As the county seat and one of the largest cities in Orange County, Santa Ana brings together urban energy, cultural diversity, and natural beauty. Often overlooked between more tourist-oriented neighbors Anaheim and coastal communities, Santa Ana rewards visitors who take the time to explore its historic sites, family-friendly museums, performing arts venues, and expansive parks.
| Attraction | Description |
|---|---|
| Discovery Cube Orange County | A science center with over 100 hands-on exhibits and a variety of educational activities. |
| Centennial Regional Park | A 230-acre park offering sports fields, playgrounds, walking paths, and scenic ponds and gardens. |
| Heritage Museum of Orange County | Museum showcasing local history, with exhibits on diverse cultural topics. |
| Santa Ana Zoo | A compact zoo focused on conservation, offering close encounters with a variety of animals. |
| Grand Central Art Center | An art hub in a historic building, featuring galleries, theaters, and artist residency programs. |
| Bowers Museum | A renowned museum with a vast collection of global artifacts and dynamic exhibits. |
| Old Courthouse Museum | A historic museum displaying Santa Ana’s past from Native American society to modern times. |
| Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center | A train depot offering connections to various Southern California locations. |
| Discovery Science Center | A center offering interactive exhibits on various science topics for kids. |
| Flight Deck Flight Simulation Center | A flight simulation center offering experiences in replicated cockpits of different aircraft. |
| Outlets at Orange | A shopping and entertainment plaza with a variety of stores, dining options, and a cinema. |
These top attractions provide a sampler of the family fun, art and culture, sports, wildlife encounters, and Latino heritage that await in the heart of Orange County.
Discovery Cube Orange County
Name and Location:
- Discovery Cube Orange County, located at 2500 N Main St, Santa Ana, CA.
History and Significance:
- The Discovery Cube is a hands-on science center designed to inspire and educate visitors of all ages about science and innovation.
What to Expect:
- Explore interactive exhibits, engage in STEM-based activities, and learn about various scientific principles in a fun and engaging way.
Visitor Information:
- Check the center’s website for admission prices, hours of operation, and special events.
With over 100 hands-on exhibits across ten themed areas, Discovery Cube OC makes learning vivid and interactive for kids and kids-at-heart. Get creative in concept design challenges, perform lab experiments, take the controls of a real Boeing 737 flight simulator, and even touch a tornado. The all-ages science center also hosts seasonal camps, workshops, live shows, and events like adults-only 21+ nights that make mingling with fellow science fans a party. When ready for a break, the on-site café serves up refueling snacks and coffee.
Centennial Regional Park
Name and Location:
- Centennial Regional Park, situated at 3000 W Edinger Ave, Santa Ana, CA.
History and Significance:
- This park offers recreational opportunities and green spaces for the community, with a focus on preserving natural habitats.
What to Expect:
- Enjoy picnics, sports fields, walking trails, and playgrounds within a peaceful park setting.
Visitor Information:
- The park is open to the public and is a great place for outdoor activities and family outings.
For green space and recreation opportunities, Centennial Regional Park can’t be beat. The 230-acre park contains soccer fields, baseball diamonds, volleyball courts, playgrounds with unique equipment, walking paths under a lush tree canopy, and peaceful ponds and gardens. The two lakes offer catch-and-release fishing as well as paddling boat rentals when wanting to get out on the water. With sweeping views of the surrounding Saddleback mountains too, Centennial Park proves an urban oasis for enjoying Santa Ana’s beautiful natural backdrop.
Heritage Museum of Orange County
Name and Location:
- Heritage Museum of Orange County, located at 3101 W Harvard St, Santa Ana, CA.
History and Significance:
- The museum showcases the rich history and heritage of Orange County through exhibits, historic buildings, and educational programs.
What to Expect:
- Explore historical structures, artifacts, and gardens that tell the story of the region’s past.
Visitor Information:
- Check the museum’s website for hours, admission fees, and special events.
