The California Academy of Sciences is one of our absolute favorite places to visit in San Francisco. Located in the heart of Golden Gate Park, "The Cal Academy" is home to a world-class natural history museum, planetarium, aquarium, and indoor rainforest.
Many of the photos on this page are taken from the indoor rainforest or aquarium portions of the institution; while technically they are two separate areas of the museum, they are seamlessly blended together into one experience. Once inside the four-story biodome, you ascend up to the top of the tree canopy to observe birds and butterflies, all the while passing individual exhibits of reptiles, insects, and amphibians. At the top, you hop in an elevator and descend below ground level into the massive aquarium complex hidden below the rainforest.
Elsewhere, the Academy has an indoor earthquake simulator, a digital dome planetarium, a naturalism center, and a lush, green living roof. Additional exhibits rotate throughout the year.