Tilden Regional Park on a Foggy Day

Last Sunday we decided it would be fun to meet my parents and my Aunt and Uncle at Tilden Regional Park. Our neighbor takes her son there to ride the train, the carousel and visit the farm.

My parents are walking distance to a neighboring park, and no more than a ten minute drive to the entrance for the carousel and the farm. I don't know how we managed not to visit Tilden Regional Park, especially with my boys' proclivity for trains.

We decided to start the fun at the Tilden Park Steam Trains. The entrance to the steam trains is in Orinda. To get there you need to get the exact street entrance from the park... your GPS will send you somewhere else.

When we came out of the Caldecott tunnel and exited on Fish Ranch Road and Old Tunnel Road we were hit by a surprise bank of fog. It was thick, and made it difficult to see the road. Thankfully, it was a little clearer when we got to the railroad.

Tilden Park runs two miniature railways. One is larger, and longer than the other. We opted for the larger steam engine. It is the first stop across from the ticket booth. The ride through the redwoods was beautiful, and it is by far the longest $2 train ride we've taken in the Bay Area.

The second miniature railway runs through miniature towns, mines, and a miniature roundhouse. Next time we go, we'll definitely check that one out too.

My family never made it to the trains. Tilden Regional Park is huge, the signage is poor, and there is no common internal roads that connect the trains with the rest of the park.

After our train ride, we were able to work it out and meet the family at the carousel. The carousel is located in the main area of the park. It is enclosed, so you can even go on a rainy cold foggy day. The building is lovely, and the carousel is fantastic. On the day we visited they were already packing up a fabulous Holiday display. You would think that they would keep it going through News Years, but no such luck. We'll have to check it out next year, because it looked great.

We then concluded our whirlwind adventure at the little farm. The boys loved this part. They saw baby pigs, cows, sheep, goats and bunny rabbits. It was the end of the day, so the animals were put away for the night, but you could still see them. Signs said you are allowed to feed the animals lettuce. So we may just bring some next time we go.

The boys had such a wonderful time that Xander fell asleep in the car, was successfully moved to his bed and woke-up the next morning. Caleb napped in the car, woke up when we got home and went to bed early. All proof that the boys loved it, and want to go back again soon.