Read this guide before you go to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve and Center in Sacramento with kids so you know what to expect! You get to see wild deer, turkey, lizards, butterflies, birds, and rabbits. Miles of (mostly stroller friendly) hiking and beach on the river! You can pet snakes and learn about other native wildlife at the nature center too. A great morning or afternoon outing if you are near Sacramento!

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Overview of Going to the Effie Yeaw Nature Center with Kids

Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Sacramento is located in the Ancil Hoffman Park in Carmichael, near Sacramento. The Ancil Hoffman Park itself has river access, trails, picnic areas, and a golf course (with a bar and grill). It’s an awesome park, but we love the Effie Yeaw area the best! It’s perfect for kids and adults of any age because you get to see wildlife while hiking, learn about the indigenous culture, and splash around in the river. Their Nature Center also has a lot of learning opportunities like touch and feel stations, animals, and Henry got to touch a snake when we went! (To our surprise, he went for it!)

It is mostly stroller friendly (but a sturdy stroller, because it is pretty rocky), definitely baby carrier friendly, but not biking or scooter friendly.

We usually spend about 2 hours there, including about 20-30 minutes by the river playing with sand and rocks and checking out the exhibits at the Nature Center.

Parking & How to Get to the Effie Yeaw Preserve and Nature Center

The best way (and the only way we know how) to visit the Effie Yeaw preserve is by driving. It is about a 30-minute drive from the heart of Sacramento.

Parking

You will pay for parking at the entrance of Ancil Hoffman Park, about $5 for normal days and a little more ($8) on holidays. They do take cards and cash (try to bring exact change). Free for ARNHA members, so if you go there often, definitely a perk of becoming a member. We’ve never had issues parking here, and we usually come on the weekends. So plenty of parking!  

Food Options at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Sacramento

There are picnic tables there, right by the Maidu Village Replica and the Butterfly Garden up front. We did not see any place to purchase food at the Nature Center. There is a bar and grill at the Ancil Hoffman Golf Course, about a one minute drive within the Ancil Hoffman Park. Your best bet going to Effie Yeaw with kids is to pack a picnic or snacks! (Please do not leave anything behind or feed the wildlife.)

Picnic area

What to Bring to the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Sacramento

Kids Binoculars (and Adults too!)

Henry loved playing around with his binoculars here! The ones we have are really simple for him to use, and we like it because it doesn’t zoom too much. We’ve tried ones that zoom in a lot, and it was a little too complicated for him to find things. (He is 3 for reference.) We got to see woodpeckers and blue jays (or a bluebird…) up close thanks to binoculars.

Spotting butterflies at the butterfly garden

Food and Drinks

As mentioned above, bring your own picnic or snacks! It could get a little hot especially during spring, summer, and fall, so bring plenty of hydration.

Sunscreen/Sun Protection

Like I said, it could get pretty hot here, and although most of the trail has trees, if you want to spend some time on the river, this is a must.

Picnic Blanket

We love having a place to sit by the river, and if you don’t want to lug around a fold-up chair when hiking around, we love having a picnic blanket just in case the kids are in the mood to splash around (which they usually are, unless it’s super cold). There are so many kinds of picnic blankets, but we love these Skip Hop ones because it comes with a little cooler that attaches to it.

Change of Clothes

Again, in the warmer days, it’s kind of a guarantee that the kids would want to play with the sand, rocks, and water by the river. You don’t want soggy complaining kids for the walk back to your car. Not fun. So bring something they can change into afterward!

Stroller/Carrier

Most of the trails are sturdy-stroller friendly. Our City Mini did fine on all the trails. We park our stroller at the top of the river area when we go down there, but besides that, we can pretty much bring the stroller anywhere. We love to have our carrier regardless though, just in case Andrew needs a change of scenery. 🙂

Highlights of What to Do and See at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Sacramento with Kids

There are more things to see and exhibits than what we list here, but here are our favorites! (Henry is 3 and Andrew is 14 months, just for reference.) For all of the exhibits and things you can see at Effie Yeaw – check out their website here. We usually spend about 1-1.5 hours outside on the trails, and 15-30 minutes at the nature center.

The Outdoor Exhibits and Gardens

When you first walk into the area, you will reach the Maidu Village replica area. There are signs to teach you what each of the area is representing. The butterfly garden and the little pond is fun to look at also. This is also where the picnic tables are.

The Nature Preserve & Trails

Henry (3) is usually a stop and go kind of hiker, and we usually have to entice him with something to keep going (“look, there’s a berry bush with berries!”). We have absolutely no issues doing that here. It’s like every corner we turn, we see some kind of cool animals, plants, and birds. There are signs everywhere so even if you don’t know what something is, you will be able to teach your kids from just looking at the signs. 🙂 Pretty much every time we go, we see deer, turkey, squirrels, and lots of birds. We have seen lizards, butterflies, and hare/rabbit occasionally.  

The River

From the parking lot to the river, is a pretty short walk (15-20 min tops even with a toddler that stops for everything). It’s a smaller rocky beach, and when we have gone, there is a good amount of shallow area to put your feet and hands in to splash around. We’ve also seen fish too.

The Pond

If you follow the Pond Trail, it will lead you to a nature study pond. The pond itself may not be worth visiting (unless you know more about what they are doing at the pond and there to study it!) but going on this trail will make the hike a little longer, and more chances to see the wildlife! If we just went to the Nature Center, the river and back, we would’ve missed out on seeing Hare and Deer on this particular day.

The Nature Center

This place is awesome! And Free! (Donation suggested. They do take cards for over $5.) There are live native animal exhibits like raptors (owls, hawk, Falcons), turtles, and snakes! When we went, Henry got to touch a snake. The exhibit hall has taxidermy of animals that Henry and Andrew loved. This is also where the bathrooms are located.

There is also a touch and feel section, where you can touch bones and feathers. The nature center’s staff answered all of Henry’s questions about which bones belonged to which animals. Thank you so much for your kindness!

Classes & Camps at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Sacramento with Kids

Camps here start at 5 years old, and we can’t wait for Henry to go!

Classes and story times start for younger ages, so contact them for more info.

Nearby the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Sacramento

Ancil Hoffman Park

The Ancil Hoffman Park itself has a lot more trails and river access as well as picnic areas with BBQ.

Sacramento Area Attractions

Sacramento is one of the most kid-friendly areas near San Francisco! For things to do in Sacramento, check out our Sacramento section of 30+ Weekend and Day Trip from San Francisco post. If you are in the area during the holidays, check out the Sacramento sections of our Holiday and Winter Activities in San Francisco Bay Area and our Guide to the Polar Express Sacramento!

Have you been to the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Sacramento with kids? Tell us what you thought of it!