Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum

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Location: Vista (44 Miles / 50 Minutes North of Downtown San Diego)

Open Daily: 10AM – 4PM (Closed on Christmas and New Year’s)

Cost: $3 ($2 for Kids and Seniors)

Features: 55 Acre Farm Serves as a Museum for Thousands of Antique Farm Artifacts; Recreates the Typical California Farm from the 1850s – 1950s; Dozens of Items Used in Hollywood Movies.

Vista Gas & Steam Engine Museum Highlights: When Hollywood needs help recreating what life was like for movies set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they come to the Vista Gas & Steam Engine Museum. Mulholland Falls, LA Confidential, and Wild Bill are just a few of the movies using tractors and farm equipment you will see on your visit to the Museum. Here you will learn and experience what farm life was like in California from 1849 – 1949.

What to Expect

  • Over a thousand volunteers continue to make this a working farm. Out at the tractor and farm equipment exhibits, volunteers will describe the items and tell you stories about early farming life. Inside the farm house, you will typically see volunteers performing traditional tasks of early California woman such as sewing and quilt making. They will even be baking fresh bread and cookies for visitors.
  • There is a blacksmith shop where you can sign up to take lessons, a wheelwright shop, and a gift shop where you can buy collectibles.
  • The Museum holds Spring and Fall Harvests where you will see the volunteers harvesting winter grains and turning it into wheat for sale to guests as well as watching them harvest Sorghum Cane, which they will make into Molasses.
  • Plan on spending at least a couple hours. However, you could easily stay much longer if you want to take the time to learn about all of the farm items (over 20,000) and listen to the stories shared by volunteers.
  • Although it is located less than 10 miles from the San Diego Coast, temperatures in Vista occasionally become quite hot during the summer so plan accordingly. You can check the Inland Forecast for the current weather.

Harvest Fairs – The Spring Harvest Fair takes place over two weekends in June and the Fall Harvest Fair takes place over two weekends in October. Admission to the Museum costs more during these events. A few additional events are usually held during the year. Visit the Harvest Fairs web page to find links to the additional events.

Food – If you worked up a good appetite after wetting your taste buds with the baked treats in the farmhouse, you can satisfy your hunger at one of several restaurants (mainly fast food) just south of the Museum on North Santa Fe Avenue.

Information on Visiting the Vista Gas and Steam Engine Museum

Admission Prices: (Costs are Approximate)

  • Parking is Free
  • $3 for Adults
  • $2 for Kids Ages 6 – 17 and Seniors 65 and over.
  • It costs more to visit the Museum when there are special events, which occur periodically during the year..

Directions from Google Maps to 2040 North Santa Fe Avenue in Vista, CA 92083. (At the Intersection with Museum Way and surrounded by Guajome Regional Park.)

Traffic – There is generally very little traffic during normal hours.  The only exception is summer weekends when traffic can be heavy in both directions on highway I-5.

Transit – There are no transit options to get you to the Gas & Steam Engine Museum.

Find More Attractions with Similar Themes or Location: *Top San Diego Museums*, As Seen In Movies, North County Coastal, North County Inland, Nostalgia & Western Frontier, Souvenirs |

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