I am so excited! I have just finished a one year long project of compiling detailed information about free botanical gardens in San Francisco and Bay Area and now I am very happy to share it with all of you, my readers. The goal of this article is to bring your attention to not just the most famous botanical gardens in San Francisco and Bay Area but also lesser known plant collections that may bloom just around the corner from you that require no effort or financial cost for visiting.
There is always something in bloom in California. If you are visiting San Francisco Bay Area, local botanical gardens are a must see. San Francisco, of course, is best known for its Golden Gate Park which is home to three botanical gems. San Francisco Botanical Garden is the most famous of the three. It is a huge garden with lots of plant exhibits from all over the world from Australia to South Africa to everything in between. Visiting San Francisco Botanical Garden is not free of charge but several times a year the garden offers free entrance to the public: every day between 7.30 and 9 am, every second Tuesday of the month, as well as on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Years Day. Check San Francisco Botanical Garden website for more details.
Also in Golden Gate Park there is a beautiful Japanese Tea Garden . It is especially spectacular during spring cherry blossom season. The entrance is generally not free, except if you enter before 10 am.
The third botanical garden in Golden Gate park is the Conservatory of Flowers – a huge Victorian-era greenhouse with more than 2000 species of tropical plants and a butterfly exhibit. This botanical gem is free to public every first Tuesday of the month.
On the Peninsular the most well-known botanical garden is in Filoli Estate in Woodside. Filoli garden is smaller than the botanical garden in San Francisco but it has its own unique cool features (I have highlighted the link above to my article about Filoli which gives you detailed information on what is in bloom in the garden and what is happening at Filoli Estate and gardens month by month). The only downside of Filoli gardens compared to botanical gardens in San Francisco and Berkley is that it has the most expensive entrance fee compared to other botanical gardens and it does not offer free admission, ever.
Berkeley is home to University of California Botanical Garden located on the University campus. Generally the UC Botanical Garden charges an entrance fee, except for the first Wednesday of each month. It is a little smaller than San Francisco Botanical Garden, nevertheless it has a very extensive collection of plants divided into 3 categories: geographical, ethnobotanical and taxonomic.
All the San Francisco Bay Area botanical gardens described above are well-known to both local residents and tourists. However, very few people know that there are plenty of unique FREE botanical gardens in San Francisco and Bay Area – seventeen to be exact – on top of the ones that I already mentioned. Some of them may be smaller in size and dedicated just to one variety of plants but they are all beautiful and worth your attention if you love flowers. Plus, they won’t cost you a penny ;-). Visiting a botanical garden is a great educational activity for kids during a weekend or as part of your “staycation” program during school out days.
You can visit 1 botanical garden at a time or several smaller ones in one sweep since some of them are located relatively close to each other.
My newest guide to 17 FREE Botanical Gardens in San Francisco and Bay Area has listings of botanical gardens throughout the entire Bay Area:
City of San Francisco
Peninsula
South Bay
East Bay
My guide to San Francisco Bay Area botanical gardens is divided into chapters depending on the type of plants showcased in the gardens. There are seven chapters all in all:
Tulips
Roses
Dahlias
Cacti
Japanese Gardens
Orchids
Botanical Gardens with multiple plant varieties
At the end of the guide I also highlight playgrounds for kids that are located in close proximity to these botanical gardens because if you can easily combine educational and fun, your kids will love you for that.
And the best part of my guide to 17 FREE Botanical Gardens in San Francisco Bay Area? – You can get it absolutely FREE of charge by subscribing to my newsletter below. Upon subscription, the guide will be automatically delivered to your e-mail inbox. All my newsletter subscribers receive exclusive content on monthly basis: travel guides, travel planning printables and much more.
One more important thing to know about visiting botanical gardens in San Francisco Bay Area: lots of bloom happens when it rains and lots of rain means lots of mud because some of the trails in the gardens are unpaved, dirt trails. The one thing you will definitely need for a comfortable walk in the botanical gardens in the wet season is rain boots.
I have the Hisea rain boots pictured below: they rare water proof and light on the feet, they come in various cute designs (mine have white and pink roses), they have a comfortable insole and a silky coating inside for easy slip on/slip off – all for under $25! You cannot go wrong with these:
If you are into flowers and/or wildflowers, I also recommend reading my previous posts on related topics:
Nature scavenger hunt in Edgewood Park
Flowers of California: urban hikes, flower fields and nature reserves
If you found this information about FREE botanical gardens in San Francisco and Bay Area useful, please do me a little favor and share this information with others, for there’s a good chance that it will help them with their travel plans. 🙂 Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram where I post many more cool photos and videos about our trips than I could include in a blog post and organize some nice giveaways!
P.S. If I missed any free botanical gardens in San Francisco and Bay Area, please, let me know in the comments below – I would love to visit them and add them to the guide.
