Corning, CA (San Francisco, Sacramento, Redding: 2014, college, casino)

[gacri]

Just a simple question here...I will be in Corning, CA on business/training Feb 3, 2014 through Feb 10, 2014. I am brining my wife along for trip away from the east coast and I have contemplated bringing our two kids along as well.

I will be in class from 8am to 5pm most days. I already know that their is NOTHING really to do or see in Corning, BUT are their some places worth seeing that are not too far of a drive off for them? It would be nice if the could experience a little bit of CA even if they had to drive and hour or so.

Any advice would be of great help. Thank you.

[ryuns]

Originally Posted by gacri

Just a simple question here...I will be in Corning, CA on business/training Feb 3, 2014 through Feb 10, 2014. I am brining my wife along for trip away from the east coast and I have contemplated bringing our two kids along as well.

I will be in class from 8am to 5pm most days. I already know that their is NOTHING really to do or see in Corning, BUT are their some places worth seeing that are not too far of a drive off for them? It would be nice if the could experience a little bit of CA even if they had to drive and hour or so.

Any advice would be of great help. Thank you.

Hm. As you mention, not much in Corning, and it's fairly isolated. February might be a challenging time to experience too much. The mountains and hills and lakes will be lovely (the lowlands might be green from winter rain by then, but too early for wildflowers), of course, but unless they planned to ski, it would probably just be playing in the snow, which probably isn't much of a novelty unless "east coast" means Florida

Hopefully others will chime in, but off the top of my head: Chico is the closest "interesting" city. It's only about 30 miles away. There's a college there and a big park on the edge of town. Besides the Sierra Nevada brewery, I couldn't quote you anything in particular of interest, but there's "stuff to do".
-Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park is really cool. That's about an hour and half away. Open year round, but snow would be tricky and you'd want chain. The volcanic features are pretty wild (gurgly, smelly, steamy). Kids seem to love it.
-Most everything else that comes to mind is much farther than the hour distance you mention. Sacramento is about an hour 45 (I imagine that's where you're flying to/from?), and would have plenty for the kids, while pleasant in its own right. If it's just you and the missus, Napa or Sonoma Valleys are both easy recommendations, but that's looking at about 2 to 3 hours. San Francisco is about 2 and a half, with infinite activities for couples, families, whatever. No worries about snow from Corning to any of those places. If it were me, I'd try to bookend my trip with nights in some of those places. No cheap, but can definitely be done on a budget.

Good luck on the planning!

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by gacri

Just a simple question here...I will be in Corning, CA on business/training Feb 3, 2014 through Feb 10, 2014. I am brining my wife along for trip away from the east coast and I have contemplated bringing our two kids along as well.

I will be in class from 8am to 5pm most days. I already know that their is NOTHING really to do or see in Corning, BUT are their some places worth seeing that are not too far of a drive off for them? It would be nice if the could experience a little bit of CA even if they had to drive and hour or so.

Any advice would be of great help. Thank you.

Rolling Hills Casino « Corning, California on Interstate 5 just south of Corning along I-5 probably has the best lodging and restaurants in the area. There is a golf course nearby. Feb is in the middle of the rainy season so there's not much to do - bring rain gear. Large areas around Corning are all flat farm land - and that's it!

[prosin]

OK, so Corning is not so attractive as a weeklong destination, but there's a lot to do still, and the weather might even be pretty good for some outdoor events (OK, I live in WA now, so 55 degrees to me is warm):

Corning has an active olive industry. I don't have links, but check out Corning Olive Oil, the Olive Pit, and Lucero's for tasting rooms and tours--you may have to call to get specifics. Not sure if Bell-Carter (large olive cannery) has anything like that. If the weather holds, take the kids to the Woodson Bridge Park around the boat launch. My son would throw rocks into the river all day, if he could.

My kids also liked Diamond Park in Red Bluff. City of Red Bluff • The Victorian City on the River • est. 1876



Love Chico (about 30 minutes southeast of Corning):

• It has Funland (http://www.funlandchico.com/skating/)
• Bidwell Park/Chico Creek Nature Center (Bidwell Park).
• A walking tour on your own around CSUC's campus (Visit Chico State - CSU, Chico) and a stop at the Madison Bear Garden (Madison Bear Garden) for burgers is a must.
• Perhaps a Bidwell Mansion Tour (Bidwell Mansion SHP). A children's park is right next to the mansion.

Another option is to drive north to Redding (35 miles). Options include:

• Turtle Bay (Turtle Bay Exploration Park: Human. Nature. | Redding, CA)
• Kids Kingdom, assuming you have littler ones that still like playgrounds (Enterprise Community Park)
• Shasta Dam Tours (Shasta Tour, Northern California Area Office, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region)
• Lake Shasta Caverns (Shasta Caverns)
• Shasta College campus has a farm (Farm), Don't know what their winter program is, but we used to take our then-little children to see the pigs, sheep, chickens, etc.

And I concur with humboldtrat, the casino area is the best area to stay in what the locals call "Corn-town." (Maybe that was a 90's thing, so don't repeat). Hope that helps!

And, there is always Lassen Park and Mount Shasta!

[prosin]

Oopsie! I goofed in my post--it's about 50 miles from Corning to Redding, not 35. Sorry!

[ryuns]

Originally Posted by prosin

Oopsie! I goofed in my post--it's about 50 miles from Corning to Redding, not 35. Sorry!

Good post though! I forgot that there were quite a few things to do in Redding, despite it's reputation for being a rather boring place.