Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens

Beautiful space for a walk. Walkers and cyclists also use zoom past on the Riverwalk. The Gardens are gorgeous in the summer, and roses hold on in the fall. Great spot to make a stop when in Rockford. Responsible dog owners can walk their canines. Don’t forget to explore the nooks and crannies.

3 Stars – Nice but Not Worth the Long Drive We visited the Nicholas Conservatory to see the Dino exhibit. The facility itself is well maintained, and the ticket prices are reasonable ($10 for adults, $8 for kids and seniors) and easy to purchase right at the door. The plant displays are lush, and the dinosaur figures—crafted from recycled materials—were a creative touch. That said, the conservatory is very small. If you walk straight through without stopping, you could see everything in about five minutes. The rose garden outside was pleasant but not particularly memorable. Overall, while it was a nice little stop, it definitely wasn’t worth a three-hour drive from Chicago.

The dinos made of all plant parts was really cool. The gentleman who worked that day was a wealth of info!! All staff so friendly. It's really worth your time to!

It looks bigger from the outside than it does the inside and I thought there would be a lot more plans but my toddler did enjoy the dinosaur exhibit but it did only take like 5 minutes to walk through. We were able to use our other membership to get in so thankfully we didn't have to pay because if I did I would have been disappointed. The outside is nice but it's unclear if it's all connected or if its free.

This place was amazing! I took my three boys here to learn about the life cycle of butterflies. They were hesitant but brave and curious. We came today on a Tuesday so it was 5 dollars per person. You have to register and set a time and buy your tickets in advance. But it was super easy. Id like to share some of our videos and pictures.

My first time visiting. Very nice. We enjoyed the dinosaurs the Cory's the waterfalls it was all just beautiful and it was a beautiful day for all the flowers outside

This was so great my big girls and little one all loved this Dino experience! The plants were amazing to me a gardener!

I loved it there. I have to boys 10 and 5 years old. They didn't want to leave. Definitely will go back

Great place to go on a rainy day. Check out the schedule to see when they offer specialty programs.

Yes, botanical garden packs a lot into a small space. Even though it has a smaller footprint than many other regional, botanical gardens captures a lot in those small spaces. Definitely worth a visit.

Spent a lovely Sunday afternoon here with my husband & newborn. The staff was inviting & friendly upon entry. They offer military discount, score!! Bathrooms were located throughout & clean! The establishment was well kept & it was a great place to have photos taken. While we were there, a couple was getting engagement photos taken! It was ADA friendly for the most part. The elevator was broken however to the top floor so we couldn't visit with the stroller but that's okay'! The grounds outside were nice to walk around as well. They offer exhibits throughout year. We'd like to come back for the butterfly exhibit!

Certainly this can't be compared too much with the bigger conservatories and gardens. It's still pretty good for Rockford however. Nicholas Conservatory is one of the highlights of Sinnissippi Park. Even though it's not that big, it still has a lot packed inside. The price for it may be too much, but those going often can save with a membership. Along with the lagoon and botanical gardens, this makes up a significant area of the park, one of the best parts of the city. It's $10 for adults outside of Winnebago County, cheaper for residents. There's also memberships for those going many times. Inside there's lots of flowers and trees, along with some wildlife to enjoy. You can see the butterfly exhibit the few times it's open. Koi fish live in the ponds, and you can get a good look on the bridges. The lagoon has a few swans. Great to check out when looking for something to do around here. It's not that big, so it doesn't take a long time to get around it. The holiday season has lights up, so it makes it a place to go yearlong.

There is more to explore in the greenhouse than I expected & I look forward to visiting in the future as exhibits change.

We went right after Christmas when the inside exhibit had up the neat and long trains throughout and the outside had the awesome display of lights. Inside: If you go on Tuesdays the tickets are $5 for non-locals and $4 for locals as part of what they call a "Tropical Tuesday" special. The conservatory is very green and nice, however it is kind of small so I recommend going on a Tuesday to save some money. There are tropical plants from all over with signs so you know what you are looking at. There is also a pond with Koi fish that you can sit by and enjoy. It is cute however not somewhere that I can say you would spend more than an hour at. Even a half hour might be long for some people here since its small. The outside area was filled with lights during the Christmas season and I highly recommend taking a stroll through this to fully take in all the beauty! Dress warmly as it gets cold out here.

It's a beautiful park and gardens along the Rock. While the gardens and lagoon have been around for decades, the addition of the conservatory added to its appeal. It sits next to a walking path along the river. It's a great way to spend some time wondering around in a beautiful place.

Love this spot in any season!! Grateful for beautiful public spaces to come enjoy life in Rockford. Right by the river, Nicholas offers a lot of activities and views. You can pay a small fee to go inside their huge greenhouse space (which is especially nice in the winter--feels like you instantly transported to the Caribbean for an hour) or you can take advantage of the wonderful views outside for free. In the winter they offer a really cool light exhibit that stretches for literal blocks. It's a great activity for any group, family, or couple. I'd highly recommend!

