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Photo: MissionInn.Jim (talk), Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
The museum rotating exhibits on various topics and standing exhibits on local history, geography and culture. It's a half-hour's walk-through, but well worth the price.
The Museum of Riverside is a museum of regional history and culture, Indigenous culture, and natural history located in the historic Mission Inn District of Riverside, California, United States. The museum, formerly known as the Riverside Metropolitan Museum and Riverside Municipal Museum, is a department of the City of Riverside, but is supported by the Riverside Museum Associates (RMA) and the Harada House Foundation (HHF), two independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Its mission is: "As a center for learning, the Museum of Riverside interacts with the community to collect, preserve, explore, and interpret the cultural and natural history of Riverside and its region."
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If all else fails, this library has the third-largest collection in the southwestern United States, after Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Just visiting the Main Library in Downtown Riverside (near the downtown bus terminal) is an architectural treat.
Located on the ground floor of the historic Mission Inn, this space showcases the history of the building, including a chair crafted for the legendarily girthy President Taft.
The museum has rotating exhibits featuring a variety of local artists, including projects from the University of California-Riverside.
Hosts plays, concerts and musicals.
For a panoramic view of the city, try climbing Mt. Rubidoux! Well... to say climb is a bit strong. The route up Mt. Rubidoux is a steady, sometimes-paved but mostly sandy incline lined with tall, prickly pear cactus and humongous rocks. A steady gait makes for about an hour round trip. Don’t forget to bring a camera. If it’s a clear day, one can see clear into nearby Corona to the West and Moreno Valley to the East. The sunsets from this vantage are beautiful, too! Be sure you are able to make it down before the sky gets too dark though as there are no lights lining the path.
Also, bringing a bottle of water is a good idea as there are no fountains or vending machines anywhere on or around the mountain. The entrance to the park is in a residential area. The park entrance is at the west end of 9th street, under a large iron gate. Parking is extremely limited in the surrounding neighbourhoods.
These impressive botanical gardens are hidden in the hills above campus. They are usually lightly-visited and offer fantastic views of the city, as well as a large collection of exotic flora. Parking is highly limited, and metered at $0.50/hour.