Most write-ups of California Citrus State Historic Park are written for people driving in from Los Angeles or Palm Springs. If you already live off Van Buren or Dufferin, you do not need another paragraph about how oranges built the state. You need to know when the tours run, which weekends are worth blocking off, and why the grove across the fence is still a working farm and not a diorama.
That last part is the point of this guide. The corner of Arlington Heights that meets Van Buren Boulevard is not a preserved landscape. It is an active citrus operation with a fruit stand across the street, a six-mile historic parkway running through it, and a calendar that fills up faster than most residents realize.
The park and the fruit stand are the same operation
Here is the piece most neighbors miss. The orange grove inside the state park is not maintained by California State Parks staff. Gless Ranch won a coveted bid to design, plant, and farm the orange grove at the new California Citrus State Historic Park. The same family still farms the trees lining Victoria Avenue.
Their retail counter sits directly across the road. The "little fruit Stand" opened on the corner of Dufferin Ave. and Van Buren Blvd. across the street from the California Citrus State Historic Park. The current market at 9479 Dufferin Avenue next to the California Citrus State Historical Park carries oranges, grapefruit, lemons, dates, avocados, and figs, plus fresh juice on weekend mornings.
So the mental model to hold is this: one family farms the historic grove, sells the fruit fifty yards away, and hosts the free tours through it. That is why the fruit tastes different from the grocery store, and why the park does not feel like a museum after you have been ten times. The trees are being pruned, irrigated, and harvested on a working schedule.
Grove Tours, Visitor Center, and what actually runs when
The park itself is open every day, but the staffed parts run on a Friday to Sunday rhythm. There is some inconsistency in the public listings on tour start times, so worth calling ahead if you are bringing guests.
| What | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Park grounds | Daily, 8 am to 5 pm | Self-guided grove walks, picnic areas |
| Visitor Center and museum | Fri to Sun, 10 am to 4 pm | Exhibits, gift shop, restrooms |
| Free Grove Tours | Fri to Sun | Tours are offered Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm; the state parks page also lists a 10 am slot |
| Citrus tastings | Fri to Sun, 10 am to 3:30 pm | On the back patio of the Visitor Center |
| Parking | $5 per vehicle | Pay via the LAZ app or the kiosk |
A few things residents pick up after their first visit. Space is limited so please pre-register by calling 951-780-6222 Monday-Thursday or 951-637-8044 Friday-Sunday. Tours run about 45 minutes and get hilly toward the back of the grove. And there is a weather rule that trips up first-timers in July and August: Tours are not offered when temps are over 90 degrees. If the forecast is triple digits, plan the visit for the Visitor Center and tasting patio only, or shift to a cooler weekend.
Dogs are welcome on the trails on a six-foot leash but not inside the buildings. If you have friends visiting who want to buy fruit to take home, send them to Gless Ranch after the tour rather than expecting to pick from the trees. Park rules prohibit picking, and the ranch stand has more variety anyway.
The six-mile ride you can start from your driveway
The other underused asset in Arlington Heights is the parkway itself. The six-mile Victoria Avenue Bike Path in Riverside dates all the way back to 1892 — and is even listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Bikers will experience a peaceful ride through the quaint neighborhoods of Riverside and rural orange groves of Riverside's citrus-filled past.
A little context on how it got there. Victoria Avenue, named for Britain's reigning monarch at the time, was envisioned by early Riverside resident Matthew Gage, a jeweler from Ireland, in an effort to entice people to buy land in the vast arid lands known as Arlington Heights. This route connected the newly developed farm lands with downtown Riverside. The parallel bike and equestrian paths are the city's second official off-street bike facility.
Two practical notes for residents who want to actually ride it, not just read about it:
- The dedicated paved path runs between La Sierra and Arlington Avenues. Past Arlington, you continue in a bike lane out to Arroyo Drive.
- A short gap interrupts the otherwise continuous trail from Harrison Street to Tyler Street, so cyclists will need to safely merge into the parallel roadway.
The best time to ride is late winter through early spring, when the blossoms come in. Riders who have done it for years know to leave the path once or twice and turn up a side street through the groves, which is where the smell gets strongest and the traffic gets lightest.
Dates worth putting on the calendar
Two events are the anchors of the local year, and both are worth booking early because they draw from well beyond the neighborhood.
4th Annual Citrus Festival at California Citrus State Historic Park. Saturday, March 28, 2026, 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Free. Hosted by the Friends of California Citrus Park, enjoy citrus tastings, craft vendors, cultural and educational booths, cooking demonstrations, and live music. There will also be hands-on activities, a kid's corner with games, crafts, story time and more, plus plenty of food, beverages, and a beer garden. Parking for the festival is offsite. Parking is available for ten dollars at Arlington High School and Bethel Christian School with free shuttle service to the park, and accessible parking is available on site.
Citrus Heritage Run through the state park groves. The Citrus Heritage Run is a Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, and 1-mile kids race on Saturday, January 9, 2027. This unique and sweet-smelling course winds through the historic orange groves of the California Citrus State Historic Park in Riverside, CA. Register early. ALL RACE DISTANCES SOLD OUT IN 2026. If you have kids who are on the fence about running, the 1-mile is where families tend to start.
Beyond those two, the park hosts smaller weekend programming and the Sunkist Center handles weddings and private events. If a Saturday feels quieter than expected on the trails, check whether a wedding has booked the gazebo lawn.
A working Saturday plan for someone who already lives here
For residents, the trap is treating the citrus belt like a one-off outing. It works better as a rotating background for regular weekends.
Park by the Visitor Center at 9400 Dufferin around 10:30 am. Do the 11 am Grove Tour if you have out-of-town guests, or skip it and walk the self-guided loop if you have been on the tour before. Cross Van Buren to Gless Ranch for a bag of navels and a bottle of juice. Load the bikes and ride the Victoria Avenue path west toward La Sierra when the blossoms are in, or east toward Arlington in cooler months. Home by early afternoon.
That is the rhythm that separates a resident from a visitor. The visitor sees the park once and moves on. The resident treats the grove as the produce aisle, the parkway as the running route, and the festival weekend as a standing item on the March calendar.
Arlington Heights is one of the last corners of the Inland Empire where a working commercial grove sits inside a state park, farmed by the same family who sells the fruit across the street. That is a specific fact about this neighborhood, and it will not stay this way forever. Enjoy it while the trees are still in the ground.
Thinking about a move in or out of the neighborhood?
Whether you are curious what your home would sell for now that you have seen a few citrus-belt weekends bring buyers into the neighborhood, or you are eyeing a move up to a larger lot closer to the parkway, the team at 1903 Realty tracks Arlington Heights block by block. Reach out for a home valuation or a straightforward conversation about what your street is doing this quarter.
