CuriOdyssey is a combined science museum and wildlife rescue center perched on Coyote Point in San Mateo, California, overlooking the San Francisco Bay. What began in 1954 as the San Mateo County Junior Museum has grown into a hands-on destination where kids experiment with scientific phenomena just steps from naturalistic animal habitats, blending STEM learning with conservation in a single small campus.
The organization has reinvented itself twice, becoming the Coyote Point Museum for Environmental Education in 1974 before rebranding as CuriOdyssey in 2011. Today it holds accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and is a member of the Association of Science-Technology Centers, a dual status few institutions its size can claim.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: San Mateo, California (Coyote Point)
- Opened: 1954 (as San Mateo County Junior Museum)
- Size: 3 acres
- Animal Count: About 70 live animals
- Annual Visitors: Tens of thousands
- Famous for: Rescued, non-releasable California native wildlife paired with hands-on science exhibits
What Visitors Experience
Inside, CuriOdyssey packs dozens of interactive science exhibits alongside naturalistic habitats, letting visitors move from a hands-on physics playground straight to enclosures housing bobcats, raccoons, and birds of prey. A walk-through aviary lets guests wander among non-releasable native birds, while surrounding gardens showcase plants adapted to the Bay Area climate.
Weekend programs built around ‘Animal Ambassadors’ bring keepers and their charges, birds of prey, snakes, and other native species, out for close-up presentations and educational talks, giving the museum a rotating cast of encounters beyond its permanent residents.
A Rescue-First Mission
Unlike zoos built around a collection of exotic species, CuriOdyssey’s animal population exists specifically because its residents cannot survive in the wild, most arrive through rehabilitation partners after injury or imprinting, and nearly all are native to California. That rescue-driven mission, paired with the museum’s compact 3-acre footprint on Coyote Point Recreation Area, has let CuriOdyssey carve out a distinct niche among Bay Area family attractions since its main museum building opened in 1981.
Explore more: Explore more Zoos & Aquariums.
Easier on your back than carrying in arms all day at the zoo.
Cheap insurance for splash zones, water rides and surprise showers.
Rubber-armored for small hands, so kids can find the snow leopard before the adults do.
CuriOdyssey FAQs
Where is CuriOdyssey located?
CuriOdyssey sits at 1651 Coyote Point Drive in San Mateo, California, within the Coyote Point Recreation Area overlooking San Francisco Bay.
How many animals live at CuriOdyssey?
CuriOdyssey is home to about 70 rescued animals, most of them native to California and unable to survive in the wild.
Is CuriOdyssey a zoo or a science museum?
It’s both: CuriOdyssey combines hands-on science exhibits with naturalistic wildlife habitats, and it holds accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums along with membership in the Association of Science-Technology Centers.
Get More from CuriOdyssey
Log the coasters, stadiums, and venues you’ve experienced, rate CuriOdyssey, and see what your friends thought. Get the ThrillZing app.
Photo: Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.