The San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas With Kids

True to form, San Diego takes a regular botanic garden and makes it awesome for kids. It’s one of the largest botanic gardens in North America and one of the most beautiful on the West Coast! Grab a scavenger hunt when you come in to make sure you don’t miss anything. You will love spending the day here enjoying the native plants, tropical rainforest, desert gardens, succulent gardens, and children’s gardens (yes, there’s more than one!). 

The garden is open Wed-Sun 10-5 and is $18/adult $10/kid, free for under 3. Check their website for exact hours. Address: 300 Quail Gardens Dr, Encinitas, CA 92024

Here’s everything you need to know!

1. Admission and tickets
2. Parking
3. Best Times To Go
4. Must-see Attractions
5. What To Do With Kids There
6. Hamilton Children’s Garden
7. Seeds of Wonder Children’s Garden
8. Special Events
9. What To Do Nearby

Admission and Tickets

These expansive gardens are open Wed-Sun 10-5 and the admission fee is $18/adult $10/kid, free for under 3. They do offer reciprocal admission for anyone who has membership for other gardens in San Diego. The do not currently offer any free admission days. 

Their membership is a good value at $105 per family (that’s two adults and up to six kids!). They specify it can be used for grandkids if needed. You do currently need a reservation to enter even if you are a member. In my experience, it was not hard to get a reservation, however, walk-in admission is not guaranteed. I highly recommend this membership should you live in the area. It’s a great way to get kids to learn about and interact with mother nature! Also it’s the only garden I know with TWO children’s areas.

Note that joining here gives you reciprocal admission for The Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park (cherry blossom season is excellent!) and 300+ other gardens across the US. See more info on that here!

Don’t forget to pick up a scavenger hunt in the gift shop!

Parking

There are two different parking lots. The main parking lot is at 300 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas, CA 92024. This is the one we always use to get in. It’s where the welcome center and visitor services is located as well. There is one upper parking lot as well on Ecke Ranch Road that has ocean views! The second children’s garden is located up here, more on that in a minute. Both lots offer free parking.

Best Times To Go

The best time to go is in the springtime when everything is in bloom. However because many of the plants thrive in San Diego County’s mild climate, there is a lot to see all year round. There is a whole host of rare plants and plant chandeliers in the giant greenhouse right as you come in. 

Please note that visiting the gardens might be difficult for those with physical challenges. There are miles of trails, so bring the stroller. 

Must-see attractions

Each area of the garden is devoted to a different type of landscaping. There are the two children’s gardens where we spend the most time but there are also themed gardens including the African Garden, the rare bamboo groves where they have the largest bamboo collection in California, the native coastal sage natural areas, the Mexican garden, herb garden, and the subtropical fruit garden. You probably won’t be able to see everything on your first San Diego Botanic Garden visit. 

Other places we haven’t managed to make it to yet, but want to soon!: The Old World Desert Garden, the dinosaur garden, the Mediterranean climate landscapes and the demonstration gardens. There are so many unique plants it would take a long time to see them all!

For your first visit, focus on the two children’s gardens! They have the largest children’s garden of any Botanical garden I’ve ever seen!

What To Do With Kids There

We especially loved the pollinator’s garden. Your children can look for bees and listen to birds. The docents had a handout where the kids could count the pollinators and do “research.”

They offer free art projects, cool science activities, and hands-on activities in the Children’s Garden Monday through Friday. There were also some docents showing the kids unusual plants. We loved painting on the big canvasses and the giant chalkboard. 

Hamilton Children’s Garden

There are actually TWO children’s gardens in The San Diego Botanic Garden. This is the first one you’ll find with Toni’s Tree house, a Eucalyptus themed playground and crafts. It’s the largest interactive children’s garden. We have spent many morning climbing up and down the rope ladder into the jungle canopy. 

My favorite part is the little vegetable garden back behind Toni’s Treehouse!

Seeds of Wonder Children’s Garden

The Seeds of Wonder Garden is up the hill and across the parking lot. We have gone the wrong way many times and ended up in the bamboo garden. You will want to walk up the hill and find the parking lot with the ocean view. Then you walk across that parking lot into a little corner where you will see the sign for the children’s garden.

We like the sand pit, the junior quail trail (keep walking all the way to the back to find it), and the labyrinth. I also liked their exhibit on firesafe landscaping up here with the tiny house. Why are smaller things so much cuter??

Special Events

The best special event they have all year is Lightscape at Christmas! For between $20-$30 depending on when you go you can walk through a transformed garden. It’s totally crazy because I had NO idea where I was or where I was going. I mean the garden is massive and it’s easy to get lost on a regular day, but this was next level. All the exhibits are based on different kinds of plant life! Watch my Instagram and I will tell you when tickets become available. Note that you do not go through the main entrance here but the parking lot up by the second children’s garden. 

What To Do Nearby

There is a ton to do nearby! Check out Olympus Park in Leucadia for a great place to get the kids energy out. If you’re hungry from climbing those hills, check out Sumptuous Cookies in Solana Beach, Fish Shop in Encinitas, or VGs Donuts in Solana Beach. There used to be a really cool butterfly interactive garden nearby with reciprocal admission but it has since closed and is in the process of moving to Poway. 

For beaches, we like Moonlight State Beach or Fletcher Cove! Both have playgrounds and easy parking. 

Here is my post about the best beaches for kids in San Diego.

And here is my map of kid-friendly restaurants.

Allow me to introduce myself…

My name is Camille! I am a San Diego stay-at-home mom who is never ever at home. I share a lot of fun things to do around San Diego including parks, restaurants, LEGOLAND, the zoo etc.

My goal with my Instagram account and blog is to make any mom feel prepared for any outing with her kids so that she doesn’t have to stay home unless she wants to. Getting out with my kids was key for me in overcoming postpartum depression so I try to pay it forward by sharing what we do to help other moms in a similar situation. Read more about my story here.

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