Come adventure with us and find your family's outdoor community

A vintage train strung with lights, running through the canyon after dark. Open-air general seating, or a first-class dome or parlor car.

Tuesday, Dec. 8, 4:15 — 6:30 p.m.

Roll into the holiday season with this beloved Bay Area holiday event: the Niles Canyon Railway Holiday Train of Lights! These tickets are EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO BOOK, so for a third year in a row, we have CHARTERED THE ENTIRE TRAIN!

This year, we’ll welcome 10 adults and children for free under our EVERY 10th program. We will also have a roaming photographer on the train to capture your special holiday adventure into unforgettable memories!

About the outing, from the railway's website: 

Enjoy a 1.5-hour-long round trip through Niles Canyon filled with refreshments, music, and cheer aboard our antique coaches and open cars that feature holiday lights and decorations inside and out.

Our antique coaches and our open cars are decorated for the season, inside and out, and we enjoy holiday music on our 90-minute trip. We have some open cars with roofs where you can enjoy some of the best views of the canyon as our train makes the 90-minute round trip to Sunol and back.

The train leaves from Niles/Fremont Station at 37029 Mission Boulevard, Fremont.

*If you have any questions about the charter, you can contact Donna Alexander at Niles Canyon Railway: 510-996-8420 or station-agent@ncry.org

NOTE: First class cars: Red seats in photos are the Parlor Car, Blue seats in photos are for the Dome Car (upper and lower level)

INCLUDED in your ticket:

— Special treats for each child
— A fun family scavenger hunt
— Art activity to take home
— Our digital guide to make your experience seamless and magical
— Guaranteed seats
— All logistics of getting a seat handled by us!

Haunted tent houses, trick-or-treating between tents and a costume parade, at a campground in the Presidio’s forested hills a short walk from the coast.

Friday, Oct. 16 — Sunday, Oct. 18

A Halloween camping weekend for the books!!! 

WHAT WE'LL ENJOY 🥳🥳🥳

SOME SPOOK-TACULAR ACTIVITIES:

• 👻🏠⛺ Haunted tent house: Transform campsites into spooky adventures for brave little explorers

• 🍮🪱🎃 Dirt 'n worms pudding: Classic Halloween treats that make kids squeal with delight

• 📦🕳️🚇 DIY cardboard tunnel: Kids help build mysterious crawling adventures through camp

• 🏆⛺🎨 Best decorated tent contest: Show off your spookiest, most creative campsite setup

• 🍬👻🚪 Trick-or-treat between tents: Door-to-door Halloween fun, camping style

• 👘🎭🕺 Halloween costume party: Parade those amazing costumes with games and activities

• 🔥🍫👻 Spooky campfire treats - S'mores and Halloween goodies around the fire

‍ ‍... PLUS, we've got some fun campsite surprises up our sleeve too — we'll reveal those as we get closer to the trip!! 🎃✨

ALSO:

Tucked in the Presidio's forested hills, this campground offers families an idyllic escape right in the city, just a short walk from the coast:

• Golden Gate Bridge iconic views: A short walk down the trail from the campsite takes you to a spot with beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands

• 🏖️ Beachcombing+ beach play: Look for seashells, sea stars and hermit crabs, or build the most creative sandcastle decorated with shells and driftwood, with the Golden Gate Bridge as your backdrop

• 🕵️ Exploring old military bunkers with stairs and nooks

• 🌼 Looking for late-season wildflowers

• 🚢 Watching tanker ships and planes sail or fly by the busy Golden Gate as fog horns echo in the distance

• 🌅 Taking in a breathtaking sunset over the Golden Gate

• 🔥🍫 Classic camping fun: campfire, stories, s'mores, gazing up at a blanket of stars while roasting marshmallows, and quality time away from screens (yes, we can have a fire!)

• 🔍🗺️ Scavenger hunt and educational activities for families

• 🎨🖍️ Toy and arts-and-craft station for the kids when we're not out adventuring

• 🫶🏿🫶🏾🫶🏽 Community, friendship and support: Instant 'playdate' for your kiddos! We usually have kids from toddlers up to tweens join, with all of the kids playing together! You might see old MMH friends + hopefully make some new ones, too! MMH offers all kinds of support: Need help setting up your tent? Solo parenting on the adventure and need some extra support? We got you!

