Explore the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley

As San Francisco Bay Area residents, we're really lucky to have a world-class university like UC Berkeley right in our backyard. It offers so many things to do for families, and one of our favorite destinations there is the UC Botanical Garden.

Located in Strawberry Canyon in the hills overlooking the campus and San Francisco Bay, the UC Botanical Garden is a 34-acre wonderland of 10,000 varieties of plants and trees from all over the world that's been a Berkeley fixture since 1890.

I hadn't been to the botanical garden for a while, and decided to go there with family in tow recently. I had forgotten how big the garden was, and how much there was to see. We saw an amazing variety of cacti in the Deserts of America section, walked through native California landscapes and lush Asian and Australasian forests, and more. Strawberry Creek runs downhill through the garden, forming little waterfalls in places and adding to the magic of the surroundings.

You'll also find special gardens with herbs, Chinese medicinal plants, roses, succulents, orchids, carnivorous plants, crops of the world, and much more. Some of these collections are housed in their own climate-controlled structures that include signage about the plants and their environments.

When you're done exploring the main part of the botanical garden, cross the road and enter the Mather Redwood Grove and take a walk under the towering trees. It's cool and shady and a lovely place to relax. There's an amphitheater in the grove, too, which hosts concerts and performances throughout the year.

In addition to exploring the garden on your own, you can take part in monthly family activities led by garden educators and covering subjects ranging from botanical crafts to carnivorous plants. Additionally, the UC Botanical Garden offers a "Green Stuff" summer science day camp for children in grades 1 to 6.

On your way out, don't miss the Garden Shop and the Plant Deck. The shop offers a wide variety of botanical books, gifts, puzzles and games, T-shirts, and more. They also sell cold drinks and snacks. The Plant Deck is a nursery offering a selection of California native plants, cacti, succulents, trees, shrubs, insectivores, herbs, perennials, and more,  most of which are propagated by volunteers at the garden.

Learn more about the UC Botanical Garden and it's programs at botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu.

If you go

The UC Botanical Garden is located at 200 Centennial Drive, Berkeley CA 94720. It's open daily from 10 am to 5 pm and closed the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Admission is $18 for adults, $12 for seniors 65+ and non-UC Berkeley students, $8 for youth 5–17 and free for children 4 and under and UC Berkeley students, staff, and faculty. Advance reservations are recommended and can be purchased online here.

To get there from Marin, take 101 to 580 in San Rafael and cross the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge. Follow 580 to Interstate 80 in Albany and then take the University Avenue exit. Head east on University Avenue, then turn left on Oxford Street, right on Hearst Avenue, and left on Gayley Road. Turn right on Stadium Rim Way then left onto Centennial Drive. The parking lot for the botanical garden will be on your left.

Parking costs $1.50 per hour and you can pay at the machine on-site or with the Pay by Phone app. You can also get to the UC Botanical garden via the UC Berkeley Campus Shuttle (Monday–Friday only) which costs $1 for the general public.