Address: 19 Franklin St, San Juan Bautista, CA 95045
San Juan Bautista State Historic Park is a California State Park and a nationally recognized historic landmark surrounding the historical town of San Juan Bautista in California. Father Fermin Lasuen is the successor to Father Junipero Serra and founded Mission San Juan Bautista in the year 1797. All the old colonial buildings during the Spanish and Mexican periods in the town were well maintained and preserved. The park’s four main historic museums/buildings that were built in the 1800s are the Plaza Hotel, The Zanetta House/Plaza Hall, The Plaza Stables, and the Castro-Breen Adobe. The park also has other additional buildings within the area such as the Blacksmith Shop, Historic Jail, and an Early American Settlers Cabin. The Park hours are from 10 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. and the admission fee is $3 for adults, free for children ages 17 and under. There is ample street parking available surrounding the Historic Park.
We drove for about 1 hour and 30 minutes (91 miles) from San Francisco to San Juan Bautista State Historic Park via US-280 South, US 101 South, and CA-156 East. On our way, we had to pass through a few farmlands, meadows, water reservoirs, and a Premium Shopping Outlet in the town of Gilroy. And there is also a National Park located within 45 minutes from San Juan Bautista State Historic Park called Pinnacles.
We arrived at the Historic Park at around 10:30 a.m. and parked our car on Washington Street on the side of the Castro-Breen Adobe Building. The San Juan Bautista State Historic Park is small and is about 6 acres of land. Walking around the entire historical park made us feel like we were back in the early 1800s during the Spanish Colonial Era. We paid the admission fee for access to the Park in the Plaza Hotel/Museum Store. The friendly cashier informed us that the admission fee for the San Juan Bautista Mission across the street is a separate fee. All the fees and merchandise purchase proceeds will be used to cover all the costs of maintaining the famous Historical Park.
We were lucky that it was a “Living History Day” event during the time of our visit. We get to meet and witness all the volunteer docents dressed up as the early settlers during the Spanish Colonial times. They were showing all the guests how the early settlers cook outside and lived their daily lives. The docents even showed us how to bake a biscuit in the early days by using a dutch oven. We even saw an actual Horno or Bee-hive oven that is made up of bricks, feed woods as fire and used for cooking meals in the early days. The baked biscuit was soft, moist, and delicious. We even touched a real skin of an otter, beaver which was our first time. The docents showed us all the tools that they used during the early times for cooking and performing daily chores. My wife enjoyed the taste of the block of Chinese tea. The showcasing, gathering, and demonstrations were held in the Castro-Breen Adobe building.
We explored and tour the inside of the Plaza Hotel which is the park’s entrance point and built-in 1814. The early Spanish soldiers used the Plaza as a barrack that protected the Mission. Each section inside the plaza has a placard in front that indicates the name of the room and explains its history or purpose in the early days. The Plaza has two floors and visitors are allowed to take pictures. The fun part was when we were on the second floor’s veranda that is overlooking the beautiful view of the mountain, mission, and the landscape.
The next building that we visited and very interesting is the Plaza Stable/Blacksmith Shop across the Mission. There were a lot of different stagecoach on display that was used in the early days and other transportations such as wagons, carriages, and fire wagons. San Juan Bautista used to be a transportation hub on El Camino Real between Los Angeles and San Francisco. My daughter enjoyed the presentation by one of the volunteer docents on how to heat metal on coal and be able to twist it and create a unique shape.
The most interesting information that we learned is that the town is situated along the famous San Andreas Earthquake fault. Some of the town buildings had sustained severe earthquake damage during the 1800 and 1906 San Andreas earthquakes. We explored the other buildings around the area such as the Historic Jail and the early settler’s cabin. The last place that we visited which is not a part of the park is the San Juan Bautista Mission which is located across the street from the Hotel Plaza.
Overall, it was a very nice, relaxing, full of history and educational experience for us. We would suggest that you get there early and save the entire day for you and your family to enjoy and explore the entire historical town. The weather changed in the afternoon as it got windy and cold but we were prepared and brought our jackets.
Tips: The admission fee for the San Juan Bautista State Historic Park is separate from the San Juan Bautista Mission which you pay inside the Mission’s giftshop. There is a good local authentic Mexican Restaurant called Jardines and an Ice Cream Parlor called Margot’s that are close by. Places of interest that are close to San Juan Bautista are Gilroy Premium Outlet which is about 20 minutes away (great for shopping) and Pinnacles National Park which is about 45 minutes via CA-25 North (37 miles) great for hiking and nature trips. No dogs or pets are allowed except for service animals on a leash. Fourth graders often have field trip tours due to their school curriculum requirements. Customed Docent reenacts life in California during the “Living History Day” on the first Saturday of each month. We saw a few people have a nice picnic along the greenery area of the historic park.
Let me know if you have any questions and what you think about San Juan Bautista State Historic Park after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you
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