This is our idea of CAMP for kids, but it's for families and we get to explore different campgrounds and parks! You will make wonderful memories with your family and friends 🏕️❤️🫂🤲🏽!!

A century-old chestnut orchard in golden fall leaves and a taste of chestnut honey, then an easy lake hike with ducks, geese and an old oak to climb.

📅 SUNDAY, OCT. 25 • ⏰ 2 PM — 5 PM • 📍 La Honda Area

We'll discover an historic chestnut orchard 🌰🌳, learning about its history and tasting chestnut honey 🐝🍯! Afterward, we will go on an easy 1-mile hike around a serene lake with a pretty flat path where we’ll likely encounter a gaggle of geese or a raft of ducks and kids can climb a more than century-old oak tree!

Finally, for those who are interested, we'll grab an early dinner at Alice's Restaurant. I'm reaching out to see if they can offer us a special, quick menu.

🥳 PART OF OUR WINTER WONDERS BUNDLE (for DROP-IN only, see info below) 🥳

Your whole winter season, planned for you and your family — with our signature outings! ❄️

We have so much FUN on these adventures — they sell out every year — so this season we're capping numbers and prioritizing families who choose the bundle option first. Grab all 3 day adventures in one go, and your family saves $30 compared to booking each one separately at today's rates.

While you can still do drop-ins per day trip, bundle families get priority booking and guaranteed spots across all 3 dates. Drop-in spots will be limited.

🌰 10/25 — Chestnut Collecting, Chestnut Honey Tasting, Golden Fall Leaves, Lake Hike + Optional Pizza Dinner (La Honda Area)

💦 12/13 — Winter Waterfall Wonderland, Ladybug Love, Leopard-Spotted Banana Slugs + Fungi Hunt (South Bay)

🐌 1/18 — MLK Day: Banana Slug Bonanza, 1,700-Year-Old Redwood + Ancient Ocean Rocks (Peninsula)

SIGN UP HERE: https://www.familyadventuresquad.org/bundles/p/winter-wonders-family-adventure-bundle

FOR CHESTNUT COLLECTING, HERE'S WHAT TO EXPECT:

🌰🌳🐝 HISTORIC CHESTNUT ORCHARD: Discover a more than 100-year-old rare chestnut orchard! Rare because the American Chestnut was decimated by blight in the 1800s but this grove was protected due to its isolation! The fall leaves are a GORGEOUS GOLDEN so if you’re looking for fall leaves in the evergreen Bay Area, this is it!!! If the owner is available, he will give us a tour, but he will only know closer to the day if he can do this (he has in years past but every year is different).

🌰🍯🌰🍯🌰🍯 CHESTNUTS: Learn how to unearth chestnuts from their burrs and to sort them. You'll get to taste delicious chestnut honey and will likely get to sample a raw or roasted chestnut. Plus, you’ll leave with a recipe for roasting what are known as brown diamonds and maybe some chestnut honey or a roasting pan, if you opt to buy.

🍂🍃🍂🍃 FALL LEAVES FIX: Your kids (and you!) can run through piles of golden chestnut leaves! Get your fall "leaf" fix here!

💦🪿🌳 LAKE HIKE, DUCKS, GEESE + OLD OAKS: We will go on a 1.1-mile hike around a serene lake with a pretty flat path that is scooter- and bike-friendly for the kiddos. Along the way, we’ll likely run into a gaggle of geese or a raft of ducks (yes, that’s what a group of ducks is called!), plus the kids will get to run over wooden bridges and climb a more than 100-year-old oak tree!

🍕🍟🥗 PIZZA, PIZZA (SALAD + FRIES, TOO): We'll grab an early dinner at iconic Alice's Restaurant (I'm reaching out to see if they can offer us a special, quick menu)

🔍 SCAVENGER HUNT: Embark on a fun scavenger hunt around this historic area in the Santa Cruz Mountains

To get an idea of drive time, map to here (this is not the actual meeting point): https://maps.app.goo.gl/NckKQgSMagqABeu5A

WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU THERE!