I went here while they had the butterfly exhibit open, and I brought my two small children. I had ordered tickets in advance but there is timed entry, so if you are unsure of what time you'll arrive, better to just buy at the door. First they had us go in a room where we watched a 10 minute video about handling the butterflies and where they source them. Next, we went into a room called the emergence room. You could see butterflies that had just come out of their cocoon in the past 24 hours. There was also coloring for the children, a few books, a matching game. Next we actually entered the conservatory space. I was expecting that the whole thing be filled with butterflies, but the butterfly space is about the size of a typical living room. You only have 10-15 minutes in there and everyone is given a nectar stick that helps attract the butterflies to you. I thought this was a fun experience but a lot of rigidity for my wild 2.5 year old. The prices are a little steep in my opinion, but 2 and under got in free. They do have a gift shop with an array of toys. We brought a stroller inside which was helpful as we could take it everywhere except in the actual butterfly room.

I'll start this review by saying that I don't live in Rockford, more like 30 min outside of Chicago and I've been to many different conservatories/botanical gardens. It had a nice variety of orchids and plants, some large, some small, with a beautiful mini waterfall and Koi pond inside. The area inside was nicely landscaped with several benches placed throughout for places to sit and a varying path that had rock steps in a few places which added a nice outdoorsy touch brought into the inside. There were an amazing amount of Koi for such a small space. There was a butterfly exhibit (closed) and a bee exhibit (closed) and a rooftop area (closed), that if opened would have probably brought this review up to 3 stars. I knew the butterfly exhibit wasn't open yet, but we were only in town for the weekend. Because of the size of the overall conservatory and that so many of the few attractions they had were closed, the price of $8 per person was a bit much. I think $5 pp would have been more reasonable. I think we stayed about 45 min and that was us stretching it out quite a bit and me taking pics of flowers. The outside is really beautiful as it is right along the river, but you can do that without even paying for the conservatory. I am sure it would be more worth the price had everything been open.

It was small it was cute and the exhibit was astounding. I took my parents here when they came to visit from la and they absolutely loved it. It's a great place to go see with out of townies as well as people who live here. Btw the staff was amazing and kind. Little shout out to them.

This place is one of my favorite places in Rockford. They always a cool event going on from the butterfly exhibit to the delicate forces exhibit. Its a great place for everyone from kids to adults. A great way to spend a Saturday morning or afternoon.

Beautiful conservatory that I didn't think would exist in Rockford. Albeit small, they do host a number of special events throughout the year such as the butterfly exhibit and this fall, the model railways. The setup of the model trains were meticulously placed to go around and through the conservatory. They even have an ice rink pond, which is only open when in season. Don't spend all your time indoors through, their outdoor garden area needs equal exploring. Situated along the riverwalk, this is a peaceful and relaxing place to stop for a short visit!

This should be at the top your list of outdoor spaces to visit in Rockford. Why? (1) It's on the river with great views (2) It's connected to the river path meaning you have great access to all of the downtown parks and recreation areas (3) The outdoor gardens are free with beautiful landscaping and intimate spaces to relax (4) The indoor gardens have some amazing plants and water gardens that you won't see anywhere else in town (5) There's usually a special exhibit indoors like butterflies or lorikeets that you can feed and they will land on you! (6) During the holidays they have a free light display Go, just, go.

A tropical escape in the middle of Rockford! It felt like we were a million miles away from the cold Chicago winter when we stepped into the solarium on this visit to the Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens. The sun was shining through the window and the humidity and serenity quickly takes you away into a great escape. All of the colors and flowers in bloom were wonderful to see. There is a short audio tour that you can listen to on your phone (probably 5 minutes total). I did not have my AirPods with me but if you have a pair I would suggest bringing them with you. Otherwise, you can just hold your phone to your ear to hear the short 10-15 second clips (there is nothing that you need to see on your screen during the audio). The facility itself has good access to bathrooms in the main area when you walk in, and it is right off a nice walking path and pond. There are also plenty of little places to sit for a minute and just take in your surroundings.

This is an amazing addition to Sinnissippi Park. Nestled right beside the bike/walking path on the Rock River is the conservatory. A huge greenhouse filled with exotic plants and trees labeled with their species. It's a nominal fee to walk through the greenhouse, but free to just walk the paths along the gardens and lagoon. This particular visit was at Christmas time and their was a gorgeous light display. Someone donates a spectacular tree and it gets decorated with amazing colored lights. The entire park and gardens got decorated as well. Definitely worth a visit! They also have different exhibits, butterfly, birds, etc. It's not only beautiful, but educational as well.