From Native settlement through centuries of cultural change, the Heritage Museum brings local history to life through engaging exhibits and educational programs. A replica rancho showcases Californio history while galleries explore topical heritage including agriculture, citrus labeling, Mexican migration, aviation, and more. The expansive complex even transplanted and restored an 1895 Queen Anne-style home, the Fiorello La Guardia house, and a WW2 army barracks building. Catch special events like Civil War reenactments, car shows, and living history festivals too.
Santa Ana Zoo
Name and Location:
- Santa Ana Zoo, located at 1801 E Chestnut Ave, Santa Ana, CA.
History and Significance:
- The zoo is dedicated to wildlife conservation and offers a unique experience to observe a variety of animals.
What to Expect:
- Visit exhibits featuring over 100 species, including monkeys, birds, and other wildlife in a beautiful park setting.
Visitor Information:
- Check the zoo’s website for hours, admission rates, and special events.
Operated by the non-profit Friends of Santa Ana Zoo, this small zoo packs a lot of wild encounters into 20 compact acres. Get nose-to-beak with squirrel monkeys at the Primate Pathway, watch the antics of prairie dogs and bald eagles, and even feed friendly domestic goats over fences. The zoo’s focus on conservation, animal care, and education shine through in daily keeper chats, wildlife shows, overnight camping experiences, and programs that let visitors observe medical procedures. Supporting this intimate zoo helps sustain vital species protection efforts globally.
Grand Central Art Center
Name and Location:
- Grand Central Art Center, located at 125 N Broadway, Santa Ana, CA.
History and Significance:
- The center serves as an incubator for contemporary art, fostering collaboration between artists and the community.
What to Expect:
- Explore art galleries, exhibitions, and engage with artists-in-residence as they create and showcase their work.
Visitor Information:
- Visit the center’s website for information on current exhibitions and events.
Grand Central Art Center transforms a historic 1924 downtown building into a hub for compelling contemporary visual and performing arts. Three galleries display works by prominent regional artists, traveling exhibitions, and student pieces while two theaters host an eclectic lineup of plays, dance performances, concerts, indie films, spoken word events and more. GCAC’s artists-in-residence program also means visitors may interact with creators exploring new forms of creative expression through shows, lectures, and open studio nights.
Bowers Museum
Name and Location:
- Bowers Museum, located at 2002 N Main St, Santa Ana, CA.
History and Significance:
- The Bowers Museum is a cultural institution known for its diverse collection of art and cultural artifacts.
What to Expect:
- Explore art from around the world, including Native American, Asian, and Latin American collections, as well as special exhibitions.
Visitor Information:
- Check the museum’s website for hours, admission prices, and upcoming exhibitions.
As one of California’s premier museums, the Bowers Museum houses world-class exhibitions spanning cultures and eras within its stunning 1933 complex and expansive galleries. Egyptian sarcophagi, Mesoamerican sculpture, aboriginal Australian artwork, Samurai armor, and even a full Chinese palace reception hall represent just a sample of the 130,000+ artifacts illuminating global history and artistry. With dynamic rotating exhibits, on-site events, and programs like sketching in the galleries or crafting clay skulls, visitors keep discovering new dimensions of the Bowers.
Old Courthouse Museum
Name and Location:
- Old Courthouse Museum, located at 211 W Santa Ana Blvd, Santa Ana, CA.
History and Significance:
- The museum is housed in a historic courthouse building and offers insights into Orange County’s legal history.
What to Expect:
- Visit exhibits related to the county’s legal system, historic trials, and the role of the courthouse.
Visitor Information:
- Check for hours of operation and any special exhibits or events.
History aficionados will appreciate Santa Ana’s original public buildings preserved at the Old Orange County Courthouse Museum. The Romanesque Revival structure served as courthouse and civic epicenter after its 1901 completion while adjacent buildings housed vital early government offices. Galleries and period rooms now chronicle Santa Ana’s past from Native American society through decades of population booms and cultural change. Don’t miss displays like an original holding cell with prisoner etchings still visible on the walls.
Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center
Name and Location:
- Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center (SARTC), located at 1000 E Santa Ana Blvd, Santa Ana, CA.
History and Significance:
- The transportation center serves as a major hub for trains and buses, connecting Santa Ana to the broader region.
