Four Points Bulletin

California Citrus State Historic Park is a 247 acre open air museum in Riverside whose mission is to preserve citrus history. The history begins well before 1873, when the first two naval orange trees were sent by the US Department of Agriculture to a Riverside resident, but instead with the origin of the citrus plant and how it moved throughout the world by trading, colonization and conquests. In the early 1900s, the “second gold rush” in California was based on the cultivation of citrus. There are over 70 varieties of citrus grown on the grounds. You cannot freely pick any unless given permission by a park ranger, which happens while on the interpretive tours they offer twice a day on the weekend. There are tastings of some of the common fruits in the museum but on the interpretive tour you can taste incredibly delicious varieties that are not sold in stores or at farmers markets. I have never left a museum so sticky before. It is the best fruit any of us have ever had. Gless Ranch fruit stand at the entrance to the park allows you to stock up on some local citrus at a great price, so there is no reason so disobey the rules and pilfer fruit while on the property. Citrus State Park is the kind of place you can visit again and again as the fruit in season changes throughout the year. This is easy for us to accomplish being that it so close to home.