Neat place and very well maintained. The landscaping is truly incredible and the green house area is unique and relaxing. So much information about plants and many I haven't seen before. The lady working 9-23 day time was SO nice and helpful...she had a true passion for the garden and I enjoyed her conversation. Really neat outdoor rose gardens...I've never seen anything like it! Walking the riverfront trail or biking after is a fantastic addition to the day!

This is a wonderful place to visit along the Rock River just north of downtown Rockford. The indoor & outdoor gardens are beautifully planned & kept up so well. It is educational & so relaxing. The tropical indoor garden is very enjoyable in chilly weather while the outdoor ponds & gardens are are great when it warms up. Enjoyed walking the path along the river there as well. There is a cost for the gardens but it's reasonable.

We've been here twice, once to see the indoor conservatory and most recently to see Santa and the Christmas light display outdoors. The conservatory is on the smaller side. I'm not saying anything negative about it, it's done nicely and the floral decor is excellent, but it doesn't take long to peruse the entire building. The Christmas lights and Santa visit last night were exceptional. Seeing Santa for my son was a nice cap to our day and the light displays were outstanding. We live near the Morton Arboretum that offers a Christmas light show for about $60 for the three of us. Nicholas Conservatory was free! No matter what time of year you're here you have the riverside and path for additional amusement, like biking, walking, running, kayaking, etc. And don't forget to take a peek at the Rockmen Guardians nearby. Cheers!

Beautiful, family friendly place to spend the day! We get excited to see the flowers as soon as spring starts and the duck pond is always a great place to relax. At Christmas, the lights are gorgeous and the little ones love walking around all bundled up looking at the display. The bike path is a nice place to take the dog and walk on your lunch break! One of my favorite places in Rockford!

We love coming every few months when they have a new display. We usually come on "Tropical Tuesdays" when the entrance fee is only $3. This is a great experience for people of all ages. Learning about their new exhibits and the exploring the plant varieties they have. Also love to walk around the gardens.

This place is gorgeous. We were in the area driving around, and looked on Yelp for things to do near by. This popped up and we decided to check it out. It is so pretty, and relaxing.... GREAT find that we werent expecting! I think the price of entry would be a little more fair at $5, instead of $8 but regardless, we enjoyed it!

Came here for our engagement photos and the conservatory is so beautiful and green. It's well maintained. And the lights in the winter time around the holidays is a bonus!! Go see them if you haven't!

This small conservatory features lots of orchids plus a small butterfly tent from late March to mid May. It's an interesting little place but I think the $8 admission is a bit steep for what it has to offer. $3 would be more reasonable. Perhaps coming from Chicago where the huge Garfield Park Conservatory offers free admission with a suggested donation is why I didn't find this conservatory all that impressive. There really ought to be more flowers inside to make up for the lack of space. Plus the butterfly tent was severely lacking in diversity. All we saw was Monarchs and Painted Ladys with maybe one or two Buckeyes and Gulf Fritillarys. And no one was monitoring people to prevent them from stepping on the butterflies. It was a disappointment that I do not plan to repeat which is unfortunate because the building and surrounding grounds are done so nicely. However, there isn't much within the conservatory itself to justify more than a half hour visit. Visited: April 13, 2014

I love this place! The gardens are so well cared for and pruned so beautifully that they're ideal for pictures, and just a fun place to enjoy the nice weather. I've never been inside because the outside is gorgeous as is. The rose garden smells wonderful. If you walk towards the river, the bike path is right there and you can run, walk, or cycle along it with the gardens and statues/sculptures on one side and the river on the other. Such a perfect place!

Had a great night, good music and food along the shores of the rock river. It was a nice relaxing evening .

Cool area. I've only been inside the botanical gardens twice. It's plants, so that's what you get. The bonsai tree and butterfly exhibits were fun. I walk/bike past it most days and they seem to have some kind of show many nights around 6 PM. I thought about doing the Bridesmaids thing of stealing the show by hanging around, but stuck to using their restrooms.

Always clean and well maintained. Inside is absolutely beautiful. And they have multiple interactive exhibits throughout the year. The staff is very knowledgeable and helpful.

It was a beautiful Conservatory. If you are looking for something to do for a hour or two stop in. Take some pictures. Enjoy the orchids and Glass men.

Nicholas Conservatory and Gardens is a 'tropical getaway' especially in the winter. Palm Trees and lovely plants thrive; and the air is calming and healing. A must-see. Five Stars.:)

This is a place of respect & tranquility.. great place to to sit watch the Koi swim or read a book unwind from the hustle and bustle of city life aka stresses of life.

Not much to do, except when an event is going on but beautiful! They do have a bunch of adult and kid events with lots of make and take crafts. They do weddings but disappointed the inside room doesn't hold many people and has huge murals that can't be covered. We went for breakfast with Santa and my son had a blast! We use the bike path outside often, can't wait for spring to come again!

