The Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon With Kids

The Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon is one of San Diego’s greatest hidden gems! It’s easy to explore in a few hours and there are tons of excellent exhibits for kids. There’s a native butterfly pavilion where they regularly release butterflies.

They have acres of displays and a series of beautiful themed gardens. They even give out free popsicles from the gift shop! Read on for what to do at this award-winning water conservation garden. 

Here’s everything you need to know!

1. ​What is The Water Conservation Garden?
2. Admission, Hours, & Directions
3. How to Get Free or Discounted Tickets
4. Exhibits Not To Miss
5. What To Do With Kids There
6. What To Eat Nearby

What is The Water Conservation Garden?

The mission of this public garden is to help educate San Diegans on how to use less water. With the cost of water always going up (just got a notification of a 5% increase in my water bill this week) this is a great place to learn how to save money and resources. Their displays are informative and interesting especially if you own property in the city of San Diego. It makes a great place for an afternoon stroll with or without children (I am always with children).  

It’s a delightful place for a dedicated gardener or people just interested in being in a beautiful place. We spent about two hours there and were able to see everything. I wasn’t sure what a water conservation garden experience would be like but I was pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed ourselves. We did a self-guided tour using the maps provided and the scavenger hunt.

Admission, Hours, & Directions

General admission is $11 for adults and $7 for kids. Memberships range from $55 to $120 for a family. Kids under 2 are free! Some include their weekly wellness classes like chair yoga, and sloth yoga (count me in for sloth yoga!) in the gardens. Membership will get you reciprocal admission to other gardens, more on that later. 

The garden is open every day except Sundays and Mondays. It opens at nine daily and closes at 3 except on Saturdays when it stays open until 4 pm. We went on a Friday morning and there was barely anyone there. I imagine during the Free Fridays it can be a little more crowded, however the garden is big so there’s plenty of space for everyone. 

It’s closed on the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (and the Monday following if Christmas falls on a weekend day).

The Water Conservation Garden is located in East County, specifically El Cajon which is 20 minutes east of San Diego. It’s near the campus of Cuyamaca College. The entrance to the garden is kind of hidden. It looks like you’re driving into an apartment complex but then you turn right and it’s there! Parking is free and there’s a nice sized lot. Bathrooms are just beyond the entrance. The address is: 12122 Cuyamaca College Drive West El Cajon, CA 92019

How To Get Free or Discounted Tickets

Every second Friday of the month is free! They have tons of events for kids on Free Fridays so it’s a great day to go. The Water Conservation Garden also participates in Museum Month in February (half price admission), The Great Exchange in May (exchange any one museum membership for entry to other museums on the list), and Kids Free October (kids free with paid adult).

If you have a membership to The San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas or The Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, you can get into this garden for free! There are also 300 other gardens you can get into for free with the reciprocal garden admission, more on that here.

One thing to notice as you get your tickets: the ticket booth is shaped like a giant watering can!

Exhibits Not To Miss

Some of our favorite educational exhibits were the ones about sustainable use of related natural resources. They have one display comparing different backyards, one with grass and one with a xeriscaped water-wise landscape using native plants. As we are currently making over our yard to use less water, we found this exhibit fascinating. 

We also loved the irrigation exhibits. They display all the kinds of sprinkler pipes you can use. I thought this was a clever way to showcase water conservation. There is an interactive feature where the sprinklers spray you as you run by! My kids had a great time with that one, especially when it went off and got Mom. There are good how-to displays that give lots of information on compost and the different types of soil you can use for different plants. They let the kids interact and touch both the compost and the soil. I also thought the vegetable garden and native plant garden were fun to look at.

Of course you need to check out the butterfly exhibit, open spring and summer. It’s small so it’s very likely you will see a butterfly or have a butterfly land on you. Plus it’s free to enter (unlike The Safari Park in Escondido that costs $$$$ on top of admission). 

What To Do With Kids There

There is so much to do with kids here! First, make sure you grab a scavenger hunt on your way in. It has pictures and helps the garden come alive for kids. At the end, your kids can choose a prize to take home with them! For us, it was a rock that my kids spent 15 minutes carefully selecting and promptly lost.

They have different scavenger hunts for each month because the plants they feature change. So it will be new every time you visit! My kids went around reading all the plant labels to find the ones on the scavenger hunt. PS: If you’re visiting in June, the Pride of Madeira plant is across from the water-wise backyard exhibit. You’re welcome. 

Toward the back, they have a sand pit with toys, a little house for kids to play in, a bug area under a mat, and a tractor to sit on. There are also some instruments they can play with!

My kids loved the Ms. Smarty-Plants rainbow tunnel! I understand she is a character that hosts field trips, a learning laboratory, and other activities. She wasn’t there when we went, but she has a YouTube channel kids can watch here. Think Blippi but just for The Water Conservation Garden.

My kids also loved visiting the tortoises, the butterflies, and of course the sprinkler exhibit. There is no food there that I saw so we brought our lunch and ate on one of the many picnic areas. They do give out free popsicles next to the gift shop so be sure to stop over there! The gift shop has a bunch of handmade gifts from supporters of the garden. 

What To Do And Eat Nearby

We stopped by this fun new dessert place called Juice Time. They have ice cream and desserts from the Middle East that we had never tried before! The kids loved the cotton candy ice cream with real cotton candy. They had Uno and Jenga for us to play with the kids while we waited. Make sure to try their mini pancakes!

Other food options include Luna Grill (kids eat free Mon-Thurs!), Broken Yolk Cafe, and Crumbl Cookies Rancho San Diego. 

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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