“Bill’s Backyard: A Bridge to Nature” features the tree house, dig pit and free play of our childhood dreams. It’s 27,500 sq. ft. of a good time! And it complements the indoor Discovery Museum, providing an exciting place to continue the exploration outdoors.

A Junior Ranger Station (with green roof) offers maps, fossils, touchable animal skeletons and realistic animal puppets. Kids can run, jump and climb;  build shelters with reeds and branches, scurry through sky bridge tunnels (getting a whole new perspective on the world), and scoop gravel, twigs, sand, dirt and water—just like you would do in a backyard. They’ll find life-size bronze animals scattered throughout the area. There’s also a hands-on flower and vegetable garden and an area for programmed activities. A 7,200-gallon rain harvest system irrigates and provides water to the water play area. 

The Backyard brings the joys of nature and freedom-to-get-dirty to kids too often glued to screens, especially in an urban environment like San José with limited safe outdoor areas. It creates a spark in kids and their parents to venture out more to parks, trails and wilderness areas.