We showed up right before it closed but we still paid and went inside to explore. We really loved it! It's small but beautifully done. We got lucky because there was almost no one inside so we had free roam of the place to take pictures. It was early spring so the gardens outside weren't blooming but that's ok, we still enjoyed it. We took a small walk along the bath near the river afterwards and that was fun as well If your in the area, make sure to visit it

We went to see some flora during the January chill and were not disappointed. The indoor space is compact, well maintained and has plenty to see. We were there just before some sort of orchid event, so got to see most of the exotic orchids, without the crowds. There is so much going on that we walked through again and saw a lot we'd missed on the first go-round. It was not crowded and we took our time, pausing to sit on the benches and watch the koi swimming.

Gorgeous building and the plant variety is amazing. The special exhibits are always fun. Definitely a far cry from the old Sinnissippi Greenhouse, and a pretty view even from the road.

Nice place to visit but they need a security guard in the parking lot. Three cars broken into while we were there on a Saturday afternoon.

My husband and I found ourselves visiting the conservatory so often we became members. They offer so many wonderful programs for the whole family. The kids love them all. Off to see the rose gardens today.

I'm a photographer that recently photographed a wedding at Nicholas conservatory on Saturday August 27. Little did I know as a professional photographer Who photograph thousands of weddings throughout the Chicagoland area and the northwest suburbs that this Particular Place "Nicholas conservatory",does not feed their photographer or their vendors until after everybody else in the wedding party has already eaten.. I would just like to make a suggestion to the people who run Nicholas Conservatory, the next group of vendors, especially the photographers who spend numerous hours with the bride prior to getting to the event, the photographers are hungry, and still have a job to do so having the Photographers eat after everybody else does is absurd, because after everybody has eaten the photographer has to go back to work photographing the rest of the event which is most likely the first dance of the bride and groom. So how do you expect the photographers to eat at the end after everybody Else has eaten when that's the time the party starts up again? My suggestion would be you is feed the photographers first, so when the guests and most importantly the bride and groom are ready to start their party The photographers would be fueled and ready to start working again!! Just a suggestion.. I never got to eat!!

This is a lovely place to go for a couple of hours. The indoor space is not large and only takes about 30-45 minutes to walk through, but there is a lot to see in that space. It is well laid out and tended to. The outdoor space is beautiful with the pool and area to walk around. There is even additional areas with a rose garden and other spaces as well. You don't have to pay to see the outdoor space but if you have the time, I would do the indoor as well, it is very lovely.

Great for watching fireworks on the 4th of July! Plus the cleanest outdoor bathrooms in Rockford.

I have been here about 4 times for some of the special exhibits they have. By far our family favorite is the butterfly exhibit. My children loved interacting with the butterflies. We also enjoy walking outside and feeding the ducks and the fish. When my children get older we will love to attend the classes they have for learning!

Beautiful spot for a spring day walk! Enjoyed the scenery and the swans! Can't wait to enjoy it more this summer!

this is part of the Rockford park dist witch is funded by tax payers money OK now let me get to the point we went there after they renovated it mind ya it used to be free to go walk through there and look at all the different plants and such before they tore it down and rebuild it and now there is a cover charge of 6 dollars and up now remember we taxpayers fund this every year o i forgot to say we just walked away without even going in after reading there is a cover charge to get in

To rebut the comment about the cost to get in, a large portion of the renovations were paid for by donations. To help keep the large cost of maintenance from being a burden to taxpayers, visitors, including people who don't live in the community and pay taxes to Rockford, are asked to pay to enter. The price is similar to what you would pay to go to the Chicago Botanic Gardens or Anderson Japanese Gardens. I encourage people to visit and enjoy the beauty. It is family friendly and beautiful.

It's no Jens Jensen, but it is a beautiful conservatory with really enjoyable water features. Among the exhibits is a kaleidoscopic plant viewer which I found interesting. As others have mentioned, the price of admission is a bit steep for what it is -- especially for a non-resident. I suppose that might explain why I was the only one in there. For comparison, last summer I went to the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis which was the same price and I spent nearly the entire afternoon wandering around there. I was a bit conflicted on rating this place. I did enjoy my visit, but the high admission for such a small attraction left a bit of a sour taste.

This was probably one of the best places to go while out of town for a soccer tournament! If you've got 10 minutes or 2 hours--it's a great place to stop and check out. The inside is beautiful and the butterfly exhibit is magical! This whole experience took my breath away (and killed my cameras battery!)

I highly recommend if you enjoy natural surroundings and tropical plants in a pleasant setting. One member of the staff gave my wife and I an impromptu guided tour. Be sure to check out the kaleidoscope, which is aimed at several colorful flowering plants.