UC Santa Cruz Arboretum and Botanic Garden

Get ready to enjoy a beautiful, nature filled day at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden!

It's here on the UCSC campus that you can spend the day appreciating and learning all about a number of collections filled with rare and threatened plants, which are also of unusual scientific interest.

Kids can learn all about plants from various corners of the globe, from as far as South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, and of course plants native to the USA, particular California.

What's exciting is that if you are a family who just love botany and horticulture, many of the species in the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum collections are actually not otherwise available for study in other US botanical gardens and arboreta.

In addition to the natural world, you can find a number of wonderful opportunities for exploration and learning perfect for all ages, backgrounds, and capabilities. 

Enjoy a self-guided tour taking you around beautiful, information-packed interpretive signs which can be found near the entrances to every garden, which will help make your visit an educationally enriching experience, or join one of their guided tours!

Nature is calling kids, and it's calling YOU!