49er Fun Park

Specs
Type:	Amusement, Birthday Parties, Arcades
Distance:	Local
Area:	Grass Valley
Ages:	Ages 3 and up
Cost:	$ to $$
Information:	49erfunpark.com

If you've lived in Grass Valley for more than 10 minutes, you've either been to 49er Fun Park or at least heard about it. It's a great little local amusement center that is something like a cross between Chuck-E-Cheese and Scandia Family Fun Park. Inside there is an arcade with a smattering of video game consoles and some skill games like hoops and skeeball. Kids can play the games or try to earn tickets, which they can then trade for prizes that are way out of proportion in size to the amount of money you spent on tokens. But for some reason, kids love this. It's like Vegas for children.

Outside there is more fun: a mini-golf course (complete with misters for those hot Grass Valley summers)  and a go-cart track. Some of the carts are single-seat while others can seat two, so even little ones can have fun on the track.

49er Fun Park is also a great place for birthday parties. You can either just rent the facilities or you can pay extra for a hosted party, which is well worth the money because the staff will take care of all the entertainment, party games, present time and clean up. 

Really, this place is under-appreciated. We tend to forget about it when trying to come up with ideas for something to do with the kids, when it's really a great way to have fun without making the drive to Sacramento.