Merced features the Yosemite Wildlife Museum. Northwest of Merced, the Castle Air Museum in Atwater exhibits 44 vintage military aircraft. In Le Grand, southeast of Merced, visit the Buchanan Hollow Nut Company, where you can trek through the fields and tour the processing plant. Also in Le Grand is Bright's Pioneer Exhibit, which features antique vehicles. And, in Madera, farther to the south, the Madera County Museum displays agricultural exhibits and Native American artifacts. Bird-watchers can search for 200 species, including migratory waterfowl and shore birds, at the nearby Grassland Wetlands of Merced County, a 25-square-mile area including five national wildlife refuges.

Year-round, in the San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area off Highway 152 (west of Los Banos), you can view birds of prey, deer, and other wildlife.