When students go on field trips and participate in hands-on activities within real-world environments, they experience learning in a whole new way.  Field trips provide students the opportunity to connect their homeschool or classroom lessons to real-life experiences and tangible artifacts.  Field trips also provide students access to culture, history, and art that may be left out of the regular curriculum.

In summary, field trips enrich learning experiences unlike anything else!  So, to help spark your students’ interest in learning, here is a list of 40+ Best School Field Trips in San Bernardino County!

Best Students Field Trips in San Bernardino County

The Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery, Colton

The communities of Agua Mansa and La Placita, across from each other along the Santa Ana River, were the first non-native settlements in the San Bernardino Valley and had the first church and school.  These villages were the largest settlement between New Mexico, and Los Angeles during the 1840s.  Today, the Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery is all that remains of these once- thriving communities.

Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain, Big Bear Lake

The Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain is open all year and is Southern California’s only authentic bobsled experience.  They have a cool water slide in the summer and plenty of snow play in the winter.

Amazon Fulfillment Center Tour, San Bernardino

Amazon offers tours of their fulfillment centers on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time. Come see the magic that happens after you click buy on Amazon.  Tours are available for anyone ages 6 and up.

Amy’s Farm, Ontario

Amy’s Farm is a fun and unique experience for all ages.  From early childhood to senior citizens, they offer age-appropriate tours for all visitors.   Enjoy a garden walk, smell fresh herbs, feed the pigs, visit the petting zoo, milk a cow and visit their horses.

The Asistencia, Redlands

Established in 1819 as a part of the Mission San Gabriel’s Rancho San Bernardino, the original Asistencia or more correctly – Estancia functioned as an outpost for cattle grazing activities.   The Asistencia buildings you can visit today are reproductions built in the 1930s and located approximately one mile east of the original Estancia site.   A visit to the Asistencia will allow you the chance to visit its museum, walk through historic rooms, and relax in the gardens.

Big Bear Alpine Zoo, Big Bear

Big Bear Alpine Zoo is one of two Alpine zoos in the United States.  It specializes in the rehabilitation and release of local Alpine species and has a permanent collection of animals for visitors to see and enjoy.  They offer docent-led tours for school groups.  Tours are included in the price of admission.  During a tour, students will learn about:

• The history of the Big Bear Alpine Zoo and why we are so important to the San Bernardino National Forest
• Where the animals came from and why they must remain in our care
• Interesting facts about each animal in our care
• Fun facts like what a Mountain Lion’s tongue feels like and how far they can jump and the size of a grizzly paw
• What you can do to protect the animals in the wild
• How the Big Bear Alpine Zoo staff rehabilitates and releases animals

Big Bear Discovery Center, Big Bear

Opened in 1998, the Big Bear Discovery Center is the largest visitor center in the Big Bear Valley.  Stop by and enjoy their exhibits, weekly programs, eco-tours, and special events like outdoor concerts, theater productions, and nighttime interpretive programs in the Big Bear Discovery Center Amphitheater.

Their Nature Discovery Zone is the first Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom in the National Forest system.  Kids, ages 2 to 7, learn about their connection to the environment and how they can help protect it.  The 9 Interactive Play Areas include the Gathering Area, Nature Art, Messy Materials, Building, Climbing and Crawling, Music and Movement, Pathways Through Planting, Dirt Digging and Quiet Area.

Big Bear Valley Historical (Eleanor Abbott) Museum, Big Bear

An extensive collection of artifacts, featuring exhibits from the indigenous Serrano Indians, the gold mining era, cowboys and cattle ranching, logging, fox farming and early winter sports.

Cal-Earth, Hesperia

Cal-Earth allows children the opportunity to build a dome home with their classmates by using supplies provided mainly by Mother Earth.  It is a team building exercise aimed at creating unity amongst students.  Through interactive exercises and storytelling, Cal-Earth teaches grades K-12 about the Superadobe building technique which is a certain type of sustainable earth architecture.  Cal-Earth’s field trips are also reasonably priced at only $10.00 per child, with a minimum of a $100.00 per trip.

Chino Basin Water Conservation District Watershed, Chino

CBWCD offers free hands-on programs for K-12 to support student inquiry and discovery of our watershed, the plants and animals we share it with, and how our actions impact it.  Their programs are designed to immerse students in the practices of scientific investigation and engineering design in an outdoor setting.  Each Field Trip Program includes a hands-on classroom science or design lab and an outdoor field observation portion.   Trips begin at 9 am and are offered on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays from October to May.  Programs are free to all groups on a first come first serve basis and subject to availability.

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