San Diego Botanic Gardens

On our list of the best activities in San Diego.

Ruth Baird Larabee donated her Encinitas estate to San Diego County in 1957, and it opened to the public in 1970 as Quail Botanic Gardens before being renamed San Diego Botanic Garden in 2009. The 37-acre property holds the largest public bamboo collection in North America, a cork oak forest, and 29 themed gardens spread across four miles of trails, plus the West Coast's largest children's garden. A rare corpse flower bloomed here in 2023, and reservations are recommended since walk-in admission isn't guaranteed.