UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden

I highly recommend checking out this place, if you’re in the area. It’s more than worth the recommended donation for entry. They have a cute little shop that you can purchase plants, seeds, etc. The gardens span a pretty large area, so I would plan on giving yourself 1-2 hours to make your way through it and check out all of the cool plants.

Beautiful space. Open air. Quiet. Peaceful. Calm. The hummingbirds and the eucalyptus trees. Educational and relaxing. There's parking and plenty of areas to sit and rest, meditate or eat. Bring your own food.

Suggested donation $10/person. Great areas highlighting plants from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Lots of hummingbirds! Cute gift shop with plants for sale!

I highly recommend checking out this place when you visit Santa Cruz. There's three main areas: Australian, New Zealand, and South African. They also have a small succulent area right in front of the gift shop, which was my favorite. It took us about 40 min to see the majority of the plants. It's all outdoor and the area seems to get hot during the day so I recommend bringing a hat and sun cream. Plenty of parking space, and restrooms are available.

It’s a beautiful garden in a very natural setting. There are many sections with different regional plants which deserve a whole day to explore. Also we came here for it’s famous for Anna’s hummingbird. It’s quite true. You could hear their distinctive sound once entering the garden. It’s basically everywhere. Also we saw California quail. Although it’s not very greenish because of fall season it’s still quite pretty.

Amazing spot in Santa Cruz to see some spectacular plants and the wildlife they attract. There are four main places represented - South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and California, with thoughtfully arranged trails and sculptures among the plants. Saw so many hummingbirds when I was there, as well as a gopher snake, butterflies, bees, lizards and a huge array of other birds. It's free to enter the first Tuesday of every month, otherwise it's $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $5 for kids. There's also a great shop where you can buy relatives of the plants you've seen to take home.

I’m a sucker for a good Arboretum!! Really interesting South African and Australian plants and trees growing there. Plenty of sweet little places to sit/admire! Teeming with bees, lizards, and little wildlife. Very dreamy—would love to have it as my backyard 😎🤩

The map is useless. Just wander. Be careful of your step. Few of the paths are wheelchair friendly. The plant labels need attention; more of them, please, and legible. Take care at the entrance. It's not well marked.