The hook
Eighty-odd military aircraft sit out on a field in the Central Valley, an SR-71 and a B-52 among them, on the old bomber base that once flew them.
01Why it's worth it
Castle Air Museum spreads across about 35 acres of the former Castle Air Force Base near Atwater, a Strategic Air Command bomber base until it closed in the 1990s. The collection runs to more than 80 aircraft, mostly military and mostly out in the open where you can walk right up to them: an SR-71 Blackbird that flew the most operational missions of any ever built and was the first over Vietnam, a B-52, an F-117 stealth fighter, a Blue Angel, and one of the old presidential jets. It's one of the largest aviation museums on the West Coast, sitting in farm country that most people only pass on the way to Yosemite. For the size of the collection, it stays surprisingly quiet.
02How to experience it
It's off Highway 99 at Atwater, about two hours from the Bay. Admission is paid, and since most of it is outdoors, bring sun cover in summer, when the valley bakes. The indoor restoration hangar and a handful of cockpit-access aircraft add to the walk. It folds easily into a Yosemite or Central Valley trip if you want a reason to break the drive.