The insiders’ guide

Museum Day is back this Saturday! This annual tradition offers free admission to 20 of Sacramento County’s museums and parks. More than 76,000 people participated last year, and more are expected to in 2004.

Of course, popularity has its disadvantages. Many of the better-publicized museums become overcrowded, while other, more obscure venues go unnoticed. In years past, people waited in line outside the Crocker Art Museum and the Sacramento Zoo when they could have marvelled at some of Sacramento’s other wonders—the 30 historic airplanes at the McClellan Aviation Museum or the crumbling graves at the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery—with time to spare.

Here are some tips to help you see the most on Museum Day. The museums will be open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., but none will admit visitors after 4 p.m. Start early and be sure to be somewhere you’d like to spend an hour by 4 p.m.

Free shuttle buses leave at regular intervals from the Golden State Museum, located at 1020 O Street. Consider parking at the state parking garages and at lots at 10th and O streets and 11th and P streets. All are free for the day. Or, take light rail to the Archives Plaza station in front of the museum. If you must take your own car, avoid the museums in Old Sacramento and Land Park, where traffic is heaviest.

The museums most likely to have visitors waiting in line are the Governor’s Mansion, the Crocker Art Museum, the Sacramento Zoo and the Discovery Museum History Center. It’s best to plan to see these spots another day. (Hint: The Crocker Art Museum offers free admission every Sunday morning.) Support Museum Day’s lesser-known venues, such as the California Foundry Museum, the Folsom History Museum or the Museum of Medical History. Who knows what you’ll find?

Check www.sacmuseums.org or call (916) 641-3501 for a list of participating museums and locations.