The escort to a visitor with disabilities is entitled to free General Admission.

San Diego Natural History Museum
1788 El Prado
Balboa Park
San Diego, CA 92101
619.232.3821
FAX 619.232.0248

North (fig tree) Entrance	South (fountain) Entrance
San Diego Natural History Museum photos courtesy of Mary Claude Padilla and Mike Ruiz.

We are located in Balboa Park, near the intersection of Park Boulevard and Village Place, just south of the San Diego Zoo. See Google™ map link. See Balboa Park Map for available parking, tram and museum locations with the park.

For public transit, see below.

To reach the Museum by car

zoomLevel = 5; //zoom in as far as we can $map->setWidth(488); //pixels $map->setHeight(450); //pixels $map->controlType = 'small'; //show large controls on the side $map->showType = false; //hide the map | sat | hybrid buttons //CUSTOM INFO WINDOW DATA $map->addAddress('1788 El Prado Balboa Park San Diego, CA 92101',"
1788 El Prado Balboa Park San Diego, CA 92101"); $map->showMap(); ?>

Public Transit

For more details, see the Metropolitan Transit System's website, use their Online Trip Planner (OTIS) or phone 619.233.3004 (see additional numbers). Print out a detailed downtown bus and trolley map (PDF*) created by the Metropolitan Transit System.

By Bus
The Museum is on the #7 bus line, which runs very frequently between downtown San Diego (along Broadway for most of the downtown portion of the route) and east San Diego and La Mesa (along University for most of eastern portion).

From downtown: Take any outbound #7 bus. The bus will travel north on Park Blvd. The nearest stop to the museum is at the pedestrian overpass which crosses over Park Blvd. An earlier stop at the Rose Garden is also close.

From East San Diego and farther east: Take any inbound (Downtown) #7 bus. The bus will travel west on University Avenue and turn south onto Park Blvd. The nearest stop to the museum is the one immediately after the Zoo, at the pedestrian overpass that crosses over Park Blvd.

By Trolley
Take any trolley into downtown San Diego. Get off at the City College stop (12th Ave. and C St.) Transfer to the outbound #7 bus just around the corner at 11th and C.

By Train
Amtrak Pacific Surfliner offers 11 trains daily from Los Angeles to San Diego. When making train reservations, you can also reserve bus transportation from the Santa Fe station to the Museum. Group of 20+ receive a 20% discount and seniors 62+ receive a 15% discount. For reservations call 800.872.7245 (groups call 800.872.1477).

Other Options

Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego makes nine stops at some of San Diego's prime tourist spots, including Old Town, Seaport Village, Horton Plaza, Coronado, and Balboa Park—in front of the Zoo, a short walk from the Museum.

Park in the Inspiration Point parking lot (on the east side of Park Blvd., between Presidents Way and the Balboa Park Activity Center) for easy access to the heart of Balboa Park via the free tram. There are also numerous smaller lots throughout the Park, including the lot next to the Museum's east side, the south Carousel Lot on Village Place and Park Blvd. and the north Carousel Lot. See Balboa Park map (3.7MB PDF*) with parking lots and tram stops.

Valet parking is offered in front of the House of Hospitality (and The Prado restaurant) in the Plaza de Panama. Hours of service are: Tuesday through Thursday from 5 PM through 10 PM; Friday from 5 PM through midnight; Saturday from 10 AM through Midnight; Sunday from 10 AM. through 10 PM. There is no valet parking on Mondays.

*If unable to open the PDF documents, download Adobe Acrobat Reader.

^Top

We thank    for their in-kind donation.