Julia Davis Park: Art, Animals, History and Horseshoes All in One Place

Julia Davis Park has all the ingredients for a fine day with the family. When the weather is nice, you can paddle boat, picnic and visit the zoo. When it isn’t, you can visit one of the three museums or the science discovery center. And you can’t beat the 89-acre park’s location, a few blocks from downtown Boise. Here are some of the other features of Julia Davis Park:

Zoo Boise
The zoo is a treat any day of the year because much of it is indoors or under shelter, such as the rainforest building and the giraffe barn. But it’s best in warmer months, where the kids will want to spend hours at the petting zoo and admiring species from lions, tigers and a sloth bear (oh my!) to giant anteaters and maned wolves in the new South America section.

Idaho Historical Museum
This museum brings state history alive with a big focus on Lewis and Clark; exhibits on cowboys and Indians; and representations of rooms in a typical 1880s settler’s home. Next door is the pioneer village with three 19th century homes.

Boise Art Museum
Sixteen galleries and a sculpture court show off a rich mixture of art in all media from the museum’s permanent collection and with several traveling exhibitions. Northwest artists are well represented. There’s even an interactive art room, the ARTexperience Gallery, for kids 12 and under.

Idaho Black History Museum
Figures from Frederick Douglass to Barack Obama, plus African-Americans who have played a role in state history, are honored in paintings, photos and printed materials here. It’s all inside the old St. Paul Baptist Church, a 1921 black church in Boise that was moved to the park in 1998.

Discovery Center of Idaho
At DCI, kids and their parents will find hands-on exhibits and activities that take the boredom out of making scientific “discoveries.” For example, they can learn how pulleys lift heavy loads by lifting themselves 6 feet in the air in the air brake chair; see how one-way mirrors work by looking through the “looking glass”; and operate mechanical arms to see how robotics work.

Recreation in the Park
A walk through the park reveals six tennis courts, 12 horseshoe pits, a disc golf course, a large playground, a pond with paddleboat rentals (in the warmer months) and huge lawns for picnicking and barbecues. There’s also a rose garden and—bisecting the park—the Boise River Greenbelt Path, which extends for many miles in both directions. 

HelloBoise Tip: The park is open sunrise to midnight, dogs must be leashed and glass beverages are prohibited.

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