There’s no doubt about it, mini golf is a ton of fun! No matter what you are looking for, a nice family outing, a super competitive game of skill with your mates, or even as a way to get a party or an event warmed up. Mini golf will do the trick.
For people living in Riverside, California there are a few great options for mini golf, all of them have something special to offer that sets them apart making them great options for any occasion. In this article, three different locations are discussed, one for families with kids, one that is perfect for teens and one where you can take a group of adults for some serious miniature fun.
For the Kids: Glo Golf, at the Ontario Mills.
A short half hour drive up the 15 freeway from Riverside is the Ontario Mills, one of the biggest shopping malls in the inland empire. Among the many different shops in the mall, one place stands out for families with kids looking for a fun kids friendly mini golf experience. Glo Golfs unique twist is that the games are played under black light, with fluorescent balls and course obstacles. Kids love black light, and the cool atmosphere of playing golf indoors and in the dark. The room is decorated with plenty of underwater themed murals and props making it a fun place for kids to just explore. The room is dark, but the black light is bright enough that you won’t have to worry about kids who are uncomfortable in the dark.
Glo golf does mini golf, but not much else. They do host birthday parties and events, and there is an area that can be set up for seating for birthday parties, but other than that, don’t expect any extras. The golf is the draw at this place. The lack of additional features is not to big of an issue though, as glo golf has the advantage of being in the middle of a mall. For a party of kids, the Rainforest cafe is very close by and always a favorite restaurant for kids, as well as two excellent arcades at Dave & Busters and Gameworks, both of with are also very close to Glo Golf.
Being an indoor facility, glo golfs courses are more compact than most traditional mini golf courses, but when dealing with a party of kids, this can actually be an advantage. It’s a lot easier keeping track of a bunch of excited children when they are all in the same room as opposed to letting them loose on an outdoor mini golf course.
For golfing with kids, there’s no better local alternative than Glo Golf
For the teens: Castle Park, Riverside
Right between the La Sierra and Tyler off ramps off the 91 freeway you’ll find Castle Park. This local amusement park has developed itself into a park that caters to teens as a local attraction. This status as a teenager meeting spot gives the parks mini golf course it’s draw for families with teens.
The park has four unique courses of varying difficulty, each course with it’s own theme. The grounds are well kept and features some beautiful landscaping as well as some very interesting obstacles. The more challenging courses might be too frustrating if your party has smaller children, but it’s easy to split up your group and the mini golf area is completely separated from the rest of the theme park. You can also go golfing after dark as the course is lit up by almost 5000 lights.
The park it self has a restaurant, a cafe and a snack bar where you can get a variety of foods, including pizza, burgers, salad bar, snacks and desserts, so keeping your party fed is easy. As you would expect from a theme park, there’s also a respectable selection of rides. The park is rather small, but still manages to provide thrills for all ages.
What really makes this location stand out is the affordable admission, and the fact that the park is local to Riverside, making it a lot easier to let your young teenagers go on their own to enjoy a day with friends.
For the adults : Scandia Park, Ontario
Also located along the 15 freeway, this park has a Scandinavian theme with the decorations and rides names being lifted from the Scandinavian countries. This Scandinavian theme carries over to the two miniature golf courses that are beautifully decorated with tons of flowers and idyllic water features. The courses and the landscaping are kept up very well and combined with the Nordic theme, it’s easy to get into the viking spirit of competitive mini golf. Both courses are very well laid out, and offer a good challenge without being too difficult. The serious mini golfer might find the courses a little too easy and might prefer picking one of the harder courses at Castle Park for example, but for the player just looking for a good round of fun, the courses are more than suitable.
The course is in a theme park, so there will be plenty of child friendly activities, but the reason why this course is picked as the option for the grown ups is the better restaurant, and the surprisingly fun batting cages in the park. The betting cages is a great way to release, or maybe build up, the legendary battle frenzy of the vikings. While not suited for everybody, the batting cages actually proves to be more fun than one would expect, and is a welcome and unique addition to what you usually find around a mini golf course. Secondly, and probably the most important reason for this venue to be the place to pick for a grown up mini golf fest is the restaurant. The park actually has two restaurants, but the one that lies by the golf course is the best restaurant covered in this guide. While not spectacular in any way, the restaurant has a nice atmosphere, where you can sit down and enjoy your meal in relative peace and quiet and choose from a more varied menu.
Any of these locations will offer you a good game of mini golf, hopefully following this guide your next mini golfing adventure will be as much fun as a game of mini golf should be!