What to Expect:
- Use the SARTC for convenient access to public transportation options, including Amtrak and Metrolink trains.
Visitor Information:
- Travelers can find transportation schedules and services at the center.
More than just a train depot, the gleaming Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center facilitates exploration to other iconic SoCal destinations. Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner route stops here on trips between San Diego and San Luis Obispo with connections available to nationwide destinations. Metrolink commuter trains also connect Santa Ana to much of Southern California including San Juan Capistrano, Los Angeles, Riverside, and North County beach towns. When waiting between journeys, grab a bite in the glass-walled café or check out art by homegrown talent decorating the terminal.
Discovery Science Center
Name and Location:
- Discovery Science Center, located at 2500 N Main St, Santa Ana, CA (formerly known as Discovery Cube).
History and Significance:
- The center is dedicated to promoting STEM education through interactive exhibits and hands-on learning experiences.
What to Expect:
- Explore science-themed exhibits, engage in experiments, and learn about various scientific concepts in an interactive environment.
Visitor Information:
- Check the center’s website for admission prices, hours of operation, and special events.
With kid-friendly exhibits teaching core science concepts through creativity and play, the Discovery Science Center makes learning about topics like gravity, magnetism, anatomy, lasers, flight, and more exciting. Visitors can engineer contraptions on a three-story marble ramp system, manipulate objects with robot arms, explore blood cells through a magical shrinking machine, and even create vortex tornadoes. Special programming like slime design workshops, astronomy nights, and summer day camps encourage kids to channel their scientific curiosity too.
Flight Deck Flight Simulation Center
Name and Location:
- Flight Deck Flight Simulation Center, located at 1650 S Sinclair St, Anaheim, CA (near Santa Ana).
History and Significance:
- The center offers a unique opportunity for aviation enthusiasts and aspiring pilots to experience flight simulations.
What to Expect:
- Enjoy realistic flight simulations in state-of-the-art cockpit replicas, including fighter jets and commercial aircraft.
Visitor Information:
- Check the center’s website for flight simulation experiences, pricing, and reservations.
For aviation and adrenaline junkies, Flight Deck Flight Simulation Center delivers thrilling aerial adventures without ever leaving the ground. Using exact cockpit replicas mounted on hydraulic lifts with wrap-around projection screens, the high-tech simulators mimic experiencing everything from small Cessna planes to 747 jumbo jets taking off, navigating through the skies, and landing in precise detail. Novices can try intro flights learning controls while certified pilots use complex software to practice maneuvers, earn flight time hours, and sharpen skills across dozens of aircraft modules.
Outlets at Orange
Name and Location:
- Outlets at Orange, located at 20 City Blvd W, Orange, CA (near Santa Ana).
History and Significance:
- This shopping destination offers a wide range of brand-name outlets and stores in a convenient location.
What to Expect:
- Shop for clothing, accessories, electronics, and more at discounted prices. The complex also includes dining and entertainment options.
Visitor Information:
- Visit the outlets’ website for a list of stores, hours of operation, and dining choices.
While not exactly a traditional attraction, the Outlets at Orange retail and entertainment plaza draws hordes of shoppers to its collection of name-brand factory stores. Bargain hunters browse racks and shelves at retailers like Nordstrom Rack, Nike, Converse, Vans, Levi’s, Coach, and Restoration Hardware scoring designer merchandise discounted up to 70% off regular prices. Other mall perks like a 12-screen movie theater with luxe recliners, dozens of dining options from fast food to fine dining, and a massive children’s playground make it easy to spend a whole afternoon and evening here burning through cash and calories.
Conclusion
Though Santa Ana often stands overlooked between its world-famous neighbors, attractions like hands-on museums for all ages, expansive parks offering natural beauty and recreation, performing and visual arts venues, historic sites, and shopping prove it deserves more attention. Families, arts patrons, history buffs, sports fans and wildlife enthusiasts all find aspects to appreciate across the diverse urban landscape. Visitors wanting an authentic taste of everyday life in sunny Southern California away from tourist traps need only make the short trip to discover the vibrant heart of Orange County for themselves.